Africa-Press – South-Africa. Build One South Africa Gauteng MPL Ayanda Allie has called for the Emfuleni municipality to be placed under administration to tackle its service delivery issues.
“This urgent intervention is critical to address the persistent service delivery failures, financial mismanagement and lack of accountability that have plagued the municipality and to ensure sustainable governance for its residents,” she said on Tuesday.
“The residents of Emfuleni continue to suffer due to repeated failures in basic service delivery that affect their quality of life and the local economy.”
Allie attributed the municipality’s financial woes to misallocated funds, debt and a lack of transparency.
“Resources meant for essential services are diverted, leaving critical departments underfunded. Increasing liabilities limit the municipality’s capacity to invest in much-needed infrastructure and services. Poor financial oversight has eroded public trust and accountability, disenfranchising residents.”
Despite previously being place under administration, Allie believes the municipality’s challenges remain unresolved due to temporary measure to fix deep-rooted problems.
“The challenges facing Emfuleni municipality are significant but they are not insurmountable. With decisive and collective action we can restore good governance, improve service delivery and ensure financial accountability for the benefit of all residents.”
In a bid to address these challenges, the party has called on residents to sign a petition to place Emfuleni under administration.
The municipality’s struggles to provide basic services such as water, electricity and waste management have left residents frustrated. Recently Eskom attached the municipality’s bank accounts to recover a R8bn debt.
The municipality’s communications manager Makhosonke Sangweni previously defended its failure to provide services to residents, blaming residents’ failure to pay for services.
“Service delivery may not happen optimally because people need to understand they need to play their civic role and support the municipality. Services are taking place but not at the speed a paying customer would like. We’re doing everything possible, working with provincial government and national government to ensure we turn around the situation. I believe we’re not far from achieving that objective,” Sangweni said at the time.
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