Levels of service delivery have been extremely low and has come to a standstill since Tuesday just before the Easter Weekend.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) expressed concern over the unaccounted R135 million service delivery grant provided to Mangaung Metro by the National Treasury. The grant was intended to improve service delivery in Mangaung, but it appears that the funds have not been properly utilized, and no services delivered.
In February, councillors were informed that the grant would be used for maintenance work on municipal infrastructure, sewage disposal, garbage disposal, and water supply problems. More specifically, the grant was intended to purchase vehicles for maintenance, R70 million allocated for maintenance on the nine sewage plants, and R20 million allocated to resurface road infrastructure and fill potholes.
DA councillor Dirk Kotzé said the past two months have shown that service delivery has not improved.
“Refuse collection has not been up to national standards, with some suburbs not collected for a month. Sewage spillages have not been attended to for weeks, and potholes have not been filled, causing havoc for road users. Dilapidated infrastructure has also become a major risk for residents during heavy rainstorms,” he said in ’n news release on Wednesday.
Municipal officials at the Water and Sanitation, and Solid Waste departments went on strike last week due to non-payment or partial payment of salaries.
They complained that overtime and acting allowances were not paid, but the main issue was the lack of municipal vehicles to deliver services. Only one truck was available for refuse collection; the water and sanitation department had two vehicles available, and no honey suckers were available for sewage.
The MMM was placed under Section 139 (7) National Intervention in April 2022 by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. She promised that a forensic audit would be done into the financial affairs of the metro, but to date, no forensic report has been tabled before the council.
Kotzé said the situation in the MMM has worsened since the intervention, with no improvement in service delivery.
The DA will call on the Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Luthanyane Denge, to report to the council on how the service delivery grant was spent with no services delivered. The DA will continue to hold the National Intervention Team accountable for their promises on service delivery.
