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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng will submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application to gain access to the financial records of the City of Ekurhuleni.
This was after MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Jacob Mamabolo, refused to answer follow-up questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature regarding the dire state of Ekurhuleni’s finances.
In April 2025, Mamabolo revealed that as of 31 March 2025, the City of Ekurhuleni owed a staggering R6.363 billion to service providers, of which R2.7 billion was owed for more than 30 days. The late payment of accounts is in contravention of Section 65(2)(e) of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
The city owes Eskom R3 Billion, Rand Water R600 million, the East Rand Water Care Company (ERWAT) R530 million, and other service providers R1.4 billion.
Five months later, Mamabolo would not answer further questions regarding the ongoing state of the city’s finances.
Among the questions posed to the MEC by the DA Gauteng was how much is still owed to service providers like Rand Water and Eskom. The DA Gauteng is questioning why MEC Mamabolo is not declaring the Ekurhuleni insolvent and putting the city under administration.
Instead of answering the question, Mamabolo referred to the Local Government Turnaround summit held in October 2024. According to the MEC, the province had initiated a process to baseline critical services of all municipalities and had adopted plans to resolve the issues.
According to the MEC, through this assessment of capacity in municipalities, the provincial government can draw relevant and accurate information in response to the questions, and therefore, would be able to provide answers to questions after this exercise.
The DA believes that it is not only unconstitutional but unacceptable that the MEC refuses to answer follow-up questions, yet he answered the original question in April 2025.
It is obvious that the financial situation of the Ekurhuleni has further deteriorated, and the MEC has decided to deliberately withhold embarrassing information from the public.
The DA will continue to fight for transparency and the residents of Ekurhuleni. The residents and businesses pay billions every month for services that the city is not paying for. Where is all the money going? We would like to know what the MEC is trying to hide.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would immediately work with COGTA to put a turnaround strategy in place to improve Ekurhuleni’s finances. This would ensure that residents receive the basic services they deserve.