Sol Plaatje must turn streetlights on for festive season
| by Veronica Van Dyk, MP – DA Constituency Head of Kamiesberg |
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| Date: 25 February 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Employees of Khai-Ma face uncertainty today, as the payment of their salaries hangs in the balance due to the dire financial state of the municipality.Just last week, the municipality’s power was cut due to their failure to pay Eskom. Soon thereafter, the municipality politely warned staff via a written notice that the possibility exists that they might not be paid today (25 February 2020), which will in turn see them only receiving their salaries sometime early in March.The Municipal Manager, Obakeng Isaacs, blamed the municipality’s precarious state on outstanding debt of millions of rands, owed to the municipality.The situation is unacceptable on a number of levels.It impacts significantly on the lives of employees and their families, who depend on this salary. It also smacks of financial mismanagement, failed revenue collection and what can only be described as an unfunded budget.Khai-Ma is just one of a growing number of broke local government institutions that have lost the ability to operate as a going concern. They are also just one of a number of municipalities teetering on the brink of collapse.The DA calls on the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, together with the MEC of Provincial Treasury, Maruping Lekwene, to urgently meet with the municipality to help them realign their budget, ring-fence funds intended for Eskom and salaries and implement a realistic debt-collection strategy.It is somewhat ironic that as we draw closer to the 2021 elections, a wave of municipalities move towards bankruptcy and complete dysfunctionality.If we are to give local government a fighting chance, a change in municipal governance is urgently needed. Otherwise citizens and municipal officials must peace with a dark, waterless, and salary-less future. |
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