The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng demands that the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Jacob Mamabolo, under Section 139 of the Constitution, intervene in the City of Joburg’s (CoJ) financial crisis and failure to pay Eskom’s R4,9 billion debt. Section 139(5) allows the provincial government to impose a recovery plan that allows the municipality to meet its obligations.
The CoJ is failing to meet its financial responsibilities, which is now putting residents on the back foot by imposing forced load-shedding on them.
Last week, Eskom issued a notice of its intention to cut its supply of electricity at certain times. This is a huge inconvenience and will affect large and small businesses without backup generators to allow them to continue to trade.
It is worrying that the residents who are paying for electricity will be punished because of CoJ’s failure to manage its finances.
A serious intervention is needed at CoJ immediately to prevent this municipality from collapsing entirely if this is not nipped in the bud soon.
The DA has already tabled questions to MEC Mamabolo on this matter to determine how they will be assisting the municipality in paying its debt to Eskom.
A DA government will immediately ensure that arrangements are made to pay the Eskom debt to rescue residents from forced load shedding.