Emfuleni Local Municipality said negotiations are underway with Rand Water after its bank account was attached over a R1.8 billion debt, plunging the cash-strapped municipality into crisis and leaving essential services, including fire and refuse operations, at a standstill.
This comes after Rand Water demanded R448 million last week, but the municipality could only pay R200 million, triggering the attachment. The move has crippled key departments reliant on fuel, including electricity, refuse collection and emergency services, pushing operations to a near standstill.
The municipality said negotiations are ongoing, with a new fuel supply contract awaiting signature. However, without access to funds, essential vehicles including fire trucks and waste collection fleet remain inactive.
Kingsol Chabalala, Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate in Emfuleni, condemned the situation as a failure of leadership.
“The attachment of Emfuleni Local Municipality bank accounts by Rand Water over a R1.8 billion debt is a clear sign of a municipality in crisis. This is the result of years of failed leadership, financial mismanagement, and a complete breakdown in accountability,” he said.
Reliable sources told The Star that firefighters have been unable to respond to emergencies in some areas for two weeks, with stations in Vanderbijlpark, Evaton, and Vereeniging affected.
On Thursday, March 19, a fire broke out at Sebokeng Hospital, but responders had to wait an hour as fire trucks in Evaton lacked fuel and had to rely on backup from Vanderbijlpark.
Chabalala said the fuel shortages point to a deeper collapse within the municipality.
“It is a complete collapse of leadership. A municipality that can’t keep petrol and diesel in its tanks cannot collect refuse, cannot respond to emergencies, and cannot maintain basic infrastructure. Residents are being failed at every level. This crisis was preventable. It speaks to poor planning, weak financial management, and a lack of accountability,” he added.
He said that if elected mayor, he would prioritise proper budgeting and ring-fencing of funds for essential services, ensure transparent fuel procurement processes with strict oversight, introduce contingency planning to avoid service disruption, and enforce consequence management for failures.
The DA also urged both Rand Water and Emfuleni officials to urgently resolve the impasse and ensure residents receive the services they pay for.
Councillor Maureen Dosoudil, Chief Whip of the DA Emfuleni Caucus, added that “every effort must be made to stabilise the situation before residents continue paying the price for this mismanagement.”
Municipal Finance MMC Hassan Mako confirmed the operational challenges but said the situation is being addressed.
“There have been challenges and this is as a result of the contract expiring of the service provider that used to supply us with fuel. Anyway, we are on the verge of appointing today's municipal manager to sign off the appointment letter of the new contract, which will be delivered through the municipality,” he said.
On the bank account attachment, Mako admitted: “That is true. What was requested from us is an amount of 448 million and we were able to pay 200 million. Just last week, there was a shortfall. We are not able to get this one yet to implement.”
The Star
masabata.mkwananzi@inl.co.za