DA demands recovery of province’s R338m debt to City of Mbombela

The Mpumalanga provincial government owes the City of Mbombela (CoM) R338m. Last week, Lowvelder reported that the CoM’s current outstanding balance to Eskom for electricity is just under R2.9b.

Wiseman Khumalo, municipal manager (MM) and accounting officer for the CoM, is now facing scrutiny by the public protector (PP) for his role in the ballooning government debt.

“It is ultimately [Khumalo’s] responsibility to ensure actions are taken against defaulters for outstanding electricity and rates and taxes,” said Robert Dlamini, DA caucus leader in the CoM council.

Complaint against Khumalo

Dlamini filed a complaint against Khumalo with the public protector on June 3.

“There are stringent rules and regulations set out in the municipal credit control and debt collection policies which are totally ignored,” Dlamini told Lowvelder. “The municipality must enforce its own policies against any defaulting organs of state.”

Worst defaulters

He said the worst defaulters are the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport (DPWRT), the Department of Health (DoH), and the Department of Education (DoE).

“It is of great concern that the municipality continues to provide uninterrupted services to these state entities despite a collective debt of R338m. This dynamic directly compromises the municipality’s financial viability and violates local government legislation,” Dlamini added.

According to a Section 71 report served before the council, a copy of which Lowvelder has seen, R270m of the outstanding debt is older than 90 days.

“The council rules are clear. They explicitly note that customers in arrears with their accounts will have their supply of electricity, water and other municipal services suspended, restricted or disconnected,” said Dlamini.

Dlamini tabled motion

During a council meeting on September 25, 2025, Dlamini tabled a motion explicitly requesting the termination of municipal services to all defaulting state entities to preserve municipal liquidity.

The ANC majority in council rejected the motion with a block vote.

The DA then, on January 15, requested a meeting with Mayor Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko to discuss the enforcement of the credit control and debt collection policy. Five months on, according to Dlamini, Makushe-Mazibuko has still not responded to the letter.

The Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act 56, 2003 empowers the mayor to provide political leadership and oversight regarding municipal finances.

The act also dictates that the mayor must monitor the performance of the accounting officer (Khumalo) in executing and enforcing these debt collection protocols.

Makushe-Mazibuko is also legally compelled to review the MM’s performance with debt collection and report any discrepancies or problems to the council and provincial government leadership.

Dlamini urged the public protector to instruct the CoM and Khumalo to urgently implement the council’s debt collection policy against government departments and their agencies.

“If the government still fails or neglects to settle their outstanding debt, their electricity and services must be cut off,” he said.

“We will assess the complaint”

The public protector confirmed the complaint was received and said, “We will assess the complaint to determine if we have the jurisdiction to investigate the matter.”

Although they read messages sent to them by Lowvelder, neither Makushe-Mazibuko nor Khumalo responded.

In response to media enquiries, Chris Nobela from the DoH said 99% of all invoices they receive are paid within 10 days. “Currently, we are not aware of any outstanding electricity payments.”

The DPWRT’s Bongani Dhlamini confirmed that the department owes the CoM R150m. “We have recently paid over R70.1m and have an arrangement with the CoM to settle that outstanding amount,” he said.

Questions were also sent to Jasper Zwane from the Department of Education.

He did not respond.