The Democratic Alliance (DA) accused the Nokeng tsa Taemane municipality on Friday of hiding the truth by denying it faced collapse and needed R20-million from Gauteng province to survive.
The municipality includes Cullinan, east of Pretoria.
The DA repeated its claim that municipal manager Mpho Mogale wrote to local government minister Qedani Mahlangu, asking: ”We hereby request that consideration be given to financially supporting the Nokeng Tsa Taemane local municipality in the amount of R20-million to ensure the continued financial viability of the municipality.”
Mogale denied the claim, but admitted the municipality had a cash-flow problem, and said plans were already in place to deal with it.
”This is not true. There are a lot of things happening within the municipality, which we have identified and we are currently working on them,” Mogale said on Thursday.
These include the upgrading of systems as well as measures to deal with a skills shortage.
Mogale said the municipality held a workshop, which included members of the opposition, and that a report about its financial status was made.
”Although the report was meant to be private, we mentioned we had cash-flow problems and with the plans we already put in place, we will not be needing any money from local government.”
On Friday, the DA said Mogale’s response was a cover-up. It accused the municipality of overspending and failing to collect revenue.
The DA claimed that when it controlled the municipality in the past, the billing system had been functional and revenues were collected. The municipality is now controlled by the African National Congress.
The provincial department of local government was not immediately available for comment. — Sapa