Elections affect your pocket

Local elections are upon us. Who you choose affects your personal finances. This is especially true if your are over-indebted and struggling with your finances. Here are some things to consider when making  a choice:

• Does your prospective ward councillor live in the area, and will they be easily accessible to you? If they do – you can save lots of time and  money in travelling. You may need to fill out forms for a grant application. Instead of travelling to and from municipal offices, you could get your councillor to download the necessary forms, print it, assist you in filling it out and see to it that it gets to where it needs to be. Your councillor should  also be available to  assist you with physical and  online applications for grants, employment opportunities , school fee exemptions  etc
• Your councillor should be able to tell you exactly how much money has been allocated to your ward for projects that could employ people from the community on a stipend basis. If you are unemployed, this could help you tremendously
• Covid-19 and the lockdowns have given side hustles a real boost. It is awesome to see so many small business pop up. But somewhere along the line, we have to take it a step further and grow our business. Sadly, this takes money which many small business owners simply  don’t have.  However, there are lots of organisations who will help with the correct setting up of small businesses. From business plans, company registrations and access  to funding  – it is all there. You just have to know where to find it. All ward councillors have access to information with regards to the proper setting up of small businesses and should be able to guide you and assist you with your documentation.
• You might be spending a small fortune on taking your car to work, because it is unsafe to stand and wait for a bus in a street where all the lights are not working. This is something that your ward councillor can and should fix.
• Often people end up getting terribly sick, and use precious sick days at work, simply because they wait in the pouring rain at a bus stop, without shelter.
• Your child might frequently be getting ill because they have to walk through unkempt bushes, flooded and sewerage filled streets – and piles of dirt on their way to school. This means you have to fork out money for doctors visits or have to take off from work to go the local clinic.
• School transport it very expensive. Your entire life, schedule and budget negatively affected , when your child is not accepted into a school in your area. Your ward councillor should be able to take this up with the Department of Education and other relevant roleplayers.
• Sports facilities which are neglected and not up to scratch, means that you have to spend money on transport to take your child outside of the community to access coaches and training that should be available on your doorstep. This shouldn’t be the case.
• Potholes in roads  can cause major damage to tyres and cars – and the municipality surely doesn’t help you pay for your repairs. It comes out of your pocket. Ensure that you take this,and any other road and traffic issues up with your elected official. Seeing to it,  is part of what they are getting paid for.
• If you are eligible for reductions and writing off of municipal bills, you can really save quite a bit of money by correctly applying for it and getting it. Your councillor can help you with this.
• Feeding schemes play a huge role in our communities – and prospective ward councillors should already be playing an active role in poverty-alleviating activities like this  (at no cost) for many years. Be careful of the wolves in sheep’s clothing who only popped up with food parcels recently, in their bid to get elected.

The services delivered to you by your local municipality, and how these services are brought to your communities through your ward councillor affects your quality of life  – as well as your pockets. Choose wisely.

Like you have options with regard to the ward councillor you choose – you have debt relief options as well, namely debt review.

Debt review is a debt management programme, monitored by the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and implemented via the National Credit Act (NCA)

NDA is one of SA’s leading debt counselling practices, and have helped thousands of consumers become debt –free, and financially free.

Contact us today, if you are struggling with your debt.

Relax. Don’t panic. We’ve got you.