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The DA in Mantsopa Local Municipality has regularly tabled solutions in Council to improve revenue collection.

Also, by conducting regular audits of all broken street lights, potholed roads, overflowing manholes, broken water pipes and other service delivery failures, we have attempted to assist the municipality in speeding up the repair of infrastructure.

However, the solutions from the DA have been rejected by Council and ignored by the municipality.

During a recent Council meeting, the municipality admitted that it has been sabotaging the revenue recovery plan. The admission includes;

• Bypassing of installed water and electricity meters;
• Mismanagement of equipment and stores for replacements;
• Lack of replacement of unserviceable meters; and
• The inability to ensure revenue collection from residents.

The mismanagement and sabotage have led to various problems. It has come to light that the municipality’s electrical staff have been directed to disconnect wiring to street lights. The reason is to stop "shorts" from happening due to unmaintained infrastructure. This is contradictory to the municipality's explanation that it had no cherry picker and lacked light bulbs.

The lack of maintenance and mismanagement of scarce resources have negatively impacted the community. The DA have demanded an investigation and audit of all installed water and electricity meters as well as broken street lights.

Issued by Tania Halse - DA Councillor Mantsopa Municipality