‘Improve customer care service’: NCOP tells Emfuleni municipal executives

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The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) delegates has told Emfuleni mayor and his executives to improve customer care service.

This comes after the Gauteng permanent delegates expressed serious concern at the Emfuleni Local Municipality‘s lack of an operational budget to provide basic services to residents. 

The delegates heard that the municipality is not collecting any revenue as residents don’t pay for services, forcing the struggling municipality to scramble for resources to pay Rand Water for water supply.

The chief director of the municipality’s water and sanitation implementation utility (Metsi-a-Lekoa), Madoda Besani reported that the local municipality collects no revenue and that it provides services it can’t afford.

The NCOP is on a weeklong oversight visit to Gauteng to inspect water, sanitation, and human settlement infrastructure to identify and help find solutions to challenges that impede provision of water and sanitation.

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Xihlamariso Ngoveni, NCOP delegate, says as part of their high-impact provincial week oversight programme, members of parliament met with the municipal executives, including mayor Sipho Radebe, and the department of water and sanitation (DWS) team that’s deployed to implement the Section 63 intervention, to exercise oversight on the water and sanitation infrastructure programmes in the area.

“A large chunk of the municipality’s budget pays Eskom debt and to keep the lights on, while other operational imperatives are unfunded,” Ngoveni said.

When asked if the municipal has any operational budget to assist with day-to day operations, municipal manager, April Ntuli confirmed none existed.

He stated that currently, the municipality depends on DWS’ Section 63 intervention budget to fund its activities.

According to Ngoveni, the Section 63 intervention was invoked by the department to effect upgrades and improvements to critical bulk pipelines and pump stations infrastructure.

He added; “The chief director responsible for the intervention, Justice Maluleke told delegates that they procured and handed over sixteen vehicles and tractors to the municipality, but had to register them under Rand Water as the municipality owes different entities that may just attach the assets to recoup the debt”. 

Mayor Radebe reported that some of the challenges emanate from old and dilapidated infrastructure which has far exceeded its design capacity, leading to frequent downtimes, and collapse of sewer lines.

He said blockages of sewer lines are caused by a variety of factors including dumping of foreign objects such as blankets, car tyres, stones and other debris that harm the system.

Delegates bemoaned the seriousness of the challenges facing the municipality and undertook to escalate the matter to the provincial and National government.

They recommended the intervention of the National Treasury and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as well as the Premier and the provincial government.

“They noted some successes reported as part of the Section 63 intervention, and implored the mayor and his executive to improve communication on successes that the municipality has had with upgrades to some strategic treatment plants in the area.

“Delegates told the mayor and his executives to improve customer care service and to take residents along on where the municipality is in terms of the benchmarks and interventions from Rand Water and the DWS,” Ngoveni concluded.

The delegation proceeds with site visits to affected areas in Tshwane on Wednesday, and conclude the site visits at the Lillian Ngoyi street (formerly Bree Street) explosion site on Thursday.