The EFF statement on the non-payment of services by government and the ANC

12 September 2016

It has come to the attention of the EFF that the offices of the Provincial and National government departments plus ANC provincial offices and Luthuli House in Joburg and Tshwane municipalities have not been paying basic services like water and electricity for years now.  

All individuals, organisations and companies are compelled by law to pay for all services rendered to them. Government and the ANC are equally compelled to comply, failing which they must suffer the same fate they have been subjecting our people to over the past 22yrs. The municipalities of Tshwane and Joburg under the corrupt government of the ANC have allowed these illegal defaults to continue with impunity. It is our view that apart from corrupt siphoning of money from the municipalities, their other reason for their valiant elections campaign was to continue the cover-up of this corrupt administration. 

The EFF has learnt that Luthuli House has never paid rates and taxes since moving into the building, that they have fallen behind by years on water and electricity bills and some of the government departments have not paid for more than 5yrs.

These defaults have been kept under cover all along under the leadership of erstwhile mayors Parks Tau and Kgosientso Ramokgopa. The EFF will push for an investigation on the matter and if it is found that indeed the defaults have been protected illegally, the two former mayors must be called to account and charged where applicable. 

We call on the Municipalities of Tshwane and Joburg City to appraise the nation on the status of these accounts and take necessary steps. If it is indeed found that Luthuli House has not been paying for services, those services must be terminated with immediate effect. The same fate must befall government defaulters too. It is irresponsible of the ANC to have subjected our people to termination of basic services, even the poorest of the poor, while they themselves have not been paying. 

The EFF has been calling for a more responsible, understanding and accountable government. We’ve been calling for the scrapping of debt for services for the poorest of the poor and the old as debt in general deepens their poverty. Our 2016 Elections manifesto speaks directly to this unjust condition. The ANC has instead continued victimising our people with terminations of services subjecting them to the most inhumane circumstances, in some cases leaving schools and other key institutions without basic services.

Luthuli House must be switched off and the ANC must fall.

Issued by Fana Mokoena, Acting National Spokesperson, EFF, 12 September 2016