By Levy Masiteng
The eThekwini Municipality has reinstated its Special Debt Relief Programme for customers whose account disputes were still under consideration when the initiative ended in January 2026, and whose cases have since been resolved.
The municipality said eligible customers have until the end of August 2026 to apply for the once-off relief.
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The decision, which was approved by full council, applies exclusively to about 154 account disputes involving electricity, water and rates bills, with a combined value of approximately R112.3 million.
Mayor Cyril Xaba urged eligible customers who previously missed out because their disputes had not yet been resolved to make use of the opportunity before the deadline.
The reinstatement followed the municipality’s engagement with residents after the programme closed.
“When we first introduced the programme from May to June 2025 to write off 50 percent of qualifying debt owed to the City as at the end of January 2025, ratepayers and various key stakeholders appealed to us to extend the programme. As a listening and caring municipality, we responded by extending it from November 2025 to January 2026 to help alleviate the financial burden on households and businesses,” said Xaba.
The original Special Debt Relief Programme offered qualifying residential and business customers a 50% write-off on arrear debt accumulated up to 31 January 2025, provided they settled the remaining balance under the programme’s conditions.
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After appeals from ratepayers and stakeholders, the municipality later reinstated the programme for a further window from November 2025 to January 2026.
By the time the programme concluded in January 2026, the municipality had written off approximately R515 million in debt, providing financial relief to more than 4,500 customers.
However, customers with unresolved billing disputes were unable to participate while their cases were still under review, prompting the latest reinstatement for those whose disputes have since been finalised.
