The DA in Musina has written to acting Municipal Manager, Midas Mudau, demanding consequence management over an alleged debt of over R155 000 to the Musina Local municipality for rates, taxes and municipal services for a restaurant co-owned by the municipality’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) , Mr Liston Murulana. Mudau must also investigate any municipal debt incurred personally by Murulana.
The municipality has been characterised by political infighting, high vacancy rates, significant debt to Eskom in excess of R16 million, failure to effectively collect revenue and has had historical service delivery challenges that include failure to effectively manage water, refuse removal and sanitation services.
The non-payment by the CFO who is tasked with ensuring revenue collection and credit control measures are effective within the municipality jeopardises service delivery and creates a culture of non-payment, making it harder to collect municipal fees from residents.
According to the Code of Conduct for municipal staff members in the Municipal Systems Act a staff member of a municipality may not be in arrears to the municipality for rates and service charges for a period longer than 3 months and a municipality may deduct any outstanding amounts from a staff members salary after this period. The non -payment by office bearers may also potentially be considered serious misconduct requiring investigation.
Acting Municipal Manager Mudau, must investigate the full extent of all debt owed to the municipality by Murulana in a personal and business capacity, and disciplinary action should be implemented. The municipality should also disconnect services for Murulana just like any other resident, it is unacceptable that a senior municipal official is seemingly given preferential treatment and is above the law while residents suffer.
The DA also calls for Mudau to urgently address:
– financial mismanagement in the municipality.
– Electricity cut – off to debtors including bad debts.
– Crackdown on illegal Electricity connections
– Prioritise failing sanitation and refuse removal services
The DA demands accountability, transparency and the recovery of financial losses by the municipality. We will continue to monitor this issue until it is resolved, the people of Musina deserve better.