AfriForum says GMM’s mayor is building castles in the sky
“Residents should be concenred,” says organisation's district coordinator for the Highveld.
AfriForum’s district coordinator for the Highveld, Hennie Bekker, believes the mayor of Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM), Nhlakanipho Zuma, is building castles in the air.
Zuma recently announced that the municipality intends to build its own coal-fired power station, which he promises will help stabilise electricity prices and ensure a stable power supply in the municipal area.
The mayor made this announcement during the South African Local Government Association (Salga) Mpumalanga members’ meeting.
“The mayor does this despite GMM losing nearly R500m to fruitless, wasteful, and irregular expenditure and owing Eskom and Rand Water nearly R7b,” said Bekker.
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In an opinion piece sent to Ridge Times, Bekker said that the mayor then pointed out that the municipality only needs the provincial government’s support to cut through the bureaucratic red tape, given that they have already secured the investments needed to realise the plan.
However, according to Bekker, residents should be concerned that the municipality owes billions of rands to Eskom after the failed implementation of a financial recovery plan.
“The Auditor General’s latest report revealed that the municipality has lost millions in fruitless, wasteful, and irregular expenditure, and that the post for mayoral committee member for technical and mechanical is still vacant,” said Bekker.
According to the 2023/24 financial year’s report, the municipality also had nearly R330m in electricity losses in its annual financial statements. This is equivalent to a 59% loss of all power units.
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“Thus, the question remains how a municipality, which has no coherent strategy to provide basic service delivery, could make this announcement in the absence of decisive leadership.
“The municipality has recently launched a draconian campaign to collect debts, but is failing to apply it to its own officials.
“Residents with GMM bills in arrears have their prepaid electricity meters blocked by the municipality, while it appears that the municipality is not applying similar measures to its own councillors and employees – even those with bills in arrears amounting to hundreds of thousands of rands.
“It is clear that the municipality does not have its house in order. The mayor’s speech is nothing more than cheap politics. It is not a genuine intention to build a better future for the residents of the Govan Mbeki municipal area.”
