PHUTI MOSOMANE
EMFULENI residents will not be able to access municipal offices as the landlord locks offices due to unpaid rental payments.
On Monday, residents were taken by surprise by the appearance of a notice attached to the municipal offices of the Emfuleni Local Municipality in Vanderbijlpark, indicating that the offices will be “locked and inaccessible from 13/03/2023 until further notice”.
A clearly marked notice showed that this is “by order of the landlord and due to the non-payment of rental.”
The offices are rented by the Municipality for R1 500 000 per month and that rental payments are in arrears for the last three months.
The closure means that residents will not be able to pay their rates and taxes, and where service consumption municipal accounts are managed and related queries attended to administratively.
“These offices now being inaccessible makes the effective operation of these key components of local government and service delivery to residents impossible,” DA Vaal regional Chairperson Dennis Ryder said.
The municipality has been in the news over the years failing to effectively manage the fiscal resources.
Opposition parties in the municipal council are calling for the National Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) to intervene in the administration of the Emfuleni Local Municipality.
Last week, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi visited the area as part of the Ntirhisano outreach campaign.
In the past five years, Emfuleni has paid R494 007 655.00 in overtime to employees, despite having outsourced the same functions from external service providers.
This municipality has paid R473 million to service providers for rendering the following services: electrical maintenance, sewer, water leaks, clearing dumping sites and refuse collection.
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