MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Nono has urged municipalities in the province to spend their infrastructure grants allocation to curb poor service delivery which is mainly as a result of poorly maintained infrastructure.
Malolyi who was addressing Mayors, Municipal Managers, water and energy utilities on Tuesday in Mahikeng said most of the recent service delivery protests are as a result of lack of provision of basic services by municipalities. He said the grants are meant to eradicate municipal infrastructure backlogs and ensure the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, roads and street lights.
He called on municipalities to develop a recovery plan detailing how they intend spending their allocations before the end of the local government financial year in June. He said a team of officials from both the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Provincial Treasury will be dispatched to municipalities to assist them to develop and implement the financial recovery plans and to monitor progress.
He said whilst municipalities are failing to pay Eskom and water utilities, they are also owed large amounts of money by some departments. He added that the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Provincial Treasury will work on a strategy to assist municipalities to recoup monies owed to them by other departments.
“Municipalities must consider investing in pre-paid meters where possible. Consumers will have no option but to pay for what they use. In that way, municipalities will be able to generate revenue and meet their financial obligations.
He has appealed to members of the public to report to the police any person who destroys the infrastructure. “These people are known and they do not only destroy the infrastructure but they are also denying other people access to services. They must be apprehended and face the full might of the law”, warned Maloyi.
He advised that the department has developed a turn-around strategy in consultation with the North West University which identifies the challenges in municipalities and how they can be addressed. He said the strategy will address a number of aspects ranging from skills shortages, municipal audit outcomes and financial management, amongst others.
“Municipalities in the province are in serious trouble and this call for a differentiated approach to supporting municipalities based on capacity of municipalities”, he said.
Source: Government of South Africa