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Pay service debts now to stop delivery taking a dive

Mhlaba Memela

Mhlaba Memela

The national executive committee of the South African Local Government Association will work tirelessly to ensure that municipalities take decisive steps to collect outstanding debts for services rendered.

Addressing delegates on the last day of a lekgotla held at Buffalo City in Eastern Cape, Salga chairman Amos Masondo said Salga was concerned about uncollected debt since it threatened the financial viability of municipalities.

He said the situation had the potential to have a devastating effect on service delivery.

"We call on municipalities to do everything possible, including discontinuing services to those who do not pay or make acceptable payment arrangements."

He also called on government departments to immediately settle their debts. He said they were not setting a good example.

Masondo emphasised that Salga was proud of the progress it had made in making municipalities work better but challenges such as human and financial constraints and service delivery still remained.

He said the lekgotla resolved to see that senior posts were filled so service delivery could be accelerated.

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