Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke has issued a stern warning to the eMfuleni Local Municipality in the Vaal for financial mismanagement, which has been happening for a number of years and shows no signs of improvement.
The rot has been uncovered by the Auditor-General SA (AGSA) in 2023/24 as the municipality battles service delivery failures and widespread mismanagement.
The A-G could not find evidence of the municipality’s adjustment of its water and electricity charges, which were stated as almost R1 billion and about R3.22 billion, respectively.
About R7.1bn has been incurred as a result of allowance of trade and other receivables from exchange transactions. In addition, another R2.1 billion was incurred as a result of allowance for impairment of receivables from non-exchange transactions.
Electricity and water losses stood at over R751 million and R836 million, respectively, according to the AGSA report. Contingent liabilities were reported to be nearly R829 million.
DA member of the Gauteng provincial legislature Kingsol Chabalala said the figures make it abundantly clear that this is a municipality in disarray as far as financial management is concerned.
"A large part of this is due to corruption and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs failure to strengthen governance and address instances of non-compliance. The collapse of governance in eMfuleni has led to immense suffering for the residents,” he said.
Chabalala added that the situation is dire as there is no money to pay for service providers for services rendered; refuse is not being collected, and roads are littered with potholes and flooded by sewage.
"The health and safety risks faced by the residents are just the tip of the iceberg. The fact that the Midvaal Local Municipality, which is a stone away from eMfuleni, has achieved clean audits for 11 consecutive years demonstrates that financial integrity and accountability can lead to success,” Chabalala stated.
He explained that a DA government wants to rescue the residents of eMfuleni and bring Midvaal’s excellence in service delivery by ending corruption and mismanagement that have plagued the municipality.
"eMfuleni ratepayers deserve more than a government defined by incompetence, scandal, and inefficiency,” Chabalala said.
The municipality was recently hit by a vote of no confidence in controversial mayor Sipho Radebe, who survived by 49 votes to 40 a week ago.
eMfuleni Municipality is also rolling out smart electricity metering but has faced resistance from residents as it owes power utility Eskom billions of rands in unpaid invoices dating back several years.