Sol Plaatje Municipality has been instructed to provide a detailed report on how the R500 million that was announced by Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul to address service delivery issues is being spent.
SOL PLAATJE Municipality has been instructed to provide a detailed report on how the R500 million that was announced by Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul to address service delivery issues is being spent.
The funds were released in 2021 to urgently repair potholes and leaking sewage and water, however, no tangible improvements are noticeable in the city.
Members of the portfolio committee on co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), during a visit to the Northern Cape this week, described the potholes as “overwhelming” and the amount that was allocated towards fixing them as “hair-raising”.
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DA member of Parliament Gizella Opperman indicated that according to the municipality, R215 million of the funds was used for urgent maintenance and pothole repairs while R118 million was directed towards road maintenance.
“What is left of the balance of R333 million?”
She added that, as of March, Sol Plaatje Municipality owed Eskom R147 million and had an outstanding account of R51 million with the Department of Water and Sanitation.
“It has defaulted on payment arrangements with Eskom. Its collection rate is below 60 percent, while water losses amount to 62 percent,” noted Opperman.
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The acting chairperson of the portfolio committee on Cogta, Gcinikhaya Mpumza, said the municipality was given 14 days to document how the money was being spent.
Mpumza also pinpointed Sol Plaatje and Phokwane municipalities as being “dysfunctional”.
“Phokwane Municipality has been under administration for some time, senior management positions have been vacant and the administration collapsed. This has triggered protest action.”
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He added that they expected the Section 106 investigation report into allegations of irregularities at Sol Plaatje Municipality to be dealt with by council.
“The former municipal manager, Goolam Akharwaray, and the former chief financial officer, Lydia Mahloko, managed to find loopholes when they interdicted the recommendations of the report from being implemented. Council needs to take action.”
Mahloko and Akharwaray were reinstated in 2021 after being placed on precautionary suspension for three years following a public outcry over high electricity prices and a call for municipal officials to step down.
According to the settlement agreement, the application was withdrawn, while “no reliance may be placed on the report”.
Sol Plaatje executive mayor Kagisho Sonyoni advised that a local workforce was employed for a pothole patching project in 2021.
“We have six teams who are fixing potholes in the city on a daily basis. It is just that there are some areas that they have not been to yet. They will close each and every pothole in the city,” said Sonyoni.
He explained that pothole repairs were delayed due to the rain and a lack of tar.
The acting director for infrastructure and services, Phetole Sithole, estimated that the team would be able to fix all potholes within the next four weeks, provided they had all the necessary materials.
He added that they had managed to reduce water losses to 50 percent.
“Electricity losses are improving, we are not turning a blind eye. Water losses in Kimberley are due to ageing infrastructure ”
Sithole also explained that they were trying to reduce the debt owed to Eskom.
“We will pay R160 million this month as we were unable to pay last month. We received a commitment from government that they would settle their debts.”
