GMM Mayor’s State of the Municipality address unfounded, says opposition parties.
The Govan Mbeki Municipality’s Executive Mayor, Cllr NG Zuma, delivered his State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) on Friday 19 May 2023 and opposition parties did not approve.
In his address, Zuma spoke about the struggle and liberation heroes that stem from this area, in particular, Bethal. He also sang praise to Lilian Ngoyi as a woman in the struggle, all in celebration of Women’s Month.
Zuma stated that Bethal should be restored to a town that would reflect its status as an old town and a town that produces struggle heroes.
Zuma claimed that Slavery was rampant in the Bethal area and that many young people lost their lives, and their bodies turned into fertilizer.
Zuma painted a rosy picture regarding the status of Bethal town, saying that there is so much improvement that Eskom allowed GMM to do their own load shedding. He spoke a lot about the status of Bethal and the ongoing struggles of the people of Bethal.
“We want to be the best City in Givan Mbeki by the year 2030,” said Zuma. He acknowledged the huge debts to Eskom and Rand Water saying that “If everyone will pay their accounts GMM will be able to pay Eskom and Rand Water.” The debtors’ book is currently approximately R3,6B (R3 600 000 000,00).
When speaking of the water shortages, Zuma blamed several factors for the problems. Some mentioned were: Load shedding, ageing infrastructure, vandalism and Rand Water downtimes. He also blames illegal water connections for the water shortages. He also blamed external factors for the Eskom debt.
While the Utopia of a “Model City of Excellence by 2030” was raised several projects were announced. Some of these projects were already paid for but will have to be redone such as the Multipurpose Centre in Emzinoni, The stadium in Lebohang, The roads in eMbalenhle and the Sewer reticulation in eMbalenhle.
A new monument is also promised and calls were made to “patriotic” donors to come to the fore.
Both the main opposition parties namely the DA and the VF+ were unimpressed by the SOMA. The DA called it hollow while the VF+ said that the Mismanagement of GMM continues.
The DA said that the more serious issue of service delivery was not addressed.
Here are both statements as released by the two opposition parties.
Govan Mbeki Mayor delivers hollow state of the municipality address
by Encee van Huyssteen – DA Councillor Govan Mbeki Local Municipality
Govan Mbeki, Executive Mayor, Nhlakanipho Zuma, during his State of the Municipality’s address completely misrepresented the dire state of affairs in the municipality.
The Mayor refused to take responsibility for the water and electricity crisis in Bethal. He attributed the municipality’s lack of water to load shedding. The mayor went on to lambast other role players for the municipality’s shortcomings.
He whined about illegal electricity connections and vandalism. Not once did he mention the municipality’s lack of infrastructure- maintenance or replacement plans. Zuma complained about the high demand for electricity but would not speak about the failed agreement with Gert Sibande District to help with the power nor did he speak about the municipality’s failure to service its Eskom debt.
The mayor went on to promise repairs and upgrades that were beyond the municipality’s financial capabilities, these include:
Finalisation of road projects in eMbalenhle – These were paid for, taken back as internal projects, and then now outsourced again.
Revamping of the Johannes Steggman Theatre – This is after R3m meant for upgrading this theatre disappeared.
Rebuilding of the stadium in Lebohang – This comes after more than R10m was spent on this project.
Refurbishment of a multipurpose centre in Emzinoni – This comes after it was handed over by the contractor around 2016 but never finalized and has since been vandalized.
Revival of cemeteries in townships
Spending money on various festivals and tournaments
Creating a monument in a public space.
Zuma’s speech was more of a campaign dialogue aimed at luring gullible voters back to the ANC. The notion that Govan Mbeki will be the best municipality in Mpumalanga by 2030 is fictitious.
Govan Mbeki is run by cadres who are self-centred. This became evident recently when they decided to increase the mayoral committee by two new MMC’s. This move was ill-advised and shortsighted considering that the municipality is cash-strapped and has an unfunded budget.
The DA calls for the intervention of CoGTA in Govan Mbeki. Residents deserve a functional government that will prioritize service delivery.
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Mismanagement of Govan Mbeki Municipality continues unsustainably
(Municipality Opening Address: Govan Mbeki Local Municipality)
by: Aranda Nel-Buitendag, FF Plus councillor: Govan Mbeki Local Municipality
The mounting decline of the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality (GMM) makes it abundantly clear that this Municipality is just one more sinking ship under ANC rule.
During the municipal opening address on Friday, it was apparent that the ANC’s only solution to the crisis is making more empty promises and increasing already exorbitant taxes and levies.
The Executive Mayor, Mr Nhlakanipho Zuma, repeatedly played the race card during his opening address and kept blaming the previous dispensation.
At present, this Municipality (Bethal, Charl Cilliers, Embalenhle, Evander, Kinross, Leandra, Secunda, Trichardt) is one of the greatest failures when it comes to service delivery and municipal management.
The Municipality is failing to fulfil its legal obligations, residents are affected by poor service delivery, and there is no political or administrative leadership.
Instability characterises the Municipality and residents are plagued by a serious service delivery vacuum. Water and sewage infrastructure is not maintained and as a result, raw sewage is polluting most towns.
Mr Zuma’s planning for 2030 leaves much to be desired. It offers the same promises made in 2021 during the local opening address.
Many projects never got off the ground or simply do not comply with the relevant standards; including the failed sewage project of R100 million in Embalenhle.
Mr Zuma commends those who served as mayors of GMM since 2000 for their good and constructive work even though the Municipality has been plunged into debt, which includes the staggering Eskom debt of R3,5 billion and Rand Water’s R668 million bill.
Residents deserve a municipality that fulfils its legal obligations and provides them with quality service delivery.
So, it is unacceptable that the Mayor wants to keep going down the same old path without making radical changes in direction.
It is unclear how the residents of Govan Mbeki will have immediate relief from the water shortages and load-shedding. Some politicians called the address a political ploy as the Mayor included the ATM councillor in his Mayoral Committee. He increased the Mayoral Committee from 5 to 7 while the municipality is struggling to make ends meet.
ANC councillors applauded the mayor when he delivered his speech.
The 2024 elections are about 12 months away and only then will residents be able to either show their support to this address or show their disapproval.
Until then, we will have to wait and see
