Mayor claims Govan Mbeki Municipality has made considerable progress since 2021
Nhlakanipho Zuma made these remarks during the State of the Municipality Address (Soma) held at the Lillian Ngoyi Centre in Secunda.
The Executive Mayor of the Govan Mbeki Municipality, Nhlakanipho Zuma, says his administration has brought significant changes to a municipality that was in a state of collapse when it took office in 2021.
Zuma made these remarks during the State of the Municipality Address (Soma) held at the Lillian Ngoyi Centre in Secunda on June 23.
According to Zuma, communities across the municipality were previously plagued by electricity supply challenges. He said the municipality has since managed to stabilise the electricity network, resulting in the end of load reduction and load addition in affected areas.
“Residents now receive electricity 24 hours a day unless there are breakdowns,” said Zuma.
He explained that upon taking office, the administration embarked on a clean-up process within the municipality, which required difficult decisions.
“When we took over the office, we had to clean up the municipal system, and to do that, we had to take harsh decisions that ended up creating enemies for us,” he said.
Zuma said one of the first interventions was the termination of several contracts that were contributing to the municipality’s dysfunction.
Among them was an electricity vending contract that prevented residents from purchasing electricity directly from the municipality.
“People were only able to buy electricity from outside vendors and not from the municipality itself, which was highly irregular,” he said.
Following the termination of the contract, the municipality introduced interventions aimed at restoring stability. This included ending the outsourced meter-reading contract and insourcing the service.
The function is currently being performed by employees participating in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), while the municipality repurposes the service to include data collection, statement delivery and the distribution of notices to consumers.
Zuma said these interventions have enabled the municipality to save about R5m per month while also helping to identify ghost employees and eliminate unnecessary expenditure.
He added that investigations were launched and consequence management implemented, which gradually helped restore confidence in the municipality among residents and stakeholders.
According to Zuma, the municipality also worked to rebuild its relationship with key service providers, including Eskom and Rand Water, after years of accumulating debt.
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He said the municipality was compelled to enter into payment agreements, many of which proved unrealistic and unaffordable.
“Most of the agreements that we entered into were unrealistic and unaffordable. Unfortunately, they resulted in our continued failure to meet the required payment obligations,” Zuma said.
He noted that addressing the municipality’s debt to Eskom required tackling the root causes of non-payment, including electricity theft, ghost vending, illegal connections, technical losses, ageing infrastructure, unauthorised connections, poverty and affordability challenges.
“The Eskom problem was created by a multitude of issues and required a dedicated strategy and commitment from the municipality’s leadership,” he said.
Zuma said the municipality took several unpopular but necessary decisions, including the introduction of smart electricity meters and the reallocation of funds from other critical services to address the electricity crisis.
“Our number one priority when we took office in 2021 was electricity because every complaint we received related to electricity.
“Our towns and townships were in darkness. We ensured that electricity is provided in a more sustainable and consistent manner,” said Zuma.
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He said the interventions have helped improve electricity supply across the municipality and laid the foundation for long-term service delivery improvements.
Zuma said the municipality had consistently received disclaimer audit opinions under previous administrations, but that changed after the current administration took office in 2021.
He said the municipality subsequently obtained unqualified audit opinions from the Auditor-General for three consecutive financial years before receiving a qualified audit opinion for the 2024/25 financial year.
“This proves that we are accountable for every cent spent from the community coffers, despite the municipality adopting an unfunded budget,” said Zuma.
All councillors from other political parties attended the Soma, except the Democratic Alliance councillors, who boycotted the sitting.
The DA condemns the municipality’s decision to host the Soma, claiming the municipality is misleading residents and spending taxpayers’ money on lavish events while service delivery is nonexistent.
The DA mayoral candidate, James Masango, said in a statement that the event is nothing but a wasteful expenditure exercise.
“Govan Mbeki is confronted with service delivery challenges. The municipality’s failure to service its creditors on time also demonstrates the institution’s financial crisis.
“Residents continue to experience deteriorating roads, sewage spills, water losses, unreliable service delivery, illegal dumping, infrastructure decay and an economy that is failing to create sufficient opportunities for our people,” said Masango.
“The mayor’s speech is more of a campaign dialogue, and the notion that the municipality will be the best municipality in Mpumalanga by 2030 is fictitious,” said Masango.
Masango also said the municipality is run by cadres who are self-centred.
“This is another erroneous decision from a municipality that has failed to live up to expectations and carry out its constitutional mandate to its residents.
“Notably, they recently adopted an unfunded budget, which goes to show the maladministration to which residents are subjected.
“The DA’s decision to boycott this event is a protest against misplaced priorities and a call for leadership that places residents before political spectacle,” said Masango.
Masango said his party remains committed to holding the administration accountable and will continue fighting for clean governance, financial responsibility, economic growth and reliable service delivery for every resident of the municipality.
