Press Statement by James Masango: DA Mpumalanga Spokesperson on CoGHSTA
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has written to the Premier, Mandla Ndlovu, calling for a clear strategy to avert the financial crisis that eMalahleni is in.
It is concerning to note that despite being in a serious financial spiral for the past decade, the provincial government failed to take proactive measures to address this growing crisis.
Ten years ago, eMalahleni Local Municipality was plagued by a growing inability to generate revenue from the sale of services, this in turn contributed to inability to service debts like Eskom and Rand Water.
As a result, the Eskom debt increased from R990 million in December 2016 to the R12.289 billion that it is today. Similarly, the debt that is owed to the municipality skyrocketed as well to R12.176 billion.
The DA in the province thus questions how this situation was allowed to escalate and why plans like the integrated municipal support plan, drafting of financial recovery plans and the dispersal of financial experts failed to provide any tangible results.
Furthermore, the Auditor General expressed concerns regarding the financial sustainability of the municipality, highlighting a deficit of R1.69 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. Similarly, the current liabilities also surpassed current assets by R10.08 billion.
It can never be business as usual. The failure of the above attempts clearly shows that the ANC-led administration is failing to ensure that adequate billing systems are put in place to address the issues of poor revenue generation and the subsequent repayment of creditors.
Given the above shortcomings and the fact that this crisis is affecting service delivery in eMalahleni, the Premier must take a hands-on approach and place eMalahleni under administration as provided by s139 (1) (b) of the South African Constitution.