EKURHULENI’S MMC for Finance, Nkululeko Dunga, has revealed that the city has more than R200 million in unpaid invoices from service providers.
During a media briefing, Dunga stated that he and his colleagues in the newly formed government have identified critical matters within the city that demand immediate attention.
“We have noted with concern the issue of non-payment of service providers on time. Currently, the city has just over R200 million in unpaid invoices. This has serious implications for the ability of the city to deliver services, and on employees of the service providers,” said Dunga.
Dunga announced that the city will be hosting an Imbizo to address the issue of unpaid service providers, as this situation has severe consequences for the city’s ability to provide essential services.
Municipal officials responsible for the payment process will attend the Imbizo, and service providers who have not received payment in over 30 days, as per Treasury guidelines, will receive immediate attention.
Dunga also revealed that the city is aware of officials who demand bribes in exchange for payment, contributing to the non-payment of some service providers. Additionally, some service providers have had to resort to court orders, resulting in the municipality’s assets being attached.
The Imbizo aims to provide a platform for all service providers to understand the reasons for the delays and non-payment.
Dunga further disclosed that the municipality has collected only just over R17 million from outdoor advertising revenue, which is significantly lower than the number of outdoor advertising facilities within the city’s borders.
Presently, the municipality has 96 outdoor advertising billboards paying while over 300 billboards exist.
“We have resolved to conduct an audit to determine who is receiving the revenue that is due to the municipality while at the same time we would like to call on all companies that have placed their outdoor advertisement billboards within the City of Ekurhuleni to approach the office of the MMC of Infrastructure and declare their assets,” he said.
He also revealed that there is no proper management of the municipal fleet responsible for waste collection which continued to be “a serious challenge and will have to be addressed, including management of personnel and accountability of each and every waste compactor at all times.”
The city spends more than R363 million on contracts for waste removal for 46 waste compactors, and the city requires 78 waste compactors to optimally collect waste in the CBD.
“We have learned to know that the city has an assets register of 103 waste compactors and we can only confirm 32 from the department with reluctance to do a physical audit of these trucks, we are even more concerned about the remaining waste compactors as they cannot be located,” he said.
At the moment, waste collection in the city CBD and suburban areas is through municipal waste compactors, whereas predominantly black areas depend largely on appointed contractors.
This means that, if the city can find the remaining waste compactors, fix and maintain them, the it will have the capacity to collect waste in the CBD, suburban areas, and save R363 million in the process that can be used to expand waste service to all citizens, including newly formalized areas, he said.
The new MMCs also noted that some big companies were not paying for electricity or underpaying.
“In fact, we are aware that some of the major electricity consumers in the city have tempered with meters because we see a loss of electricity in substations that is unaccounted for,” he said.
Dunga, who is also an EFF Gauteng chairperson, was appointed MMC of Finance following the removal of DA’s Tanya Campbell as Ekurhuleni mayor, through a vote of no confidence in the council.
She was largely accused of redirecting services to white dominated areas in the city in her 16 months role as mayor.
The city is led by the African Independent Congress councillor Sivuyile Ngodwana, as executive mayor. The Executive council is made up of five EFF MMCs and five MMCs from the ANC.
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