THE White River town council is on the verge of bankruptcy, owes ABSA and life assurance giant Sanlam more than R12-million – an amount the council says it is unable to repay. Sanlam has meanwhile announced that it is suing the council for R3,1-million, for a loan granted before the 1994 elections. “Although White River is not bankrupt yet, we are certainly in the rapids. We are in big trouble if subsidies of some R3-million due to us are not paid, because this year alone our subsidy was cut by R2-million,” said White River town clerk Cas le Roux. Le Roux said that Absa pulled out of talks with the council at a “critical stage” — leaving the council to pick up the tab for certain capital projects such as upgrading sewage systems, water purifying works and water storage capacity which were started on the basis of Absa’s pledges.