Mopani District Municipality owes GTM R280 million

Neville Ndlala, communications manager of the GTM explains: “MDM is the water service authority and GTM is the water service provider; MDM works on bulk water supply and GTM is responsible for reticulation. The bulk water that MDM supplies must be paid for, especially by residents in formal towns, however, there is a low pay rate in the townships.

GTM is spending more money on the water service than it’s collecting.” It is the Herald’s understanding that the money owed originates from the interlinking roles the two municipalities play to provide water to residents. When asked whether the MDM has arrangements made with GTM to settle the R280 million debt, acting spokesperson for the MDM, Mildred Risaba replied:

“The GTM is executing this water function on behalf of MDM. In order to confirm the R280 million, the two institutions will have to look at the invoices and align every expenditure with the service level agreement (SLA).” “It is normal that for certain amounts and expenditures to be incurred, GTM needed to make a request for approval by MDM before incurring the cost and to get it approved to prevent challenges.

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There is a maximum budget stipulated in the SLA, per month and per year, which GTM is supposed to stick to. Therefore, it will be important for two parties to peruse all documents to ensure comprehensive compliance in agreements,” said Risaba. Ndlala confirmed that there are currently no arrangements in place to reimburse the R280 million to GTM, saying that the matter is discussed bilaterally through intergovernmental relations (IGR).

According to Risaba the whole water supply chain starts with the source and ends with the tap. “Even if the GTM does work, they do it on behalf of the MDM. There are times and places when MDM even attends to reticulations and changes valves. “It will not be a deadlocked exercise because we are in the same chain.” Risaba confirmed that R951 million is currently budgeted in the draft IDP for 2023/2024 for water and water distribution.

In addition, R25 million is budgeted for wastewater management and R352 million is budgeted for water management. This budget covers the entire Mopani district. Ndlala confirmed that the GTM’s annual budget for water infrastructure is R3.9 million and that there is an operation and maintenance plan in line with the GTM’s maintenance budget.

“We have a challenge with our water infrastructure which we acknowledge is aging and is the reason we have water interruptions. In addition, we have load shedding which makes it costly to run our plants. We spend R60 000 every week to run our water plants,” says Ndlala.