Msunduzi Town Hall.Photo provided
Msunduzi City's acting municipal administrator, Sandile Hrela, said the city will push for the implementation of drastic cost-containment measures that have been approved but not implemented.
The City of Frera issued a memorandum on Wednesday instructing the corporate sector to comply with strict austerity measures necessary to stabilize the city's finances.
Although he did not elaborate on its current financial situation, Mr. Frera's directive also included the possibility that the city would have to consider raising capital or selling the debtor's books to stabilize its finances. .
Other measures include limiting overtime, prohibiting unauthorized employees from taking city vehicles home, and reducing or eliminating the use of insourced consultants.
“The Acting City Manager must take decisive action and write a report to council to terminate all current and future sponsorships that the city cannot financially sustain.” “We are suspending all City Council-funded projects for a period of three months. Reduce security costs by implementing internal security in all municipal buildings,” the memorandum states.
The memorandum called for an end to catering to all parliamentary meetings and limits on travel and living expenses for all staff and members.
Rather than relying on external service providers to collect debts, “radical” internal processes will be introduced for debt collection, and Operation Kuokimari will be overhauled.
Msunduzi's IFP said this could be a sign that the city is bowing down and questioned the work of administrators who have been in and out of the city for about five years.
Umgungundlovu district chairperson Tinasonke Ntombela said overtime abuse and other abuses were not new and went unpunished.
“It comes down to one thing, a lack of results management. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot when it comes to selling the city's debt book. This transaction would put all outstanding accounts into a private company. With the sale, the private company makes a profit by paying a pittance and collecting from the debtor for its own bank account,” Ntombela said.
The state attorney's office accused the city of allowing the situation to worsen by not enforcing existing policies.
Msunduzi caucus leader Ross Strachan said cost containment policies were in place but were being undermined.
“Why hasn't this policy been implemented until now? Why has Congress decided to sponsor events, hold events, and spend wastefully in violation of this policy?
“Why have ministerial representatives never approved these decisions? You have to get your head around it,” Strachan said.
Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkulu Thebola said the cost containment policy was not new, but that Hlera was reminding officials and councilors about the policy.
“This memo was simply a reminder that this is a policy in place to support our recovery plan. We must implement and abide by this policy, but please To answer your question, projects that have budgets in place will not be stopped. What the council will not do is take on new projects that are not budgeted for. Sponsorships or events that the city cannot afford will not take place. “Hmm,” Tevola said.
City spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize said the city adheres to the principles of transparency and accountability and, as a result, is in constant communication with all stakeholders in Msunduzi City.
“We have confirmed that the city has existing cost containment strategies and policies adopted by the City Council,” she said.
“This strategy is in line with Treasury guidelines and aims to eliminate waste of municipal resources on non-essential and non-service delivery activities and further strengthen service delivery.
“Msunduzi residents are confident that the municipality remains committed to providing quality services to everyone and that cost containment measures are in place to carefully manage spending.” Mr Mkhize added.
The Pietermaritzburg Midlands Chamber of Commerce (PMCB) said the “biggest hole” in the city's finances was due to trading losses, with the biggest cause of losses being electricity and water theft.
Melanie Venes, CEO of PMCB, said: “We have a very expensive financial system and accounts with no change in meter readings need to be flagged. In addition, a few years ago, more than 20,000 unpaid meters were bypassed in the city. I believe a report has been commissioned that lists all of the issues going back to 2012.
Venes said the most logical approach would be to deter theft and reverse charge all those who bypassed electricity meters.
“We don’t know what the purpose of the fundraising is, but the revenue stream that was used to increase the city’s coffers should be pursued.
“Increasing revenue through traffic fines, for example, can bring huge benefits through fines issued for illegal parking and stopping, or other traffic violations around the city.
“Putting in place a proper parking system will generate revenue for the council. We will get income from the forest. We used to earn a good income from forestry. Moreover, a lot of money is lost due to corruption. Recovering these funds should be a priority. Lastly, with our finances the way they are, we have no business sponsoring a football team or anyone else. All sponsorships are It should be stopped,” Venes said.
This article first appeared in The Witness.
