Municipalities in a downward financial spiral
On the local front, power outages in Msukaligwa are a big worry, because they have become the norm as a result of the municipality owing Eskom R293m as they consistently exceed their registered maximum consumption.
ERMELO – The Mpumalanga DA will send a letter to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) and human settlements, asking them to call all municipal managers from financially precarious municipalities to testify before the committee, to discuss failures and the execution of their financial rescue plans.
Municipalities like eMalahleni, Govan Mbeki, Msukaligwa, Lekwa and Thaba Chweu, which are having trouble paying their debts and collecting taxes, were placed under financial rescue schemes in 2018.
For these municipalities, a financial recovery plan was created and put into place, but they are still unable to fulfil their financial obligations.
On the local front, power outages in Msukaligwa are a big worry, because they have become the norm as a result of the municipality owing Eskom R293m as they consistently exceed their registered maximum consumption.
Due to the aforementioned, Msukaligwa residents experience load reductions on a regular basis, which, in addition, is severely harmful to its local economy.
The Department of Water and Sanitation was due just over R1b as of the end of May 2022, which further highlighted the municipality’s predicaments in the Section 71 report for that month.
Given that the municipality has lost 68% of the water it purchased for distribution owing to leaky taps, burst pipes and theft, this is exceedingly troubling.
Read the complete article in Highvelder.
