Mayor snubs rescue plan meeting with premier's adviser
The premier sent his adviser to discuss the crisis at Enoch Mgijima municipality with its stakeholders last week — but the local authority’s leadership didn’t even bother to show.
The meeting, held at the Chris Hani District Municipality boardroom on Thursday, was attended by premier Oscar Mabuyane’s adviser, Zandisile Qupe, and civic umbrella group Let’s Talk Komani (LTK). Qupe phoned the mayor Luleka Gabula in the meeting to find out why she was not there. She said she was coming. The meeting waited for 45 minutes before commencing with two hours of talks.
In an interview after the meeting, Qupe encouraged LTK to put together a plan on how it could partner with government for a transitional period to lift the municipality out of its downward spiral. He agrees “an intervention is necessary”.
The LTK delegation comprised members from the Border Kei Chamber of Business, the Queenstown Civic and Ratepayers Association, the Black Management Forum, Komani Resident’s Association (KORA), Phakamisa Business Forum, the Enoch Mgijima Farmers Union, Basic Services Komani, the Queenstown
Education Foundation and Zointralesa Traditional Organisation.
LTK chair Ken Clark said the 2019 year-end audited report showed R894m in wasteful and unauthorised expenditure had recently been written off by the council. On average, half of the electricity purchased has either not been invoiced, or was stolen. “In three months the municipality will not be able to pay its salaries and its debt to Eskom,” he said.
Clark said at the end of March, the municipality would have to pay roughly R75m for salaries, electricity and its courtordered debt repayment to Eskom. “But its average monthly revenue collection is only R23m. The figure of R75m comprises a monthly municipal salary bill of R27m, plus its next tranche of Eskom debt repayment of R30m, plus its anticipated current account with Eskom of somewhere in the region of R18m,” he said. LTK made it clear it would not suspend its current court case against various organs of the state in favour of a partnership with the Enoch municipality until the premier ensured the municipal leadership was credible and trustworthy.
Clark said Qupe’s visit showed the seriousness of the situation, but he voiced his disappointment at the absence of a representative from the municipality.
“The municipality has failed to meet us numerous times while our town faces fundamental problems. We have to put an end to the maladministration and corruption,” he said.
Qupe said Mabuyane, together with finance MEC Mlungisi Mvoko and co-operative governance & traditional affairs MEC Xolile Nqatha, plan to come to Komani to meet with LTK.
“LTK has a proposal that they have been asking to work with government to address the challenges facing the town. They say they have people to help turn the situation around. The problems are sewage spills, bad roads, electricity problems, dilapidated infrastructure and the municipality’s debt to Eskom. This is a first step in the right direction,” he said.