Departments failing to pay municipal bills

Metros are owed close to R450m

Government departments in Gauteng owe municipalities more than R449m.

This was revealed by MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs Lebogang Maile in response to parliamentary questions posed by the DA in the legislature.

Maile revealed that out of a total debt of R449m owed to municipalities, Emfuleni, the worst-performing municipality, was owed R26.56m, followed by Lesedi municipality at R16.24m and Merafong at R2.59m.

Emfuleni and Merafong are under administration.

The six worst offenders in the province are health (R344m); human settlements (R55.9m); education (R46.4m); infrastructure development (R9.6m); social development (R6.5m); and roads and transport ( R5.9m).

DA MPL Solly Msimanga said the money owed to these municipalities could help ease financial pressure as the financially distressed municipalities were struggling render basic services to residents.

“While the Gauteng government departments are failing to own up to their responsibility of paying their utility bills, it is the municipalities who are left stranded and unable to pay off the debt owed to Rand Water and Eskom, to fix and maintain dilapidated municipal infrastructure and attend to day-to-day service delivery,” Msimanga said.

“In Emfuleni local municipality, the lack of financial capacity has led to the dilapidation of water infrastructure, which has resulted in the loss of over 50% of water supplies to residents and businesses.

“Gauteng government departments should lead by example in paying for utility debt owed to municipalities so that residents can follow suit.

“The work of premier [David] Makhura’s debt management committee is a start. However, more must be done to collect the debt from the Gauteng provincial government to save the stranded municipalities and bring back good service delivery.”

In Gauteng metros, the City of Tshwane is owed R197.74m, the City of Johannesburg R109.85m and the City of Ekurhuleni is owed R57.93m.