Departments failing to pay their municipal bills

Government departments in Gauteng owe municipalities  more than R449m. 

This was revealed by  MEC for co-operative governance and traditional affairs Lebogang Maile in response to parliamentary questions posed by the DA in the legislature.

Maile revealed that out of a total debt of R449m owed to municipalities, Emfuleni, the worst performing municipality, was owed R26.56m, followed by Lesedi municipality at R16.24m and Merafong at R2.59m.

Emfuleni and Merafong municipalities are now under administration.

The worst top six offenders in the province are:

• Health — R344m; 
• Human settlements —  R55.9m;
• Education — R46.4m;
• Infrastructure development — R9.6m;
• Social development -— R6.5 and
• Roads and transport — R5.9m.

DA MPL Solly Msimanga said the money owed to these municipalities could help ease  financial pressure as the financially distressed municipalities  were  struggling to render basic services to their residents.

“While the Gauteng government departments are failing to own up to their responsibility of paying their utility bills, it is the municipalities who are left stranded and unable to pay off the debt owed to rand Water and Eskom, to fix and maintain dilapidated municipal infrastructure and attend to day-to-day service delivery.

“In Emfuleni Local Municipality, the lack of financial capacity has led to the dilapidation of water infrastructure which has resulted in the loss of over 50% of water supplies to residents and businesses.

“Gauteng government departments should lead by example in paying for utility debt owed to municipalities so that residents can follow suit.

“The work of premier [David] Makhura’s Debt Management Committee is a start. However, more must be done to collect the debt from the Gauteng provincial government to save the stranded municipalities and bring back good service delivery,” Msimanga said.

 In Gauteng metros, the City of Tshwane is owed R197,74m, the City of Johannesburg R109.85m and the City of Ekurhuleni is owed R57.93m.

Last month, Maile said he fully supported municipalities’ efforts in debt collection provided they had a fully functional billing system and were not billing on estimates.

Johannesburg and Tshwane had embarked on debt collection drives from some of their biggest debtors which included government departments.

During the raids, both municipalities switched off electricity to some government departments and also malls recovering billions in outstanding debts.

The move was also replicated in other municipalities such as Nelson Mandela Bay.

Back in Gauteng, out of the province’s 11 municipalities, only one was considered to be stable, which was Ekurhuleni.

Municipalities have been struggling to meet their own rate collection targets due to defaulting ratepayers, whether it be businesses or private individuals.

Msimanga said the DA would continue to engage Maile to intervene and ensure that the various departments that owe these municipalities monies make payment arrangements as soon as possible.