By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Emfuleni Municipality has issued a letter to employees and councillors, confirming that salaries for the month of December will not be paid on time.
The letter does not give guidance as to when or if the municipality will meet its contractual obligations and pay salaries.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is unfortunate that the mismanagement of the municipality will have such an impact on so many families at a time when access to banks is limited. The non-payment of salaries is however also likely to impact on service delivery as disgruntled staff lose motivation to fulfil their duties.
“The most concerning aspect of the letter is the passing of the blame onto Eskom for having attached the Municipality’s bank account.”
“It must be noted that this was done in execution of an order of the Court, and that this action was only taken after Emfuleni Local Municipality repeatedly reneged on agreements with Eskom. Poor management and bad budgeting has resulted in the inability to meet their obligations, and the actions of Eskom are the actions that any creditor would take in similar circumstances.”
DA said that while it is generally accepted that the administrative Intervention had little or no impact, a more intensive intervention was called for, rather than the apparent act of surrender by the then-MEC for Co-operative Government Lebogang Maile.
The opposition party added it is demanding that the Emfuleni Council be dissolved under Section 139.5 of the Constitution and that the voters be given a chance to elect new leadership to start the process of correcting this failure by the Local Council to fulfil their Constitutional mandate.
The municipality has previously denied claims that it has cashflow issues.