Emalahleni municipality sinks deeper in mire

EMALAHLENI local municipality ratepayers owe it R2-billion in unpaid accounts and it has received four consecutive disclaimers from auditor-general Kimi Makwetu.

It also owes power utility Eskom R600-million for electricity provision. Eskom’s spokesman Khulu Phasiwe told Sowetan that this was despite paying less than the agreed amount.

“Yes, they are paying, although sometimes they don’t pay the full agreed amount. Eskom does not disclose account details with third parties,” Phasiwe said.

The municipality, which is based in Emalahleni (formerly known as Witbank), was placed under administration in 2013.

However, administration was lifted by the Mpumalanga provincial government.

Under municipal manager Theo van Vuuren, the municipality lost more than R20-million to a deregistered security company when the council was placed under administration and the Eskom debt increased from just over R200-million to more than half a billion.

The DA, the official opposition in the municipality, says instead of fixing the municipality Van Vuuren has made it worse and that the lifting of the administration was political and not based on sound administrative principles.

DA councillor Koos Venter said: “What surprises us is the fact that the municipality was lifted from administration just after getting its third disclaimer.

“And with Van Vuuren, the alleged fixer, we got our fourth disclaimer but nothing drastic is happening.”

According to Venter, Makwetu’s recommendations were not adhered to.

“They do not care about the municipality, but loot until it’s down,” he said.