Mayor, Elvire Theron, on Tuesday announced that the Gobabis Municipality will revert to internal debt collection measures and will no longer be seeking external services in this process. She made this announcement during a press briefing held at the town, saying the decision was made by the municipal council. The municipality currently has a three-year contract with Red Force Debt Management, which is set to expire by the end of March 2021. During the press briefing, Theron said the municipality will do internal debt collection as of 1 April 2021, adding that debt collection policies are currently under strategic review to see how the municipality can meet Gobabis residents half-way. “We will be looking at the interest accumulated over time, for example, the commission charged on the residents’ accounts by Red Force will fall away as the municipality will handle the debt management itself,” said Theron. She, however, indicated that residents will still be required to settle their outstanding debts and that it will not be written off, despite this change. In an interview with NAMPA, Gobabis Municipality Public Relations Officer Frederick Ueitele said the decision made by council was not made based on the failures and successes or effectiveness of the services rendered by Red Force Debt Management over the past three years, but because the council realised that there is a provision in the Local Authority Act, where the municipalities can approach the courts to recover debts without using a third party. “Although there are some things that they (Red Force) were supposed to do such as the collection of data in the informal settlements that they did not really deliver on, the main reason behind non-renewal of their contract is that Gobabis Municipality has realised that they can do most of the things that Red Force was contracted for internally,” said Ueitele. Gobabis residents currently owe the municipality N$51,6 million in unpaid debts.