The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga will write a letter to the Provincial Government requesting them to enter into an urgent debt payment plan with Mbombela Local Municipality after electricity supply was cut-off at the Provincial Government Complex and Rob Ferreira Hospital on Tuesday due to billions of rands owed for rates and taxes.
Employees of the Legislature and the rest of the Mpumalanga Government Complex were left in the dark on Tuesday as Mbombela Local Municipality decided to cut-off electricity supply in all the government buildings because Public Works Department and its MEC, Thulasizwe Thomo, have failed to pay the municipality the undisclosed amount owed to them for rates and taxes.
According to our sources, the department’s rate and taxes debt for all state-owned properties across the province is more than their 2024/2025 annual budget of R5.5 billion. This would mean that the department owes provincial municipalities over R5.5 billion for rates and taxes only.
The DA is also deeply disturbed by reports that the electricity supply to Rob Ferreira Hospital in Mbombela was also cut-off because the same department has failed to pay the municipality what is due to them. The DA was also informed by sources that electricity supply to some schools in Mbombela might also be interrupted by the municipality to force Public Works to pay its rates and taxes bills.
It is alleged that the Public Works Department ignored several letters of demand from the Mbombela municipality to pay for what they owe on rates and taxes. It is also alleged that the department has not been paying for these rates and taxes since June last year, and this led to a decision by Mbombela Municipality to finally switch-off the electricity supply at the Government Complex and the Rob Ferreira Hospital.
It is really sad that a Provincial/National Key Point like the Mpumalanga Legislature, and essential services like hospitals, can experience power outages which impact employees and patients care due to incompetency of a single government department and its accounting officers.
Seeing that it would be impossible for Public Works to settle their rates and taxes debt on their own; the DA will also write to the Provincial Treasury and the Department of Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (CoGSHTA) to intervene and help Public Works to strike up payment deals with Mpumalanga municipalities, including Mbombela, for the sake of service delivery to the people of Mpumalanga.