Salga defends KZN municipalities that cut off businesses and departments in debt

The KwaZulu-Natal chair of local government association Salga, Thami Ntuli, has defended the debt control stance taken by some municipalities who resorted to disconnecting businesses and government departments that have defaulted on their services and rates accounts.

Ntuli was speaking at the organisation's provincial assembly in Empangeni on Thursday.

The gathering hosted 54 mayors and their municipal managers.

Ntuli commended mayors of four municipalities, including those from Greater Kokstad, Msunduzi, Newcastle and uMngeni, for having raked in millions by switching off services for those in debt. 

He said the move had become a contentious issue in recent meetings between the Cogta MEC, Sihle Zikalala and the mayors.

“Mayors were unequivocal and stood their ground. School governing bodies and hospital CEOs get allocated funding for municipal services, however this money is diverted to other priorities. This becomes unfair,” said Ntuli.

Zikalala had resolved to set up a war room to deal with the issue. 

Ntuli said it was concerning that the provincial government was charged with the responsibility to help municipalities. It should be a concern to the provincial treasury that some bills went unpaid by councils.

The ramparts killing of councillors also came under the spotlight.

According to Ntuli, every month a councillor in the province gets assassinated. He said government had not been intentional in countering this trend.

“As Salga, we were left shocked by the reflections made in the ministerial handbook which revealed that ministers enjoy VIP security protection at least three of their properties while the same cannot be said of councillors,” said Ntuli

Ntuli said this was worsened by the lack of police and government protection when councillors are threatened.

Other challenges listed include the alleged slow response of government departments, the lack of district planning due to the provincial government not having district-based plans and thus not participating effectively at district-development level, and the lack of programmes targeted at youth.

Ntuli blasted the hiring of consultants who do business with some councils.

“Some consultants charge three times the salary of a permanent CFO,” said Ntuli.

He added his voice to the chorus of condemnation of the country's power woes, saying this was a result of neglected maintenance, years of delays in completion of new coal-fired power plants and the high indebtedness of Eskom. 

“The impact of load-shedding has substantial negative financial consequences for municipal revenues as more and more customers are looking for alternatives to Eskom-generated electricity,” said Ntuli.

He maintained that renewable energy was not a complete solution. However, t as a localised response, Salga sees renewable energy as having the potential to keep municipalities running amid Eskom's failures.

“Municipalities offer essential and basic services, hence they should be protected against disruptions caused by load-shedding. Salga members must identify essential services that require constant electricity supply,” said Ntuli.

He said the timing of interest rates hikes threatened municipalities as they were compounded by record high government and consumer debt. 

The chair of the institute of local government management in KZN, Nkosiyezwe Vezi, expressed concern over the salary cuts which some managers face as a result of their employment terms.

He said in some cases managers' salaries were being trimmed by R25,000.

“I need to be able to afford a car, pension and send my children to school," said Vezi, who is the municipal manager for Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma municipality.

He said despite the challenges, they were prepared to continue serving in the municipalities. 

“We love our country and we remain determined that there will not be any misappropriation of monies,” said Vezi

He maintained that they were of the view that all managers should endeavour to work for the public instead of the political parties to which they are affiliated.

“That is why we call for professionalisation to say that managers must be given a longer term and longer contracts,” said Vezi.

Veza said they were happy that there is now a new law which protects managers' jobs when a new administration comes in. He said this will go a long way in creating stability in local government.

“This eliminates the trend where there is a purge of those who are deemed not to be affiliated to a political party governing the municipality at that time, " said Vezi.

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