Campbell not competent to run metro – IRASA

IRASA’s national chairperson, Izak Berg, said his organisation voted to remove the DA’s Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell with its conscience and for the ‘lack’ of service delivery in the city.

The DA, which described IRASA’s statement as a load of myth that can be dispelled with facts, said Berg’s vote was just a true act of ‘politics of the stomach’.
“Berg has not voted for this motion with residents at heart as he claims. He has done so to score points with the ANC in the hope of gaining a position in a government they may form should they win the mayoral chains,” said the ousted mayor’s spokesperson, Warren Gwilt.

According to Berg, with the DA at the helm, the city saw poor maintenance of roads and streetlights, waste removal and waste stations remained in a terrible state, and there was a lack of regular meter readings.
Berg also claimed that under Campbell’s watch, the waste department spent R20m on overtime yet towns “look like dumping sites.”
“The mayor and her administration charged businesses for litter picking, which has not happened since she took office. Residents have yet to have regular waste collection since July 2022,” said Berg.

He also claimed that the energy department overspent R125m on energy maintenance and yet residents still endure prolonged outages which are not related to load-shedding.

“She claims the actual income from the sale of electricity is R1.124b less than budgeted for, yet consumers are paying much more for electricity. Even with load-shedding, the accounts of consumers remain high. The calculations do not add up.
“She collected R1.148b less than budgeted for and spent R1.770b less than budgeted for and yet there is no cash available in the metro. Where has the cash gone Tania Campbell?
“Her administration failed to collect the outstanding debt from the top 1000 outstanding consumers, but are very quick to disconnect normal households. The highest debtor owes the metro more than R2b, which she and her administration failed to collect,” said Berg.

Berg pointed out that he told the DA during the budget time that they cannot work on a collection rate of 83% as the metro cannot afford it, but her party failed to heed the advice.
“Campbell reduced the capital budget by R3b and yet she only has 15 days’ cash on hand (she should have 25 days’ cash in hand). Where did the money go to?
“Rand Water requested consumers to save water and now she blames it as the reason for selling R98.8m less on water which she and her administration did not budget for.
“Campbell and her administration claim that creditors are paid within 30 days which is a blatant lie. Contractors from Daveyton and Duduza complained to the OCMOL standing committee, which does oversight on the mayor, that they have not been paid since June.”

Berg said the mayor failed to see it important to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Consumer Council of SA, which would have resulted in millions invested into Ekurhuleni and the creation of jobs.

“She undertook two overseas trips and has yet to submit any reports on her overseas travel to be tabled at OCMOL and the council. She even took a trip overseas to Argentina when she knew there was a motion to oust her as mayor.”

Berg claims that Campbell lied to residents by claiming that she and her administration achieved a clean audit which was achieved by the previous administration.

“She created instability in the metro by hiring and firing her MMCs on many occasions. Some of the members included DA MMCs. She further failed to appoint an MMC for Infrastructure Services which has been vacant for four months – following the removal of the previous incumbent for outstanding municipal account arrears of more than R300 000.

“The firing of the two PA MMCs in a tit-for-tat move for the removal of the Joburg mayor cost her seat as mayor and not the single vote of IRASA.
“Stop blaming IRASA for your removal from office due to your incompetence and arrogance, which was reiterated by many parties in the debate. You cannot change the narrative of what was said in the debate before your ousting as mayor.
“Campbell, you are not competent to run a metro the size of Ekurhuleni. You were removed before the City of Ekurhuleni metro collapsed completely.”
Mayor’s response

The DA admitted that there have been problems in both the waste and energy departments with collections and outages respectively, but blamed these issues on staff’s deliberate attempt to sabotage the work of the coalition.

“We were informed unequivocally by staff in these departments that concerted efforts were being made to undermine the work of the coalition. We were on the brink of initiating a full-scale investigation into these claims, but were removed from office before we could get there,” said Gwilt.
With regard to the two trips, Gwilt said the trips were paid for by the organisers of the events, not the city.
“One item has appeared in council regarding the first trip – Item B-CORP (11-2022). The second trip has only just concluded and the report on it is not yet due.

About the collection rates and expenditure IRASSA alluded to, Gwilt challenged Berg to provide his calculations on these matters to prove his math is correct.
“Yes, there have been isolated issues with certain payments, but the 30-day payment standard is a rule – it is not the exception and is widely practised across the city.
“Berg voted for this motion in line with the story he created in his mind to keep his conscience clean.”

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