West Rand municipality’s finances go from bad to worse

At a meeting held on October 25, it was revealed that the Merafong City local municipality’s debtors have increased by a staggering R150,611,010 from June 30 to September 30 this year alone, reports Carletonville Herald.

Merafong has also not been able to pay off Eskom, to which it owes R154,805,623, or Rand Water, which is owed R2,069,219. Its other creditors rose by R25,269,306 from R288,414,299 in August to R313,683,605 in September.

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Merafong has lost 41.85% of the electricity it bought from Eskom in September and 45.12% of its water. Although this is slightly better than previous months, the situation is still far from ideal.

Alarmingly, three councillors owe the municipality for the services rendered. Motsisi Phillemon Lefakane owes R9,783.81, V.G. Mhani owes R15,660.77, and K.L. Nabiso owes R9,854.13. All three of them are paying off their arrears, however.

One of the 16 municipal employees who are in arrears with their utility accounts is M. Mdango, who owes the municipality R55,573.52.

Members of opposition parties have once again complained that a house in Dolomite Street in Carletonville, which is registered in the name of the daughter of the executive mayor Maphefo Mogale-Letsie, still owes thousands in arrears.

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