The Ratepayers Association that was established recently, had a committee meeting on 1 July and committee members gave feedback on all the routes that were investigated in the past week.
According to their statement, different angles of approaching court were discussed.
In the meeting with Eskom, it became clear that current payments made to Eskom is not enough to cover the debt, and even if that amount is doubled, there is still a shortfall.
Further meetings with Eskom will be held to find a solution.
Lekwa Ratepayers Association was also represented in a meeting held with the municipality on 2 July.
On the issue of sewerage, the municipality indicated that only six of the 11 sewerage pump stations are functioning.
According to them, vandalism is the main reason.
Lekwa also said the waste treatment plant is functioning, but overflowing and pointed out that the asbestos pipes have reached their lifespan and the sewerage infrastructure needs to be upgraded.
According to them, plans to upgrade the system around Schwichardt Street and Coligny Street are in the pipeline.
They said all sewerage complaints are attended to as they are reported.
Lekwa added that water is tested regularly and complies with standards, but no water test results were available at the meeting.
The electrical department said that overloading remains a problem.
According to the municipality, new meters were installed in all households where illegal connections were removed and the electrical team will continue to inspect electricity meters in Standerton.
Ratepayers requested the community members to cooperate and come forward if you have a bridged meter, or know of bridged meters to help the municipality in this task.
Future communication with neighbouring associations in Volksrust and Bethal is envisaged.
The association has already requested the community to contribute to legal costs for the case against the municipality.
Their functioning is in the hands of Mr Fanie Potgieter, Mr Gary van Aswegen, Mr Wilhelm Prinsloo, Ms Rozanne van Deventer, Ms Wilma Venter, Mr Ronald Tsotetsi, Mr Pheelo Mlotshwa, Mr Gabriel Mogale, Mr Sizwe Dlamini, Mr Conrad Cloete, Mr Yunus Omar and Mr Louis Bibbey.
Sub-committees and task teams are also on the cards.
According to their statement, funding is still of the essence and they are edging closer to R200 000, but still need to keep this ticking over to reach their goal.
Ratepayers thanked everyone who have contributed already.
According to them, the legal team is hard at work to ensure their approach is spot on.
“We need to again reassure our community that we cannot guarantee success in court, but what we can guarantee, is that we will bring the most thorough, dedicated effort to the party,” the statement read.
For a quick reality check, the outlook is bleak.
Lekwa occupies the third spot in the top 10 contributors of fruitless and wasteful expenditure, as cited in an audit outcomes.
According to the document, it is all related to interest and penalties, including an Eskom interest of R0,11 billion.
Ratepayers expressed their disappointment with the outcome of the Auditor General’s report that shows R47-million are irregular expenditures.
According to the report, all tender documents were kept in the municipal manager’s office and could not be submitted for audit purposes within the agreed turnaround time.
These submission challenges persisted even after discussions with the municipal manager in audit steering committee meetings, in which she committed that officials must retrieve and submit the requested tender documents to her office.
Some tender documents were subsequently submitted, but these could not be audited because they did not contain all the required information such as scoring sheets and advertisements.
Ratepayers asked councillors to do right by the community to relieve the Municipal Manager, Ms Gugu Mhlongo-Ntshangase, of her duties.
“We also do not condone the R29-million spent on the electrical contractor, Ermsa, that is operating without a service level agreement in place,” the statement added.
The Standerton Advertiser gave front page coverage to the issue in its edition of 3 July.
The next meeting of the association is scheduled for Wednesday, 8 July.
Also read: Standerton’s Ratepayers Association gearing up for legal battle with Lekwa
