OVER R790 million worth of water and electricity purchased from Rand Water and Eskom by Ekurhuleni Metro had never been sold on to residents.
The reason for this in all likelihood, according to the DA, is because of losses caused by burst pipes and cable theft.
Speaking at the September council meeting the DA’s Bruce Reid highlighted some of this massive underspending. “Service delivery is severely impacted when the metro does not properly plan to spend its budgets in full and these problems undoubtedly contributed to the water problems becoming a crisis in recent weeks,” he said.
According to Reid, in the 2013/2014 financial year the metro essentially overcharged residents more than R1,8 billion it failed to spend in its budget.
Employee costs are down by almost R400 million because of the over 2 700 vacancies in the metro. It is hard to believe that the ruling party, which claims to be serious about job creation, has left vital posts vacant for so long, Reid said.
“In the metro police department 301 posts are vacant and in the fire and ambulance services this number is 104. This not only poses a significant danger to residents in terms of their safety and their lives but costs the metro hugely in the morale of its staff and the cost of excessive overtime hours.
“There are 240 vacancies in the energy department which is simply unacceptable in light of the major problems with constant power outages. Being short staffed in this critical department means the metro cannot prevent or quickly repair the damage when the power goes out,” Reid said.
“The national guideline states that the amount budgeted for repairs and maintenance should be eight per cent of the total value of the assets. Currently the metro is spending slightly more than half of that, which means that equipment and property are not being optimally maintained and will need massive repairs or replacement sooner than necessary. It will fall to the residents to pick up the tab of the cost of early replacement of these items.”
