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Mr Mandela

JOHANNESBURG — The City of Johannesburg has apologised for incorrectly delivering an arrears ultimatum to former president Nelson Mandela’s home in Houghton. “The city wants to convey an apology to the Mandela family for any inconvenience caused by this unfortunate incident,” spokesperson Kgamanyane Maphologela said yesterday.

He said city officials had gone to apologise to the family and the children’s foundation.
Earlier, a copy of the pre-termination notice was posted on Eyewitness News’s website. Dated August 1, the notice stated that  R6 468.48 was outstanding.

It advised that the amount had been outstanding for more than 30 days and warned that if it was not paid, or an arrangement was not made to pay it, “discontinuation or restriction of services” would follow, as well as possible legal action.

EWN reported that the notice was delivered over the weekend.
The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory spokesperson Sello Hatang insisted the delivery of the notice was incorrect.
Maphologela confirmed this.

“The city of Johannesburg confirms that the pre-termination notice which was sent to the Mandela residence was incorrectly delivered. The address and account number stated on the notice belongs to another customer and property in a neighbouring suburb, not to the Mandela residence.”

Maphologela said customer data was being updated and occasional errors could occur.
He apologised to customers who might have had a similar experience.

Mandela is spending his 59th day at the Medi-Clinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria after being admitted on 8 June with a recurring lung infection.
The presidency said his condition was still critical but stable.

Meanwhile, a quick action by staff in Parliament prevented a fire from causing serious damage to the historic building in Cape Town.
“A fire broke out in a room between the Old Assembly and National Council of Provinces buildings on Friday,” a statement from Parliament said.

No injuries were reported and only a few clothing materials and “unidentified objects” were damaged.
“Parliament’s Protection Services reacted quickly and doused the fire with fire-fighting equipment,” the statement said.

“An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway and more details will be released in due course.”
The statement did, however, make reference to smoking in the Parliamentary precinct.

“Over the past two weeks, Parliament has erected more “No Smoking” signs at entrances and other strategic points in the precinct.
“This is to comply with the relevant regulations and to ensure that parliamentary buildings are smoke-free and to protect non-smokers from health hazards posed by smoking.” — Sapa.