DA questions planned municipal spending

MALALANE – The political party was worried about the R1 million budgeted for a new car for the mayor, despite the fact that “most essential services are crumbling without the necessary funds to keep them maintained”.

Cyril Ripinga, spokesperson for the municipality said the car was not budgeted for the current mayor, but for the next one, since the new term would start after the local elections. “After five years a car is old and most warranties expire. The vehicle is for the new mayor, so that they can have a new reliable car,” he explained. The current mayor is using a hire car since her official car is currently being repaired.

Concerning the neglect of infrastructure and services, Ripinga says R1,4 million has been allocated to the installation and maintenance of street lights and says other infrastructure such as roads and sewer systems are also budgeted for.

“Since the people in Malalane, Hectorspruit, Marloth Park and Komatipoort are paying for services, we need to ensure that they get services. It’s harder to do that in the 54 villages that fall under the municipality, since we only have grant money to work with,” Ripinga stated.

The DA also queried the R2 million that the municipality reportedly owes Eskom. Ripinga replied by saying that the municipalities has paid all the money owed, but that Mzinti has caused some trouble for them. Residents of the village pushed to get their electricity directly from Eskom instead of via the municipality. Ripinga said Eskom can’t take over such clients and continued to provide electricity, with the residents refusing to pay. The village has been blacklisted and the three parties are still struggling to sort out the matter.

Ripinga urged residents to report any municipal problems such as broken streetlights and leaking pipes to the municipality via their 24-hour customer care line on 013-790-0990.