Govan Mbeki Municipality is dysfunctional
The mayor said the budget should be scaled down.
Govan Mbeki Municipality is in distress.
Executive Mayor Nhlakanipho Zuma said this to councillors during the council sitting on February 28. He said municipal finances have not improved to the required standard.
The council was supposed to adjust its budget for the first quarter, but Zuma said the budget should be scaled down.
He said they will only move the money not used to an area where money is needed such as legal services.
The mayor said GMM is dysfunctional because it had to budget for a huge deficit.
“There is no possible way we can have a positive budget when our debt is almost R4b.
“When we approved this budget, we were at an R2,9b deficit. The Municipal Finance Management Act only allows a municipality to have an unfunded budget if that municipality has a budget plan.”
Zuma said GMM’s budget plan would only focus on prioritised services. They cannot do anything else.
According to Zuma, there is an improvement in their payments to Eskom and Rand Water, but it is not sufficient.
“The interest alone consumes whatever the municipality is paying. This includes the interest of R3.4b for Eskom debt per annum.
“Our budget might give the appearance that we are progressing, while in fact, we are not. Grant funding makes it look positive,” said Zuma.
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