Premier Lesufi must present a plan to improve Emfuleni’s finances
3 October 2024
As the cash-strapped Emfuleni Local Municipality limps from one financial crisis to the next, there is no proper plan or intervention to assist the municipality to improve on its finances. Emfuleni residents and employees bare the cost of not fixing Emfuleni’s finances because of a severe lack of service delivery and a failure to pay salaries on time.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that both the Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, and the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Jacob Mamabolo, present a workable plan to improve Emfuleni’s finances. This will ensure that there will be no future attachments of the Emfuleni’s bank accounts and assets by creditors.
This follows the announcement that an agreement had been reached between Emfuleni and Eskom to release the municipality’s accounts after they were attached by the sheriff of the court to ensure that the money collected for electricity was paid directly to Eskom.
Premier Lesufi and MEC Mamabolo are being praised for facilitating the agreement between Emfuleni and Eskom, yet there is nothing to celebrate as they have failed to save this municipality. This arrangement is a short-term solution, as this is not the first time that Eskom has attached this municipality’s bank accounts for failing to stick to the payment arrangements. Back in 2021, Emfuleni found itself in the same situation. If Lesufi and Mamabolo were heroes, Emfuleni would be in a better financial position; it would be paying its creditors on time and within the stipulated payment arrangements.
Furthermore, Emfuleni was once placed under administration, and the administrator failed to save this municipality from the financial crisis, which was later removed. Before it was placed under administration, the same ANC government that brought it to its knees had failed to save it. This municipality is still in the hands of the government that destroyed it, and they are not serious about rescuing it.
The DA is the only party with the solution to assist this municipality in improving its finances. We propose that the Premier and MEC for COGTA urgently dispatch financial experts from the province to assist Emfuleni in managing its finances. As much as there are systems in place for financial management, this municipality continues to drown in debt and is basically on its last legs.
In addition, both the MEC and Premier must present a concrete long-term plan on how attachments of accounts will be prevented. It cannot be business as usual now that a resolution has been found. We need to know what will be done to avoid a recurrence of this.
It's time for the ANC to acknowledge its inefficiency in running this municipality and seek advice from the well-managed DA-run municipality in the Midvaal.
Issued by Solly Msimanga, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for COGTA, 3 October 2024
