By Staff writer
MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela has called on the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), the roads utility of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, to cooperate with the Department in bringing the matter of the payment of its debt owed to the agency to finality.
The Department has made several attempts to ensure the R16 million traffic signals-related debt is settled. However, due to the JRA’s own tax compliance issues, the Department has been unable to pay the debt.
DRT had entered into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with JRA in October 2018 for the agency to design, install, and maintain traffic control equipment.
However, the Department could not pay the agency for work done due to JRA’s failure to produce a tax clearance certificate.
“The non-payment is not the fault of our Department, but the JRA’s. Our Department is precluded from making payments to service providers whose tax affairs are not proven to be in order,” said MEC Diale-Tlabela.
Despite many attempts and express will to resolve the matter, the DRT is yet to be provided with a tax clearance certificate, which makes it illegal for the Department to pay the agency.
“We urge the City to work with us to resolve this issue as we have acknowledged the debt and we stand ready to pay what we owe for the services rendered, on our behalf, by JRA as part of our SLA," the MEC said.