Failed upgrade: ‘Get house in order’
The DA believes it was a blessing in disguise that the Polokwane Municipality failed by a 0.02% margin to qualify for an upgrade to municipal council level six.
For a ranking above level five, revenue should be a required R2.1b, but with income just above the R2b mark, the municipality missed the mark.
An upgrade in municipal council level, would have seen the city qualify for grant increases from provincial treasury in terms of basic service delivery.
The upgrade would also have opened the door for increases for part-time and full-time councillors, as was made evident at a council meeting held at the end of August.
The mayoral committee tabled a proposal before council to consider the implementation of determining upper limits for the salaries, allowances and benefits of various municipal councillors, in the confidence that the municipality would have accumulated the roughly R48m necessary.
Contacted for comment, municipal spokesperson Thipa Selala referred Polokwane Observer to Mayor John Mpe, who said the intended upgrade would put the city a step closer to the envisioned metropolitan status.
The DA, is however of the view that while the municipality can easily accumulate the amount left, it would not succeed in maintaining the new status due to its debt collection ratio.
The municipality needs to have a constant debt collection ratio of 95% as per the norm required for municipalities.
“The problem is that we are hovering at lows of even 83% in some months,” DA Polokwane caucus leader Jacques Joubert commented.
Mpe said government departments that accumulate debt and do not pay timeously are one of the factors that contributed to the 0.02% “marginal difference”, he said, which could be accumulated in other forms.
He said substantial developments such as the Ivy Park Private and Limpopo quaternary hospitals and medical school would make up for such debts, should departments become complacent.
Joubert, however, hinted that some council members only have their sights set on higher salaries.
“The Polokwane Municipality should get its house in order and get all residents, businesses and especially all government departments to pay for services received. Some areas, such as Mankweng, receive preferential treatment with respect to write-offs on a regular basis,” he added.