Buffalo City Metro’s visible and rapid decline
In a front page newspaper article titled “Red Light is Flashing on BCM Finances” (DD Oct 31) it reported how mayor Xola Pakati denied the seriousness of the financial position of the Metro in a council meeting held on October 28.
In that same article Geoff Walton, a former highly respected official within the BCM financial department, and still highly respected by all finance department officials many years later, and finance portfolio chair Sakhumzi Caga both spoke honestly about the serious financial position of the Metro.
There is visible evidence of the rapid decline in all forms of service delivery which is an indication that the metro is in financial distress.
All capital and operational own funded projects, and wardbased budgets have been suspended, and the funding of activities for the summer holiday season, which were usually funded in part by BCM, is not available.
It is therefore unbelievable that despite all the above, the mayor continues to deny the seriousness of the issue.
For years the DA has questioned BCM’S budgeting priorities, including:
● Asking for a cost-benefit analysis of implementing the water and electricity smart meters;
● Financial cost of all the theft and vandalism of municipal assets (in the absence of a security risk analysis which was requested in council seven years ago);
● Over-priced procurement and the splitting of tenders by the supply chain management unit; and
● Misguided priorities of capital spending on “nice to have” projects such as Waterworld and Court Crescent.
These projects were prioritised over the maintenance and upgrading of essential water, sanitation, storm water and road infrastructure.
Unless Pakati acknowledges the dire financial situation of BCM urgently, the rapid decline in our once beautiful metro will continue and the municipality is likely to become another one of hundreds of Anc-run municipalities around the country that are broken and dysfunctional. — Councillor Sue Bentley, BCM