uMngeni Municipality has come out guns blazing accusing the the Msunduzi Municipality of cheap politicking after the capital city pulled the plug on uMngeni due to an unpaid bill. UMngeni Municipality mayor Chris Pappas. Picture: Thami Magubane
DURBAN - UMNGENI Local Municipality has come out guns blazing accusing the Msunduzi Municipality of cheap politicking, disrespect and showing poor intergovernmental relations after the capital city’s council released a statement announcing it was disconnecting uMngeni’s electricity due to an unpaid bill.
UMngeni said it found the public statement to be in poor taste.
Msundusi released a statement on Friday stating that it would be disconnecting uMngeni due to a R3.5 million unpaid electricity bill.
The statement comes just a few days after uMngeni revealed that it was laying the groundwork to regain control of supply of electricity to the Hilton suburbs.
Hilton falls under uMngeni but its electricity is supplied by Msunduzi.
This area, councillors in both municipalities confirmed, had a high collection rate and contributed significantly to Msunduzi’s revenue.
UMngeni mayor Chris Pappas said the announcement smacked of politicking and disrespect and had further strengthened their resolve to source electricity supplies elsewhere and not from Msunduzi.
Msunduzi said the disconnection illustrated the tough stance that the municipality had taken to recoup the millions of rand owed to it by government, business and residents. It said uMngeni was issued with a notice monthly; however, no response had been received.
A final demand was issued in November last year and on Friday disconnection was carried out, it said.
The municipality said it remained undeterred in its quest to enforce credit control measures and it would vigorously pursue all the culprits who were contributing to the debtors book.
Pappas said they would pay by tomorrow.
“I was surprised that they released a statement to say they would be disconnecting us for such a small amount. The area that has been affected is the town hall in Hilton. It is surprising they would disconnect us for such a small amount when they are owed so much by others and government departments.
“This is poor intergovernmental relations. They are just playing cheap politics,” said Pappas.
His council felt disrespected by the move and could not rule out that the move was in retaliation after uMngeni went public with its plans to regain control of the electricity supply in Hilton.
He said the act further strengthened their resolve to take over electricity supplies in Hilton.
“We contribute a lot to their revenue. If this is how they treat their customers, just like a person can change grocery stores, we are going to look to change where we get our (electricity) supplies. It’s not going to happen overnight but it will happen.”
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson Senzo Mzila said they did not speak on matters of individual municipalities and their customers.
THE MERCURY