The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape calls on premier Zamani Saul to convene an interdepartmental task team that can solve the recurring problem of defaulting municipalities, once and for all. It is time for Saul to lead the MEC for Finance, Economic Development & Tourism, Abraham Vosloo, as well as the MEC for Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs, Bentley Vass, in overcoming the obstacles created by municipal failure to pay Eskom’s bills.
We repeat this request for improved municipal oversight in light of yesterday’s announcement that, due to collective municipal arrears amounting to more than R280 million, Eskom plans to shut down the bulk electricity supply to four local municipalities in the province. As of the 31st of August 2020, the Tsantsabane Local Municipality owes Eskom an amount of R154,9 million in arrears while the Emthanjeni Local Municipality, the Kamiesberg Local Municipality, and the Richtersveld Local Municipality each owe Eskom R90,5 million, R21 million, and R12,7 million respectively.
All four of these municipalities are repeat offenders and had struggled with the consistent payment of Eskom bills over the past five years. The red flags were raised, but seems to have been ignored by those with the power to prevent municipal arrears from escalating further. In the Emthanjeni Local Municipality, for example, we saw a frenzied collection of rates from residents in February 2020 just to find enough money to stave off a round of punitive loadshedding.
But it seems as if local municipalities are caught in a perpetual cycle of debt.
The disconnection of bulk supply to ratepayers and residents who diligently pay their accounts is unacceptable. At this time of economic crisis, where the country’s economy had contracted by 51% and more than 45% of the provincial population find themselves unemployed, we need to do everything in our power to support SMMEs and to get the local economies working again. We also need to ensure that there is a reliable, safe electricity supply that can support the ongoing delivery of basic municipal services and essential services like health care or education.
A case in point is the Richtersveld Local Municipality, where hopes for post-pandemic economic recovery in the province are focused on the proposed development of the Boegoebay Harbour and associated industries. Without the guarantee of a reliable electricity supply, neither local nor foreign investors will see this project as an investment opportunity and will regard it as a risk too high to take. The harbour, like the mental health hospital on the outskirts of Kimberley, will remain nothing but a monument to corruption and municipal mismanagement on the provincial landscape.
The Northern Cape provincial government should have known how to steer clear from this risk. After all, the Department of Trade & Industry had previously rejected applications for the designation of a Special Economic Zone in Upington precisely because the local government could not guarantee electricity supply.
If we do not step in now, no local municipality in the province will ever again be able to offer that guarantee to any prospective investor.
We have already requested a special oversight investigation by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts into the management of municipal finances at the Richtersveld Local Municipality, as well as the current status of the proposed Boegoebay Harbour development. We will expand our request to include an urgent oversight cycle over each and every municipality that cannot manage to do the basic task of paying its’ bills on time.
It cannot be accepted as some sort of standard operating procedure that Eskom must first threaten to punish residents with bulk disconnections before municipal officials find the money to pay outstanding accounts.