Public Works still owes R63m to struggling KZN municipalities         

The KwaZulu-Natal department of public works owes R63 million to 29 of the province’s municipalities, the DA has revealed.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said in a statement on Thursday this was revealed in a parliamentary reply to questions it had posed.

The DA’s member of the provincial legislature, Martin Meyer, said according to the July 2019 response from the KZN Public Works MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni, more than R46 million of the amount had been outstanding for more than 150 days.

The affected municipalities listed include the embattled Mooi-Mpofana municipality, which owes Eskom millions of rands, and the eThekwini metro, where municipal services to schools have been cut in the past as a result of this debacle, Meyer said.

“The DA regards it as inconceivable that, while so many of KZN’s municipalities are struggling to literally keep the lights on, the biggest culprit when it comes to paying the bill on time is a provincial department. The situation in many of our municipalities is so dire that every rand of outstanding debt could be the difference between providing services or not, and even paying salaries or not,” Meyer said.

The DA in KwaZulu-Natal said it would “take this fight to” Nkonyeni, whom they expect will, along with the department, take immediate steps to address the matter of monies owed to municipalities.

“The provincial government cannot be one of the main contributors to our municipalities’ woes,” Meyer said.

Meyer added that it was also unacceptable that while residents and businesses were expected to always pay their utilities and rates on time – or face having their services cut – KZN’s ANC-led government was allowed to have its debt spiral out of control without any action being taken.

“This is a slap in the face to every law-abiding citizen in our province,” Meyer said.

The DA said it would appeal to KZN cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Sipho Hlomuka to intervene and demand payment of this debt.

“While the DA agrees that municipal services to schools and hospitals should continue, we urge municipalities to suspend services to office blocks owed by the department of public works, as they would with any other ratepayer.

“Ultimately, it is not the MECs or the premier or any of those in positions of power that are affected. Instead, it is the ordinary people of KZN who are not receiving basic services due to failing municipalities that suffer.”

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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