In a bid to encourage payment for municipal services, the executive mayor of the Matjhabeng Municipality, Thanduxolo Khalipha, has embarked on imbizos to address residents and explain their role in working towards a better municipality.
The imbizos, which kicked off on Sunday (09/01), will be spread across all six units of the municipality.
Khalipha explained on Sunday thatthe municipality was technically bankrupt, making it difficult to run the entity effectively. He cited corruption as a catalyst for the current financial crisis, adding that service providers had previously been prioritised for payments over entities such as Sedibeng Water and Eskom.
Of the R187 million that Matjhabeng was supposed to receive from national treasury, the municipality only received R87 million. Khalipha says R67 million was utilised for salaries and third parties such as pension funds and medical aids. The third parties have not been paid since April 2021.
“Sedibeng Water and Eskom accounts will be prioritised. We will intitiate cost-cutting measures so that more money is made available for employing more locals. We will no longer outsource, and hired sewer trucks and grass cutting contractors, outsourcing our fleet, among others, will no longer be used,” Khalipha said.
He told residents that consequence management would be the order of the day and those found to be doing wrong things would face the full might of the law.
“We are in charge of this municipality, not criminals; we will go toe to toe and fight with those who have been looting, to restore the dignity of our people.”
He said job creation remained a fundamental aspect of improving people’s lives. The municipality is in the process of advertising posts in the infrastructure, corporate services, as well as public safety, directorates. Some units will be moved closer to residents to make services easier to access.
Municipal fleet such as trucks and tractors that have not been working will be inspected and repaired so that outsourcing of the fleet for refuse removal and other services will be stopped. A new fleet will be bought for the municipality by the end of March.
“These measures will save the municipality a substantial amount of money.”
The aim is to do refuse collection regularly and consistently with the acquisition of the new fleet. A schedule is expected to be drawn up and made public.
Other cost-cutting measures include doing away with overtime payments for employees.
“I make a plea to residents to pay for their services. We must all work together to build the ideal Matjhabeng. I understand why paying for services was not a priority in the past, but things have changed for the better and when you pay for your services you will get what you expect from the municipality; we will work harder, smarter and quicker to render quality services to our people,” said Khalipha.
He said Matjhabeng has woken up to a new dawn where its peoples’ needs will be prioritised, where money will go where it is supposed to and where teamwork, dedication, consistency and gusto will be the order of the day.
“We are Team Matjhabeng and we are here to serve you. Let us work together towards building a better society for all our residents.”
