The announcement made earlier today by Gauteng Premier, Mr David Makhura, that the provincial government will intervene at the Emfuleni Municipality (Evaton, Sebokeng, Vaal Oewer, Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging) by enforcing Section 139 of the Constitution.
Section 139 makes it clear that when a municipality cannot fulfil its financial obligations, the provincial government must intervene so as to ensure the fulfilment of the said obligations.
On the 12th of April 2018, the FF Plus requested that the Premier must step in with the Emfuleni crisis as at that time, Emfuleni was already in a lot of trouble and things were getting out of hand. At that stage, Emfuleni was unable to pay its outstanding debt of R419 million to Rand water and Eskom was also starting to show dismay at the nearly R170 million outstanding for electricity.
The FF Plus hopes that the provincial government will enforce Section 139 effectively and that a feasible recovery plan will be implemented soon. This past Friday, the FF Plus also warned the ANC in the local government committee not to play political games with Emfuleni.
The FF Plus remains convinced that Emfuleni financial problems can only be properly addressed if the Gauteng government intervenes and correctly applies Section 139 of the Constitution.
The FF Plus is pleased with the fact that Emfuleni mayor, Mr Jacob Khawe, did the honourable thing and asked the provincial government to step in.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on Die Vryburger
South Africa Today – South Africa News
