News / National
Redcliff municipality sues hospitalised elderly widow over debt
28 Oct 2015 at 13:57hrs | Views
REDCLIFF - The Redcliff Municipality has yet again come under fire from residents over its alleged insensitivity, as it is alleged to be suing a 68 year old hospitalised widow over a US$1117 debt.
The elderly widow, who is said to have been in and out of hospital several times, apparently is unable to pay her rates as a result of her illness, which has left her virtually broke.
The municipality of Redcliff engaged a debt collector in order to reclaim what it is owed by residents.
The elderly widow, who has resided in the town since 1964, received a so-called 'Last Last Urgent Notice' a few days ago threatening her with losing her valuable property if she did not pay the full amount within 8 hours.
It is alleged that she has been unable to negotiate any payment plan with the municipality due to her illness.
However, her predicament was allegedly communicated to the debt collectors when they visited her house in September, but they failed to take her situation into consideration.
This apparent insensitivity by the Redcliff municipality to the plight of its residents has been ongoing for some time, as it also evicted a 94 year old widow from her house over unpaid rentals.
Although residents of Redcliff expressed their appreciation of the need for the municipality to recover debts, they are outraged over the seemingly cruel manner in which its handling the issue.
"It appears as if we are dealing with an insensitive machine, and yet these are supposed to be people we voted into office.
" We now regret voting these people into office, and come next election, they are definitely out," said an irate resident.
Another resident said that the municipality should have approached each case on an individual basis, instead of just treating every defaulting resident the same.
"What we have here is a council that things everyone in Redcliff is deliberately defaulting on their payments.
" They seem so paranoid, and fail to understand the situation on the ground. People are suffering and yet they fail to take that into consideration".
A pastor of a renowned church in Redcliff also lambasted the municipality's apparent lack of sensitivity to the plight of the elderly.
"When you see a council elected by residents start treating those same residents like trash then we know there is a big problem.
"We in the church know that God instructed us to take care of the widows and orphans, as well as the underprivileged. However, this council has truly betrayed not only the people, but also the word of God," said the pastor.
The pastor pledged to mobilise the church into having the present council removed, as it was failing to serve the people, especially widows and the elderly.
Other residents urged the government to intervene, saying the council is costing the government popularity.
"This is the most unpopular council yet. The ruling party is going to lose big time in the next election if it doesn't intervene. This council is cruel and needs to go."
Although, the residents association chairman could not be contacted for comment, a member of the association, who requested anonymity, said that the association was aware of the plight of the residents and would he would personally soon present the issue to the association for action.
"I will bring that issue up at our next meeting. And if need be, we will organise a huge demonstration against the mayor and his council. We didn't vote for them to abuse widows and the elderly."
A prominent humans rights activist in the town said that the Redcliff council was failing to appreciate the contribution made by these elderly people it was persecuting.
"These widows and the elderly that this council is persecuting have worked and contributed greatly to the development of this town for decades, but this insensitive council is so easy to forget that.
" Some have worked in Ziscosteel for over 40 years and now this council feels they are no longer an integral part of our community, just because they can no longer afford to pay rates.
"Remember most of these people never received any pension from Ziscosteel, even though they worked there for over four decades. They never received a single cent," said the activist.
He urged the mayor and his council to resign, saying that was the most honourable thing to do.
"He must just resign. What type of a democratically elected person does that to his people?"
When this reporter approached the debt collectors for a comment, they said that they would continue with the litigation despite the elderly widow's plight.
"Anytime her property will be attached. We can't say when, but it will be attached," said a representative of the Wellcash Debt Collectors (Pvt) Ltd, who are tasked with reclaiming outstanding debts.
Most elderly residents of Redcliff are former employees of the now defunct Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel), which has failed to award them with any pension.
The company closed down operations in 2009, due to widespread corruption and mismanagement since 1980, when it was made a parastatal.
Since its closure, many residents in Redcliff have found it hard to make a living, and the elderly have been most affected.
When a comment was sought from the municipality, the authorities were said to be in meetings.
The elderly widow, who is said to have been in and out of hospital several times, apparently is unable to pay her rates as a result of her illness, which has left her virtually broke.
The municipality of Redcliff engaged a debt collector in order to reclaim what it is owed by residents.
The elderly widow, who has resided in the town since 1964, received a so-called 'Last Last Urgent Notice' a few days ago threatening her with losing her valuable property if she did not pay the full amount within 8 hours.
It is alleged that she has been unable to negotiate any payment plan with the municipality due to her illness.
However, her predicament was allegedly communicated to the debt collectors when they visited her house in September, but they failed to take her situation into consideration.
This apparent insensitivity by the Redcliff municipality to the plight of its residents has been ongoing for some time, as it also evicted a 94 year old widow from her house over unpaid rentals.
Although residents of Redcliff expressed their appreciation of the need for the municipality to recover debts, they are outraged over the seemingly cruel manner in which its handling the issue.
"It appears as if we are dealing with an insensitive machine, and yet these are supposed to be people we voted into office.
" We now regret voting these people into office, and come next election, they are definitely out," said an irate resident.
Another resident said that the municipality should have approached each case on an individual basis, instead of just treating every defaulting resident the same.
"What we have here is a council that things everyone in Redcliff is deliberately defaulting on their payments.
" They seem so paranoid, and fail to understand the situation on the ground. People are suffering and yet they fail to take that into consideration".
A pastor of a renowned church in Redcliff also lambasted the municipality's apparent lack of sensitivity to the plight of the elderly.
"When you see a council elected by residents start treating those same residents like trash then we know there is a big problem.
"We in the church know that God instructed us to take care of the widows and orphans, as well as the underprivileged. However, this council has truly betrayed not only the people, but also the word of God," said the pastor.
The pastor pledged to mobilise the church into having the present council removed, as it was failing to serve the people, especially widows and the elderly.
Other residents urged the government to intervene, saying the council is costing the government popularity.
"This is the most unpopular council yet. The ruling party is going to lose big time in the next election if it doesn't intervene. This council is cruel and needs to go."
Although, the residents association chairman could not be contacted for comment, a member of the association, who requested anonymity, said that the association was aware of the plight of the residents and would he would personally soon present the issue to the association for action.
"I will bring that issue up at our next meeting. And if need be, we will organise a huge demonstration against the mayor and his council. We didn't vote for them to abuse widows and the elderly."
A prominent humans rights activist in the town said that the Redcliff council was failing to appreciate the contribution made by these elderly people it was persecuting.
"These widows and the elderly that this council is persecuting have worked and contributed greatly to the development of this town for decades, but this insensitive council is so easy to forget that.
" Some have worked in Ziscosteel for over 40 years and now this council feels they are no longer an integral part of our community, just because they can no longer afford to pay rates.
"Remember most of these people never received any pension from Ziscosteel, even though they worked there for over four decades. They never received a single cent," said the activist.
He urged the mayor and his council to resign, saying that was the most honourable thing to do.
"He must just resign. What type of a democratically elected person does that to his people?"
When this reporter approached the debt collectors for a comment, they said that they would continue with the litigation despite the elderly widow's plight.
"Anytime her property will be attached. We can't say when, but it will be attached," said a representative of the Wellcash Debt Collectors (Pvt) Ltd, who are tasked with reclaiming outstanding debts.
Most elderly residents of Redcliff are former employees of the now defunct Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel), which has failed to award them with any pension.
The company closed down operations in 2009, due to widespread corruption and mismanagement since 1980, when it was made a parastatal.
Since its closure, many residents in Redcliff have found it hard to make a living, and the elderly have been most affected.
When a comment was sought from the municipality, the authorities were said to be in meetings.
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
