Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku here
As the City of Johannesburg faces an unprecedented power shut-off by Eskom, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg is extremely concerned by the slow action of Mayor Dada Morero, and lack of commitment to repay Eskom or fix City Power’s finances.
The statement by the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, regarding his planned meeting with Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, appears to be delaying the Eskom shut-off, rather than addressing the massive debt crisis at the root of the breakdown of relations with Eskom.
City Power currently has an overdraft facility of R16.255 billion as of 30 September. This is an enormous financial liability – and it is completely out of line with the amount of R671 million overdraft that City Power reported in their fourth quarter report.
Allegedly, a large portion of this financial hole can be attributed to salaries and employee related costs that were not budgeted for.
Apart from addressing this extremely concerning financial situation and debt to Eskom, the meeting the Mayor has with the Minister must also be held with the goal of achieving accountability and transparency for City Power’s dire financial situation.
To tackle what we see as serious violations of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) taking place at City Power, the DA has been pursuing facts of what is really going on, through a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application – which has been ignored for a year.
The DA has now written to National Treasury and the Auditor General to request an investigation into violations of the MFMA taking place at City Power. City Power will have no choice but to account to these arms of National Government.
Residents and business in Johannesburg cannot be made to pay the price for City Power’s mismanagement any longer.
The Democratic Alliance will continue to fight for residents to ensure accountability for any wrongdoing by officials and politicians.