TCLM overspends greatly on salaries
According to the three business chambers of Lydenburg, Sabie and Graskop, it is believed that the municipality is using the profit from its electricity sales to fund salaries and other "operational expenditure".
LYDENBURG – Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCLM) is paying salaries as much as 73 per cent over budget.
“It is further understood that although the TCLM budget for salaries is 26 per cent of its operating budget, the actual salary expenditure is running at 45 per cent. That is about 73 per cent over budget.
“This obviously raises the question of the number of staff and the salaries being paid versus TCLM’s ability to settle the Eskom debt,” said Gwilym Rees, chairman of the Sabie Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, on behalf of the combined chambers.
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He said these statistics were provided in the court documents when the three chambers won a court case against Eskom, TCLM and seven other respondents for the disconnection of power to Lydenburg and Sabie on account of an R400 million Eskom debt.
Rees said a meeting was held between the chambers of commerce of the three towns in the mayoral boardroom on October 13 last year. “The purpose was to examine the Eskom debt and to explore remedial options.
The chambers suggested that a company called ‘Rural Maintenance’ be engaged to take over the electricity distribution within the TCLM area in order to bring it back to sound management. And to avoid the need for further punitive measures by Eskom.
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“At the time, this suggestion was rejected by Thoka Kgoale, TCLM’s municipal manager, stating that he is against any scheme with a profit motive, albeit that TCLM itself makes a significant profit on the distribution of its bulk electricity supply from Eskom,” Rees said.
The chambers’ legal team also suggested to the premier’s office that the Rural option is revisited. “It is said the municipal manager was not in agreement with the terms proposed by Rural and, instead, wanted a profit split.
This is not in the proposed business model because it cannot work, although Rural did propose paying TCLM a ‘royalty’ for the right to use their property.
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“We are of the strong opinion that the municipal manager/TCLM is not really in a position to ‘negotiate a deal’ and for the sake of the residents of TCLM, they should be exercising sound judgement.”
At the time of going to press TCLM had not commented.
