Pretoria - Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza has called for urgent and decisive intervention by the provincial government in the Msukaligwa and Govan Mbeki municipalities.
Mabuza made the announcement on Wednesday during a two-day provincial co-ordinating forum [PCF] lekgotla held in Nelspruit, which was attended by municipal managers, mayors, heads of department and members of the executive council.
Mabuza said the intervention will see both municipalities being placed under administration.
The formal announcement for the intervention will be made once the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the provincial Treasury have completed all the necessary processes.
The premier said the intervention should happen immediately, as both municipalities have on-going serious financial and administrative problems, regardless of previous numerous measures from the provincial government to assist.
“Certain instructions we gave them have not been implemented. If they cannot respect their colleagues, it means they are undermining all of us. We have no choice but to take a very long and lonely journey with them,” said Mabuza.
Other problems which affected the municipalities, he said, included huge expenditure with unfunded budgets, which contributed to them receiving undesirable audit opinions from the Auditor-General (AG) recently.
“Their current budgets do not necessarily talk to their plans,” Mabuza noted.
Not all the municipalities are safe and others started as early as Wednesday to engage in one-on-one meetings with the premier, explaining how they would come out of the disclaimers from the AG.
Lekwa, Thaba Chweu and Mkhondo municipalities are yet again to hold another special session with the Director-General of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the provincial Treasury in an attempt to work out plans to turn around their standing.
Mabuza also instructed all municipalities, except Steve Tshwete and Ehlanzeni – which received clean audits -- to submit the reports addressing the issues raised by AG by Friday.
“We are making progress but not at the pace we would be proud of. We are not attending to our people in a manner we should be. I am appealing to the mayors, as they are politicians, to respect our people. Each time I go to the communities, there are always complaints about services.
“People say we have ‘political power’ because we do not respect them. I do not think that where there is dishonesty, there will be any development. That is why we are not progressing as a province, we are not respecting ourselves.
“People go as far as calling us with names which are degrading ... You cannot lie forever, otherwise you are holding all of us back,” said a concerned Mabuza.
He further reminded the municipalities that this administration was travelling the last mile and was left with a short distance before the general elections. He said he would work for the people with the leaders who were prepared to travel with him.
“From now until the elections, we have a very short distance to travel. We will travel with only those who are willing to work for the people. We do not want people to stand in our way. We want to finish our term on a high note.
“This freedom will never be undermined by anyone. Those who are here to make a mess of this freedom, we will show them that it belongs to its rightful owners,” said Mabuza. – SAnews.gov.za
