Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Jan van Rhyn.
The DA in the Madibeng Local Municipality notes that the City of Tshwane was granted relief to attach the municipality’s bank account to recover an outstanding bulk water debt of R258 million the North Gauteng High Court last week.
This is yet another indication of how the ANC-led government in Madibeng cannot manage the municipality’s finances.
Madibeng has since made a R155 million payment to Tshwane, which it should have done long ago, but it prompts the question of where Madibeng sourced this money from and why it was necessary for Tshwane to attach the municipality’s bank account before payment was made in the first place.
Madibeng and Tshwane entered into a payment agreement in August 2021 under which Madibeng undertook to settle its arrears for bulk water with Tshwane in instalments, but failed to honour the arrangements, forcing Tshwane to take this drastic step in approaching the High Court for relief.
Tshwane was well within its rights to pursue legal action against the delinquent Madibeng Local Municipality.
It is troubling that neither the Mayor nor the Acting Municipal Manager informed the Madibeng Council of Tshwane’s court application, Councillors only became aware of the legal action on the day the verdict was delivered.
Even though the DA welcomes the R155 million down payment, we have reservations about the way the matter was handled by Madibeng. The Municipal Council needs to be informed in time about any legal action against the municipality, especially in matters like this which may impact the municipality’s ability to ensure basic service delivery which might have dire consequences for the community.
The non-payment of suppliers has unfortunately become the norm in Madibeng, rather than the exception.
The discord and factional fights in the ANC, which are to the detriment of the community, are a major contributing factor to the municipality’s problems, with no political or administrative will from the governing ANC to do proper revenue collection and ensure effective financial management to improve service delivery.
The DA in Madibeng will do everything in its power to ensure that Madibeng deliver basic services to the community and will ask questions in Council where the money was allocated from for the payment of the bulk account, what additional payments are scheduled and when, and what measures the municipality is taking to ensure that basic service delivery remains funded.
The ANC has once again demonstrated its inability to govern in Madibeng.