MBOMBELA – The ongoing municipal amalgamation between Mbombela and Umjindi has irked the DA, which has written a letter to the Municipal Demarcation Board citing its concerns about this proposed merger.
The DA officially stated its intentions of opposing it during the ordinary council meeting on February 26, 2014.
Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) made a proposal with the intent to amalgamate the two municipalities prior to the 2016 municipal elections.
Since then the opposition’s criticism of the merger has grown stronger with communities in the Umjindi area also showing their displeasure.
The DA in Mbombela opposes the proposal on the following grounds:
• Mbombela’s lack of implemen-tation of council decisions that negatively affects service delivery in many areas.
• Based on MLM’s 2012/13 and 2013/14 annual report, it feels that the viability of such an amalgamation is not in the best interests of either municipality as Mbombela has failed to implement and reach its targets with regard to expanding its local revenue base in Mbombela.
• The 2013/14 annual report states MLM has failed to implement revenue-enhancement strategies pertinent to its loss of income and consistent cash-flow problems.
• According the 2013/14 annual report, MLM has an inability to implement and complete any capital projects for communities that have been budgeted for.
• According to the 2013/14 annual report, MLM has failed to achieve any of its targets with regard to service delivery as set out by the Service Delivery Budget Implementation Plan.
One of the greatest reasons for the amalgamation is the possibility of Mbombela transforming into a metro, which will be more economically viable for the community in the long term.
“If Mbombela becomes a metro, more funding for the municipality can be gained from national grants. In general it is a fantastic idea, but before that can happen the current systems need to be in place and properly managed. The functionality of the municipality must not be in question,” said Mr Ken Robertson, provincial deputy chairman of DA Mpumalanga.
According to Robertson, the current vast geographical sizes of municipalities are becoming unmanageable.
“We know that the distances between the two municipalities are too vast and towns located far away from the central seat of government suffer the consequences of even poorer service delivery.
“It will be unsustainable to amalgamate a financially unstable municipality with one that is financially stable as the consequence in all probability will be one large financially unstable and unsustainable municipality,” he added in a press release.
“The majority of municipalities in Mpumalanga cannot meet their service-delivery targets and making municipalities larger will only serve to alienate communities that are located far from the seat of government,” said Mr Bosman Grobler, the DA spokseman on cooperative governance and traditional affairs.
