Upset in Knysna: DA wants municipality to repay double debit orders

The DA has called on the Knysna Municipality to urgently refund double debit orders which appeared on residents’ latest municipal accounts, saying council needs to come clean if they are unable to repay the funds. 

This follows after the municipality alerted residents to an error that caused their accounts to be double debited on 2 February 2024, saying the matter was receiving attention. 

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KNYSNA MUNICIPALITY APOLOGISES FOR THE ERROR

The municipality said they were working towards a swift resolution.

“A debit order (ACB) transaction deleted in error has been processed by the bank, resulting in double deductions from your account. Please be assured that we have taken immediate action by initiating contact with your bank to rectify this situation and request the prompt reversal of the erroneous transactions. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and we appreciate your understanding and patience as we work towards a swift resolution,
the municipality said. 

DA Knysna caucus leader Levael Davis, however, said residents have not been refunded since. 

“The DA in Knysna demands that municipal leadership immediately intervene and refund the duplicate payments to all impacted residents. Numerous residents had two payments debited from their bank accounts for their monthly municipal bills,”

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RESIDENTS WERE ASSURED THAT THEY WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY REFUNDED

Davis said it was unfair that residents, especially pensioners were impacted.

“This potentially caused financial hardship and inconvenience for many of our residents. Council needs to come clean if they are unable to refund these residents and provide reasons why. Residents should not suffer more than they already do from council’s sheer incompetence. Residents were assured that they would be immediately refunded but council has failed to return the money,” he said.

Given the significant disruption, we ask that these refunds be made urgently. We will also request an internal audit investigation to identify the cause of this ‘error’ to ensure those responsible are held to account,” he said.