Durban - There are growing calls for the National Treasury to take over the finances of Msunduzi Municipality amid persistent service delivery failures.
ACDP councillor Rienus Niemand was the latest to add his voice, saying the municipality was struggling financially due to myriad challenges, chief among them the theft of water and electricity.
DA councillor Ross Strachan said since February they had been pushing for the National Treasury to take over Pietermaritzburg’s finances.
The opposition parties want the National Treasury to intervene, saying the continuing service delivery failures were largely the result of the municipality failing to address financial challenges.
The municipality has been under administration for a few years, and based on reports on the state of the municipality, service delivery has barely improved. The city has admitted its finances are in a precarious state and it is owed more than R5 billion for services.
Several parties have previously called for the national Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to take over the municipality, saying the intervention by the provincial government had failed.
“If the National Treasury takes over the finances of the municipality, that will put us (the municipality) in a straitjacket,” said Niemand.
His calls follow a report tabled by the former administrator of the municipality, Scelo Duma, showing that the municipality was still struggling to deliver the most basic of services, including refuse removal.
“Following the administrator’s handover report it is evident that the three years that Msunduzi has been under administration have been a financial disaster. We have gone from bad to worse. This is a clear indication that both the municipal administration and the provincial-government-appointed administrator have failed to effect a turnaround,” he said.
He added that while there had been improvement in a few operational aspects, the actual crisis, that of the finances, had been a disaster.
“It is therefore imperative, given the critical state of our finances, that the municipality be placed under section 139-5 of the Constitution. Immediate action is required to save what is left and start the tedious recovery process of a firm National Treasury administered foundation. We made the calls for the National Treasury to take over,” he said.
During a march held in the city earlier this year, DA provincial leader Francois Rodgers said they wanted the National Treasury to take over the finances of the municipality “so that once and for all the residents of the city can get what they’re paying for, because at the moment they are not”.
Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla said the calls by the opposition parties were tainted by their being on the opposition benches, and they therefore did not acknowledge the progress that had been achieved.
He admitted that the city was still faced with the challenge of revenue collection, saying that without money the municipality would struggle to deliver on its mandate.
He said the city was in the process of fixing its billing system, which was to blame for billing problems.