Tshwane takes tough stance on defaulting Madibeng

The City of Tshwane has switched off electricity supply to Madibeng due to unpaid debt.

Madibeng Local Municipality in the North West owes the City of Tshwane R20 million for the supply of electricity.

Tshwane mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya said Madibeng had made arrangements to service the debt but failed to honour the agreement.

“We are in Madibeng. We are going to switch them off. This municipality owes us R20 million,” said Moya, who accompanied a team of municipal workers to switch off electricity supply to Madibeng on Monday.

“We have been here before. We switched them off. They would ask for an arrangement and then renege on the arrangement. It is unsustainable for us. We cannot provide electricity or services that are not paid for.

“For me, I am going to take a very tough stance on this municipality because people are paying them and they do not prioritise us,” she said.

The City of Tshwane, which is in Gauteng, supplies electricity to Hartbeespoort Dam in Madibeng Local Municipality in the North West province.

During the switch-off, which formed part of the City of Tshwane’s revenue collection campaign, Tshwane Ya Tima (Tshwane switches off), Sunway and Refentse were disconnected.

The Island Estate in Hartbeespoort Dam was also switched off. The estate owes Tshwane R6 million.

Graeme Pepla, a DA councillor in Ward 30 in Madibeng, said Tshwane has switched off electricity to Madibeng three times in the past nine months.

He said Madibeng made a payment in December towards the arrears under the agreed payment arrangement but failed to pay the November account, leading to Tshwane switching off Sunway and Refentse.

He said electricity was reconnected on Tuesday afternoon after the discrepancy was resolved between Tshwane and Madibeng.

“From the DA perspective, it is a little bit of mismanagement on the side of the council to come to an agreement with other councils and not honour the agreement as it is written,” he said.

The Freedom Front Plus said it has repeatedly warned that Madibeng Local Municipality’s deteriorating financial position, particularly its failure to maintain acceptable and sustainable payment arrangements with bulk service providers such as the City of Tshwane, Eskom and Rand Water , would inevitably lead to service disruptions affecting residents.

“The current electricity switch-off by the City of Tshwane, reportedly linked to an outstanding debt of approximately R20 million, is unfortunately a direct consequence of long-standing financial mismanagement, weak governance and the municipality’s failure to ring-fence service-related revenue. This situation did not arise overnight, nor was it unavoidable,” said Guillaume Clouston, a Freedom Front Plus councillor in Madibeng.

He said they had consistently raised concerns about irregular expenditure, poor financial controls and a lack of consequence management in Madibeng.

“We call on Madibeng Local Municipality to urgently stabilise its financial position, engage transparently and proactively with bulk service providers, and implement credible long-term payment and recovery plans to prevent further service interruptions.”