EFF slams nonpayment of service providers in Ekurhuleni, points fingers at officials

The EFF mayoral committee members in Ekurhuleni have criticised the non-payment of service providers in the city, saying it has serious implications on the ability of the city to deliver services.

EFF Gauteng provincial chairperson and finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga revealed that the city had just more than R200m in unpaid invoices.

“This has serious implications on the ability of the city to deliver services. The economic impact of such payment delays goes beyond the supplier’s ability to render services but has a direct impact on the entire value chain, which includes employees of these service providers and manufacturers that provide raw material to all suppliers,” he said.

Dunga added that during such tough economic conditions, it was imperative for them to ensure they do not contribute to the already struggling economy by withholding payments to suppliers.

He said what was more concerning was that some service providers were forced to turn to the courts to obtain court orders, and now the municipality’s assets were being attached. 

“We are going to call an imbizo (meeting) that will provide a platform for all service providers to understand the cause of delays and the basis of non-payment,” he said.

“We are also aware that some of the non-payment of service providers is because there are officials who solicit bribes to effect payments.”

Dunga added that the imbizo would be attended by municipal officials responsible for the payment of service providers and they will give immediate attention to service providers who have not been paid in more than 30 days as per treasury guidelines.

Briefing the media on the state of the city, the finance MMC said they have conducted a thorough assessment of the current state of affairs, guided by the mayor’s address on April 25.

Part of the pressing issues the municipality had uncovered was that, despite the city’s clean audits, the city's conditional grants allocation made by the National Treasury remained relatively low in comparison to other metropolitan cities. 

“This is made worse sometimes by delays in appointments of contractors and sometimes poor spending on projects.

“But also, the manner in which the National Treasury releases funds towards the end of the financial year puts the city in a difficult position, particularly when there are no reserves to continue spending before the money reaches the coffers of the city,” said the chairperson.

Dunga said his collective was grounded by his party’s cardinal pillar No 7, which called for an open, accountable, corruption-free government and society without fear of victimisation by state agencies.

“Guided by this principle, the EFF in the government of Ekurhuleni will not tiptoe around corrupt officials and will not protect corruption and corrupt officials and people.”

The EFF in Ekurhuleni occupies five mayoral committee seats, while the ANC occupies the other five.

– TimesLIVE