Issue 144 - FREE
8 September
the good news paper
2017
017 631 1903 / 017 631 1845 • admin@thebulletin.co.za • 1 Kiewiet Street, Secunda (Lake Umuzi)
DA wants financial intervention
The current financial in Govan Mbeki Municipality has led the DA to request the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des van Rooyen, to instruct the province to implement a financial recovery plan for GMM. There has been a steady decline in the liquidity of the municipality over the past months and even years according to Cllr Encee van Huyssteen DA Caucus leader for the DA in Govan Mbeki. There have been no workable measures put in place to curb the escalating debts that the municipality incurs nor has anything been done to address the Eskom issue. Eskom is now owed more than R510m and the residents are facing cuts in their electricity supply during peak hours because of non-payment by the
municipality. “During all our public meetings and interactions, one questions ring clear from everybody namely, when are we placing the municipality under administration? Everybody can see that there is no longer any financial control over this municipality and something needs to be done as a matter of urgency,” says Encee. “We, the DA have been warning the ANC-led council from 2011 that they are mismanaging the finances, but they chose to use their majority in council to steamroller over all proposals made by us,” says Encee The municipality have recently changed their billing system that led to further problems with collections. GMM have also embarked on a project to replace smart meters in
PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Kevin Mileham MP
Shadow Minister: Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs
Parliament of the Republic of South Africa PO Box 15 #135 Marks Building, Plein St Cape Town, 8000
Tel: 021 403 8663 Fax: 086 600 4757 Cell: 083 463 8858 Email: kmileham@gmail.com
29 August 2017 The Hon. Des van Rooyen MP Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs via email: IanW@cogta.gov.za LebohangT@cogta.gov.za Failure of Govan Mbeki Local Municipality to pay creditors According to information provided by the Govan Mbeki Municipality, the following creditors are long overdue: • ESKOM R496.3 million • Licence & Registration Office R120.2 million • Rand Water R71 million • SARS – PAYE R5.4 million • Municipal Pension Fund R2.9 million Furthermore, as at end June 2017, the total amount overdue to creditors amounted to R746 million. It is clear that Govan Mbeki Municipality is unable to meet its financial obligations. It is further evident that there is no commitment by the current council to address this crisis in its financial affairs, as no austerity measures have been implemented, nor has there been any meaningful efforts to reduce the debt. This has placed the municipality in a precarious position with regards to service delivery – especially the provision of electricity. Your attention is drawn to s139(5) and s139(7) of the Constitution of South Africa, which requires that a financial recovery plan be imposed on the municipality; and that where the Provincial Executive does not do so, or does so inadequately, places the onus on you to do so. I therefore request that you take immediate action to resolve this matter, through the appropriate intervention, as indicated in the Constitution. I look forward to your prompt response on this matter. Sincerely, Kevin Mileham MP
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GMM. “The DA has objected to this from the start as it will add costs to the consumer. The DA also believes that meters should be installed into those homes that don’t have any meters first before embarking on replacing functional meters. It will help broaden
our customer base and cut down on illegal connections,” says Encee. “Drastic times calls for drastic measures and we have to act now, if we don’t act now we may not have a municipality left in a few months’ time.”
Man dodges bullet Ronald Henriet escaped a headwound by mere millimetres on Friday night when a random bullet blasted through his car’s windshield. He was waiting for the traffic light centre to the Secunda Mall’s middle entrance to change over and was just about to pull away when a bullet shattered the windshield, ripped the dangling refresher off the rear-view mirror and shot out through the front passenger window. “I did hear the bang of a firearm, but did not see the shooter. It was about 18:20 and I had just knocked off from a 12-hour shift.” Ronald was so stunned that he drove straight home. His employer picked him up and took him to the police station. At first, a young policeman attended to them, but refused to take down a statement. “He claimed I was intoxicated,” Ronald said. A second policeman eventually listened to the story. The police inspected Ronald’s vehicle
and found the bullet jacket inside the car. Capt Bettinah Zondo, spokesperson of the Secunda Police, confirmed the police are investigating a random shooting incident, but said no one has yet been arrested.