Municipality owed millions
The City of Mbombela's (CoM) mayor, Sibongile Makushe, confirmed that various provincial and national government departments owe the municipality approximately R136.3m.
This came to light after the FF Plus councillor, Ken Robertson, requested answers regarding this issue. Makushe responded that the amount included fees for services rendered and lease of properties. The national government departments’ total debt amounts to R51.6m, of which R26m is interest as payments have been outstanding for periods of more than 90 days.
The provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport’s total debt to CoM amounts to nearly R51m and forms part of the total debt owed by the provincial government, which adds up to about R84.6m. The provincial Department of Education owes R20m.
“If the provincial government settles its debt, it will already solve many of the municipality’s cash flow problems. Provincial departments that fail to settle their debt with Mbombela are effectively denying residents the good quality service delivery the municipality is supposed to provide to them,” Makushe said.
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Robertson said it is unacceptable that government departments’ poor planning and reckless financial management are negatively impacting local government to the detriment of residents. “The government owes itself money and the seemingly endless transfer of the debt burden from one level of government to the next must not be tolerated. Provincial and national government owe it to the people of Mbombela and the municipality to settle that debt and maintain the standards as allocated by National Treasury regarding payment of service providers, as Mbombela provides a service to other entities,” he said.
He also said the R136.3m could effectively change the CoM’s circumstances. “The FF Plus in the City of Mbombela will be requesting immediate negotiations between the three spheres of government to ensure every avenue to expedite.”
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The provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport’s spokesperson, Bongani Dhlamini, said they did not receive any invoices regarding any outstanding debt owed to the CoM. “As far as our records are concerned, the department does not owe the municipality.”
The Department of Education was unavailable for comment.
