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The Ministry of Urban Development advised the Okahandja City Council, which charged excessive fees to some residents for about 10 years, to resume the property appraisal process after it appeared that the system used was defective.
Some residents were so angry that they threatened not to pay for the services until the city council resolved the errors caused by the faulty system.
A resident said The Namibian that he had to pull out his gun and threaten to shoot at a council official who had come unplugging the water and electricity supply from his home.
Pesella Nunda, head of finance, information technology and wealth management in the municipality of Okahandja, confirmed to The Namibian newspaper last week that she was aware of the concerns residents.
Although Nunda can neither confirm nor deny the overload, he admitted that the Ministry of Urban Development had advised them to resume the assessment process.
Nunda added that the municipality still used an assessment role for 2008, as the one provided in 2013 by a service provider was "fraught with difficulty to contain many errors and omissions".
He added that in the absence of an assessment role, the council relied on the Local Authorities Act to determine how residents would be charged.
Nunda said they would also support the Resident Repayment Act.
The law provides that the board would refund excessive rates when the assessment has been reduced.
"We fully understand that the problem is long overdue. However, we call on our residents to be patient when we try to properly address the question of the assessment of all taxable municipal property in accordance with the law, "he continued.
Nunda then advised affected residents to settle their debts and register their claims with the Executive Director, Martha Mutilifa.
An inhabitant of Okahandja, Carlo Lukas, said The Namibian Last week, he threatened municipal employees with violence to prevent them from entering his premises and disconnecting his water.
It owes the municipality about N $ 8,000, which includes rates and taxes.
Lukas is one of the many residents of the Smarties Extension Eight site who asks the municipality to offset their municipal debts with what the council would have owed them in the form of overtaxed taxes.
Lukas said he learned about the existence of a price surcharge in the middle of this year and questioned the municipality about it. Residents claim that, although the municipality initially agreed to pay them back too much, council would have turned around and told residents that they would only be reimbursed for three years, or even not at all.
Another resident, who asked to be named, explained that her water supply had been cut off because she owed it to the municipality, while she had begged her to offset her debt by the amount excessive.
"I have at home a sick and sick elderly aunt who came to cut me off from the water while she knows that she owes us money," she said. the mother of five children and the provider of a household of eight people.
"I do not understand how they have the nerve to come and cut me off because I owe them, but they expect me to understand that there are complications in paying back my money ", accused the woman.
She urged the Minister of Urban Development to look into the matter, saying the municipality is "stealing from those who do not already have it".
Mutilifa said she was not willing to comment on the case over the phone.
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