ActionSA calls for urgent intervention in Emfuleni municipality crisis

ACTIONSA has ramped up pressure on Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo, demanding that Emfuleni Local Municipality be placed under mandatory administration.

- MASABATA MKWANANZI

The party said years of financial mismanagement, collapsing infrastructure, and failed service delivery have pushed the municipality beyond the point of recovery without urgent national intervention.

"It is now imperative that the Gauteng Provincial Government invoke Section 139(5) of the Constitution and place Emfuleni Local Municipality under mandatory administration, with the full oversight of National Treasury."

ActionSA Gauteng provincial chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni MPL, has criticised the ongoing oversight failures in Emfuleni, warning that years of ineffective and incomplete interventions under Section 139(1)(b) have allowed the municipality to slide into what he described as a "full-blown crisis."

Ngobeni stressed that Emfuleni's dire financial state is undeniable, citing the municipality's R7.1 billion debt to Eskom and mounting arrears with Rand Water as key indicators of its insolvency.

He added that massive service delivery failures, including 62% water losses and 22% electricity losses - amounting to over R750 million in annual lost revenue - have left basic services out of reach for many residents.