Municipality tackling its finances
The municipality committed itself to working on its financial stability.
The Merafong City Local Municipality is taking steps to sort out its financial problems.
During an urgent hybrid council meeting on June 2 the council approved a final financial recovery plan (FRP).
The National and Provincial Treasury required that the municipality impose such a plan as part of the provincial intervention at the municipality that started last year. The new plan binds the municipality to solve its monetary crisis. An FRP was drafted and published to the public for comment in February this year, while the Provincial Treasury has also consulted with the municipality on the plan.
If the municipality should fail to implement the plan, the Provincial Executive must in terms of Section 139(5)(b) of the Constitution, either dissolve the municipality, appoint an administrator or assume responsibility for the implementation of the recovery plan itself. Provincial Treasury must continually monitor and review the plan.
One of their officials already battered the Municipal Manager, Dumisani Mabazo, over the municipality’s willingness to deal with its financial problems during the time for questions after the launch of the Re-imagining Merafong Vision 2035 session on the day before the council meeting. Questions were raised particularly regarding Merafong’s credit control policy and other issues such as distribution losses.
Mabuza mentioned that the municipality already started with an action to check and replace the electricity meters of larger users, and is also busy with a plan to send teams to houses to check electricity meters. It also launched an incentive scheme for residents who owe the municipality money. Mabuza and the Deputy Mayor, Mogomotsi Sello, also stressed that all residents will have to start paying for services.
“We have an indigent policy to help people who really do not have money to pay for services. Many times, however, people do not pay because of a wrong attitude, instead of the fact that they do not have enough money. A good example of this is the fact that the payment rate for Greenspark is 50 percent while that for Kokosi is just six percent,” Mabuza said.
