HIGHVELD – Mr James Masango, DA spokesman for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), issued a press statement on 2 August stating that five Mpumalanga municipalities, including the Govan Mbeki Municipality, are under consideration to be placed under administration.
The CoGTA MEC, Mr Speedy Mashilo, confirmed the above and Section 139 (1)(b) of the Constitution will come into effect.
eMalahleni, Lekwa, Msukaligwa, Thaba Chweu are the other municipalities that currently owe Eskom a combined total of R4.4-billion.
This is a R2-billion increase from December last year.
“It clearly shows lack of political will, financial mismanagement, and incapacity because of cadre deployment,” Mr Masango said.
According to the DA, the recent increase in debt shows that the municipalities are still struggling to settle their Eskom accounts largely due to political interference in the revenue collection processes.
It also shows that apart from only paying interest, the municipalities will once again find themselves on Eskom’s disconnection list.
