SASOLBURG – A brewing political storm in the Metsimaholo Local Municipality continues to ferment, but the municipality is not taking the constant allegations lying down.
While the opposition party, the DA, issues media statements almost every week about failed service delivery headaches in the embattled municipality, the spokesperson minces no words in rubbishing the claims.
Dr. Gino Alberts, the municipal spokesperson, responded on many claims made by the DA.
From failed service delivery and pothole-riddled roads to failed waste removal and wasteful expenditures, these are some of the problems listed.
However, Alberts came out swinging calling the claims misleading and exaggerated, also stating that the municipality is delivering services.
“The municipality continues to render critical basic services to our communities. These include reliable water supply, maintenance of sewer reticulation systems, repair of burst water pipes and leaking meters. We also do maintenance of streetlights and high mast lights, our teams respond to electricity outages, road maintenance, and waste management services, including household and business refuse collection,” he said.
Touching base on the accusations of outsourcing, sidelining of workers, and wasting money, Alberts said outsourcing is necessary.
“This averment needs to be viewed within the broader context of internal capacity constraints. It is true that in certain instances, the municipality has had to outsource specific services, such as emergency repairs of electrical infrastructure,” Alberts admitted.
“This is a Council-approved practice, enabled through appropriation in the annual budget, aimed at accelerating the provision of critical services when internal staff or specialised equipment is unavailable or insufficient.
These decisions are not taken lightly but are made in the best interest of restoring services quickly and minimising disruption of services to our residents,” he added.
With one of the most explosive claims by the DA being the Department of Social Services blowing its budget in just three months, Alberts lashed the claims.
“The Social Services Department did not spend its entire annual budget within three months. What occurred was the exhaustion of the rental budget vote, which is a specific line item used for the rental of equipment. Due to an unforeseen breakdown of all municipal compactor trucks in December 2023, the municipality has had to rent seven compactor trucks to ensure uninterrupted provision of refuse removal services. This intervention became a necessity, not a choice,” Alberts concluded.
