By Craig Kotze
Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) is a captured municipality and urgent action by the Gauteng Premier and Emfuleni’s Executive Mayor is necessary as the region continues to stagger from ongoing dismantling of its revenue-generating smart meter programme.
This is the stance of the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) after a week of high-level drama and continuing shuttle advocacy to suspend and investigate the top two municipal officials on grounds of alleged dereliction of duty and irregular and illegal senior appointments at ELM.
The GTCoC is expected to meet ELM Executive Mayor Gift Moerane on Monday to discuss the smart meter crisis and related issues, including growing dissatisfaction and extreme concern at the “incompetent and dangerous” manner smart meters were being bridged.
It emerged over the weekend the GTCoC has also written to Premier David Makhura on a “broad spectrum of governance crises” at the embattled local authority including the smart meter saga and also alleged illegal appointments of senior staff at ELM.
Sources said GTCoC CEO Klippies Kritzinger wrote a letter to Premier Makhura – sparked by the abrupt cessation of the smart meter programme – and repeated a GTCoC request to suspend and investigate both acting Municipal Manager Dithaba Nkoane and Chief Financial Officer Andile Dyakala.
The GTCoC intended to compile its own report on the smart meter crisis for the Premier as it did not trust reports submitted by ELM to the Premier on the matter.
This was after Kritzinger also wrote a letter a week before to Mayor Moerane calling for the suspension and investigation of Nkoane and Dyakala. Mayor Moerane did not agree but questioned how the letter was publicised, adding the GTCoC had “not substantiated its requests”.
The letter to Premier Makhura was preceded last week by a high-level business delegation to Gauteng Finance MEC Nomantu Ralehoko to discuss both the smart meter crisis and huge power tariff increases by ELM. Ralehoko is expected to visit the Vaal soon on a fact-finding mission.
The GTCoC delegation to MEC Ralehoko was led by Kritzinger and GTCoC Vice President Jaco Verwey.
According to sources close to the process, Kritzinger informed the Premier the GTCoC found it strange that abrupt and disruptive decisions were made by the acting MM and CFO which had dire consequences for consumers and revenue generation for ELM itself.
“The mishandling of the smart meter programme shows gross dereliction of duty just as the alleged irregular appointment of top officials by the acting MM – including the present CFO – is blatantly illegal.
“Why is this happening just before the appointment of a permanent MM? Whatever the motives behind this decision-making it is clear they were not made with good governance in mind.
“The GTCoC is asking the Premier and Mayor to intervene directly and have the entire situation reviewed and investigated. Suspension is not punishment or finding someone guilty, merely creating the conditions to establish what is going on in a credible manner,” said Kritzinger.
