Taxpayers are once again paying the price for the mismanagement of the Emfuleni Local Municipality (Evaton, Sebokeng, Vaal Oewer, Vanderbijl Park, Vereeniging) seeing as the court on 2 September 2021, granted Eskom a summary judgment of R1,3 billion against the Municipality.
The amount forms part of Emfuleni’s historical debt to Eskom amounting to R1,9 billion, which has been accruing since 2019. Up to date, the Municipality owes Eskom R3,5 billion.
It is unlikely that Emfuleni will be able to pay back the money seeing it was unable to honour the previous repayment agreements it had entered into with Eskom.
In March 2016, Eskom obtained a court order for an outstanding bill of R615 million. In 2020, Eskom seized the Municipality’s movable assets after which an agreement was entered into according to which Emfuleni was supposed to pay R183 million per month to reduce its debt to Eskom.
The Emfuleni Municipality, which has been placed under partial administration by the Gauteng government, is considered one of the worst municipalities in the country.
The FF Plus is of the opinion that only a competent management team with a strong political will can save the Municipality from utter ruin.
At present, the Municipality generates an average revenue of R350 million per month, but the money is paid to creditors that were not paid in the previous financial year.
Eskom cracking down on Emfuleni is just the beginning of creditors demanding payment. Rand Water’s outstanding bill currently amounts to R1,5 billion.
The Municipality’s level of mismanagement is clearly evident in its own debt collection efforts, which are failing miserably, seeing as its creditors ledger grew from R4 billion to R11 billion in just one year.
Residents are plagued by sewage spills, poor service delivery as well as water and power problems as a result of the Municipality’s incompetent management team.
In the upcoming local government elections, voters will have the opportunity to stand up with the FF Plus and send a strong message to the ANC: The decline of Emfuleni will not be tolerated.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Gerda Senekal on FF Plus
