There was alarm in Council on Thursday morning 29 January, as officials reported that the capital budget has not been spent in the first half of the 2014/15 financial year.
There was alarm in Council on Thursday morning 29 January, as officials reported that the capital budget has not been spent in the first half of the 2014/15 financial year.
Councillors expressed concern at the implications this had for service-delivery.
This was the first special council meeting of the year.
There, Mayor Zamuxolo Peter tabled the draft annual report, the mid-year budget and performance assessment report for the 2014/15 financial year, as well as the budget adjustment for the same year.
Despite the intervention plan currently being implemented by Bhisho-appointed administrator Pam Yako, there are still serious cash flow problems in Makana Municipality.
Acting Municipal Manager Busi Khumalo told the council that the debt collection rate at the Makana is currently at 66% – although this year's budget is based on a 75% collection rate.
She said Makana residents still weren't coughing up.
"I don't know why the Makana community is not paying for their services – whether it is resistance, or there is an issue of affordability," she said. In the mid-year budget and performance assessment reports, Khumalo revealed that from 1 July to the 31 December 2014, the municipality's total revenue was R225.9 million.
Blame
This was only 59% of the annual budget of R382m.
Councillors were also concerned that the total arears debt had suddenly decreased from R242m to R 105.3m. Khumalo said she would investigate the matter with the finance department.
Only 20% of the capital budget was spent in the past six months according to the report.
This revelation sparked debate in Council, with directors directly in the firing line. Councillor Pierre Ranchhod even suggested directors should start spending the ring-fenced funding, or be fired.
Yako, however, pointed out that in the period covered in the report, there were many possible valid reasons for underspending. "We need to come up with a plan to speed up spending, as opposed to blaming each other," Yako said. "Already there are threats from National Treasury to withdraw grant funding if it is not spent.
"[Blaming] will not resolve the immediate problem. We need a plan," Yako said.
The mayor suggested that Council mandate Yako's office to appoint service providers to fast-track spending before the end of the financial year.
"We took this resolution last year in Council," Peter said. "Maybe we need to say the office of the administrator and the acting municipal manager must do whatever it takes to ensure that we are spending."
No Project Unit
Currently there is no Project Management Unit in Makana, as most of the staff have resigned. This, said Technical Services director Emmanuel Myalato, delayed some projects.
Myalato told the council that in one project, two contractors who were not performing had been fired.
The current contractor was not on site because Makana owed him R1m.
According to the report tabled in Council yesterday (Thursday), Eskom is the municipality's largest creditor, owed over R60m.
"With limited cash availability, it has been challenging for the municipality to repay the full debt, particularly the long outstanding debt with interest, and all proposed payment plans have been rejected."
Meanwhile, members of the Makana Civil Society Coalition had anticipated that yesterday's meeting would see the naming of a new municipal manager. In an open letter to Yako, the Coalition felt that in the interest of transparency, the public should be informed about the appointment of senior managers.
"The constitution and the Municipal Systems Act (2000) sets out clearly that the community must be involved in local government… we therefore respectfully demand that the administrator informs the Coalition of the names, qualifications and work experience of the candidates for all senior positions recently appointed or recommended to be appointed by Council," the letter reads.
In the letter, the Coalition also asked the administrator to give them a date and time when they could inspect the documentation of the candidates, including their track records.
