Press Statement by JJ Scholtz DA Councillor Msukaligwa Local Municipality
The DA in Msukaligwa has asked the SIU to investigate the municipality’s ongoing battle with a prominent businessman who owns a property that the ANC-led municipality is renting.
The DA finds it concerning to note that just a couple of years ago, officials within Msukaligwa sold a piece of land that is crucial for the municipality’s water supply as it has a reservoir that supplies the town with water.
Over the years, the municipality has apparently failed to fulfil its monthly rental obligations to the businessman in question, leading to constant court battles as the businessman tried to recoup the money that was owed by the municipality.
Recently, it was alleged that the municipality failed to properly defend itself in court, failed to obtain proper legal advice and failed to protect public money as the court authorised that Muskaligwa’s assets to the tune of R247 million be sold to service their debt.
The result is that taxpayers now face the possibility of municipal assets being attached while residents already suffer under collapsing service delivery, water interruptions, deteriorating roads, electricity failures and financial instability.
This represents one of the most scandalous examples of municipal negligence and possible abuse of public resources in Mpumalanga. The DA has repeatedly warned that ANC-run municipalities are collapsing under political interference, cadre deployment, weak governance and financial mismanagement.
Msukaligwa is now becoming a textbook example of what happens when political loyalty becomes more important than competence. While residents struggle to pay electricity and water accounts, politically connected individuals appear to benefit from a broken system that continues enriching a few while communities collapse around them.
The DA will not relent until officials and political office bearers who failed to protect public funds are held to account. We need intervention to prevent further financial collapse of the municipality
The people of Msukaligwa deserve answers and most importantly, they deserve a municipality that works for residents not for politically connected elites feeding off municipal dysfunction.