The ANC in Sedibeng is marching to Rand Water Head Office in Johannesburg today to demand the removal of debt attachments on ELM’s bank accounts which have resulted in non-payment of disparate service providers.

Rand Water last month attached the bank accounts of the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) but allowed payments of municipal salaries but not other payments such as to service providers.

Service providers are critical for municipal service delivery but are often neglected for payments when debtors obtain attachments for municipal bank accounts – something that has happened every month since at least December.

So when bank accounts are frozen – usually as part of a tactical decision to seize the maximum from the municipality shortly before pay day – ELM focuses on getting employees and councilors paid when negotiating releases for salaries.

“Despite the municipality’s efforts to resolve the issue, Rand Water has been unnecessarily delaying the uplifting of the attachment by requesting service level agreements and documents relating to service providers,

“These requests have the potential to violate laws and are causing further administrative delays,” said ANC Sedibeng Regional Secretary Jason Mkhwane.

Mkhwane said in a media statement the Sedibeng ANC demanded the immediate upliftment of Rand Water’s bank attachment on ELM and urged the community and other stakeholders to join in its march today at Rand Water Head Office in the south of Johannesburg.

ELM has not yet recovered from repeated Eskom attachments of its bank accounts since December, when Eskom even seized the entire municipal vehicle fleet along with more than R500 million in grant funding earmarked for service delivery.

Service providers were then also not included when Eskom lifted the attachment to pay ELM employees and councillors late for the Christmas long weekend.

Rand Water had not yet commented on the ANC Sedibeng march by time of publication.

In 2016 then ELM Executive Mayor Khawe headed a motor vehicle blockade of ELM employees to Rand Water Head Office in Johannesburg to blockade the bulk utility for cutting off water supply to Emfuleni.

Since then, neither Eskom nor Rand Water have followed the route of cutting supply to Emfuleni, but the use of bank attachments to seize property and funds has skyrocketed.