Lindiwe Sisulu is being sued by the Johannesburg city council

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Lindiwe Sisulu is reportedly being sued by the City of Johannesburg for an unpaid water and electricity bill totalling more than R500,000.

The Sunday Times reports that a tenant at the Bellevue house owed R285,000 between 2010 and 2014, and the interest had taken the bill to R537,000.

The Democratic Alliance-run municipality claims in court papers that an independent forensic investigation found that a senior official, allegedly linked to the African National Congress, illegally cancelled the original debt in 2015 which allowed Sisulu to get a tax clearance certificate and sell the property.

However, Sisulu has disputed the bill saying she had arranged for the tenant to be directly billed by the City and claims the municipality should have alerted her of the unpaid bills.

“The City must recover the money from the tenant. We think they are bringing the minister into this matter for cheap politics,” the minister’s spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya was quoted as saying.

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Source: EWN