Gauteng in bid to address Emfuleni chaos

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This is one example of poor service delivery which Gauteng Provincial MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Lebogang Maile is to fix at the Emfuleni municipality

by GENEVIEVE KGAFE-MASHAMBA
EMFULENI, (CAJ News) THE Gauteng Provincial Government will this week meet stakeholders in the troubled Emfuleni metro that has been
placed under administration amid poor service delivery and soaring debt.

Lebogang Maile, the Member of the Executive Committee (MEC): Cooperative Governance, will lead a delegation of the government as it implements strategies to save the ailing municipality.

Numerous recovery interventions since 2018 have not produced the desired outcome.

“There was a lapse on our side due to the 2019 local elections, which
saw the Emfuleni administrator elected as city manager, apart from that
we were faced with other challenges,” Maile explained.

He said they would implement the same intervention model used in the
capital, Tshwane, which is also marred by similar challenges.

“We want stability come the next elections,” Maile said.

“We want to see Emfuleni financially viable and can provide services to
the citizens, for now the service is uneven and not satisfactory.”

Emfuleni has deteriorated into a problem child for the province.

In 2018, Premier David Makhura placed the municipality under
administration as the metro could not fulfill its executive obligations.

Then, it was facing major economic, financial and service delivery
problems.

A month ago, Democratic Alliance (DA) provincial leader, John Moodley called on Maile to place Emfuleni under administration after the municipality was said to owe power utility, Eskom, R2,3 billion.

A High Court ruling culminated in the seizure of the municipality’s
assets.

The municipality last week appointed current Director General of the
Provincial Cooperative Governance Department, Willy Bila, as the new
administrator.

– CAJ News

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