Emfuleni: DA warns of complete services collapse if no urgent intervention

Residents of Emfuleni may soon bear the brunt of their municipality’s financial troubles as Eskom tightens its grip on the cash-strapped municipality.

The long-standing financial crisis within the municipality could see residents faced with harsh realities of an overstretched administration – longer power outages, insufficient water services and crumbling infrastructure – if no urgent interventions are made to address the municipality’s financial obligations.

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Emfuleni residents left out to dry

DA’s Nico de Jager warned that the latest developments could lead to a complete collapse of service delivery in the area.

“Residents who have diligently paid their bills will now find themselves without essential services through no fault of their own.

“Some of the poorest will suffer due to the municipality’s inability to access its funds.

“This creates a ripple effect that could jeopardise the payment of salaries to municipal staff, potentially leading to strikes and further service deterioration,” he said.

On Wednesday, Eskom announced that the sheriff of the court had attached Emfuleni municipality’s four bank accounts to ensure that the money collected for electricity would be paid directly to Eskom.

The R8 billion owed to Eskom for bulk electricity represents about 10% of the total R82 billion owed by municipalities across the country, placing Emfuleni among the top three municipalities in debt to Eskom.

Ruth Matlala, a resident of Leeuhof in Vereeniging said she was concerned what this meant for the area, which was already experiencing poor service delivery.

“The service delivery has always been bad. Our former councillor couldn’t finish projects because of alleged friction between the ANC and DA in servicing Leeuhof.

“He was changed but that hasn’t changed much,” she said.

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Emfuleni’s debt in the billions

Emfuleni local municipality currently holds R9.82 billion in creditor balances, the highest in the province.

This debt exceeds the combined debts of the City of Ekurhuleni (R3.36 billion) and the City of Joburg (R3.71 billion), with Rand West City holding R1.72 billion in debt.

The DA claims there has been little to no improvement in financial management or service delivery, despite the Gauteng department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) taking over the municipality’s administration in 2018.

“The situation has persisted, even under Cogta’s leadership. Eskom’s stance is understandable; this crisis can’t continue indefinitely,” De Jager said.

The department said it had deployed revenue experts to assist Lesedi, Midvaal, Merafong and Emfuleni local municipalities to conduct an audit and correction of large power and water users billing data.

“Cogta has established a large user desk in these targeted municipalities, which is used as a mechanism to resolve large user queries and consequently facilitate collection of revenue.”