Lekwa Municipality’s administrator, Mr Johann Mettler, recently outlined the progress made since his appointment. It follows the Section 139 (7) intervention as ordered by the court and endorsed by the cabinet.
After the council was dissolved, the administration reports directly to Cabinet through the National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA).
Mr Mettler made no bones about service delivery deficiencies, giving a glimpse of what a turnaround strategy will entail. In his statement, a comparison was made between obvious issues to be immediately addressed and long-term sustainable solutions to problems.
It is significant that ‘problems’ and not ‘challenges’ was the operative word, departing from euphemisms. Mr Mettler admitted to the collapse of the municipality, identifying the availability of daily, reliable electricity and energy security in the long-term as the biggest problems.
He said this uncertainty has plunged the municipality into a crisis, with economic sustainability and long-term growth being threatened.
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Lekwa’s communications department issued a notice on a freezing July 14 that no assistance will be given after hours for electrical faults and breakdowns.
The community was advised that calls could be lodged at the call centre, which would be attended to during the day. An unemployment rate could increase due to the town’s power situation, as mentioned in this regard.
Following the problems related to energy insecurity, the availability of clean and potable water was the next item.
It was likened to the electricity crisis and acknowledged as a serious threat to health, daily existence, food security coming from the extensive farming activity and local economic activities and growth.
Next on the list, the erosion of road networks and degradation of municipal roads got attention. Once again, similar devastating consequences were cited.
Poor maintenance causing potholes was stated as a fact and the possibility of litigation resulting from damage to vehicles was mentioned.
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Mr Mettler said poor maintenance on a whole has been an ongoing problem and included governance, poor supervision and management of employees, lack of consequences for management and general ineffective leadership at oversight and administration levels.
Revenue management also has its fair share of problems such as the inability to collect what is due for water and electricity, poor collection of rates and taxes, default by customers and lack of enforcement by the municipality and fraudulent activities by customers.
Customers often in cahoots with municipal employees was the verdict. Lekwa’s liquidity and cash flow were called challenges, poor financial management was given as the reason.
According to Mr Mettler, a team has been put together and CoGTA’s deployment of an acting municipal manager will strengthen the intervention initiative.
Stakeholders furthermore have been met of which Eskom was the first.
According to him, they are seeking to ensure adequate electricity supply, for residential and business consumption.
He said a number of options are being addressed, including upgrading and maintenance of the infrastructure, servicing the debt to Eskom, exploring the increase of the notified minimum demand (NMD) to avoid Lekwa-shedding.
Overloading of the system was given as the reason.
“Significant progress has been made in this respect and the team is hopeful that this matter can be put to bed soon,” he added.
According to him, efforts are made to ensure the municipality collects revenue due to it from customers, and data-cleansing is on the cards.
Lekwa took note of instances of electricity theft, fraud condoned and incorrect billing. The role of municipal employees abetting such was mentioned. Poor records on the power supply to the indigent are referred to as well.
Discussions furthermore have been held with the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) with regard to fast-tracking road improvement projects.
Road infrastructure is getting attention with Lekwa receiving assistance on a number of projects, including road rehabilitation in Rooikoppen, Morgenzon and the Baumann Street and Walter Sisulu Street and Baumann and Beyers Naudé Street junctions.
Discussions were also held with the Department of Water and Sanitation relating to servicing the current debt and ensuring that water supply is restored to reliable levels.
According to Mr Mettler, the municipality is making every effort to ensure the problems are addressed.
The intervention team has ensured community participation as well by convening meetings with ward committees and community development workers.
Ward committees have elected their new chairman and resumed their work and according to Mr Mettler, channels of communication are open for first-hand information.
Organised labour, organised business forums, local companies and entrepreneurs have been met as well.
Acknowledgement was given to the delay in building two shopping centres, and a reference made to big investors and support necessary for the local economy.
Mr Mettler promised that these engagements will continue as the municipality seeks to ensure accountability to the community.
