Gauteng municipalities financially strained due to load-shedding, putting service delivery at risk
30 May 2023
Gauteng residents will have to contend with unfilled potholes and no removal of illegally dumped refuse due to the financial impact of load-shedding on our municipalities. This is a matter of grave concern, and provincial and national financial support is urgently needed to ensure that our municipalities can continue delivering basic services.
Municipalities are forced to move budgets from other service delivery budgets to assist with the increased expenditure relating to the repair of the electricity network, maintenance, vandalism, security and overtime.
Municipalities no longer sell electricity at a profit. This was used to ensure that there was an adequate budget to fund other service delivery projects. In addition, municipalities have to procure generators, diesel and oil. These are additional expenses that are not budgeted for in the original annual budgets.
Should there be no intervention from the provincial and national governments, the operations at municipalities will come to a grinding halt.