President’s Office to investigate ELM non-payment of service providers
With almost R300 million owed to long-suffering service providers by ELM, business in desperation for some cash flow before the Festive Season have turned to President Cyril Ramaphosa – and almost immediately received a positive reply.
Thousands of employees in the Vaal and elsewhere now face a dismal Festive Season and possibly even job losses due to non-payment by ELM.
Now the Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce (GTCoC) has turned directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa and has written to his Office at the Union Buildings in Tshwane to resolve this worsening crisis.
President Ramaphosa’s Office is understood to have responded positively to the GTCoC plea by writing back within a few days, Mooivaal Media has learned.
President Ramaphosa has expressed major concern at non-payment of service providers by all levels of Government but especially at municipal level where most job opportunities are created or lost due to mismanagement by local authorities.
GTCoC CEO Klippies Kritzinger was not available for comment before publication.
President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko did not respond to a Mooivaal Media inquiry this week whether the GTCoC letter would be brought directly to the attention of the President and ELM spokesperson Stan Gaba was also unavailable for comment.
ELM is understood to have more than 360 service providers on its procurement system. Scores receive either only partial payment or no payment at all, sometimes even more than a year at a time, causing widespread economic hardship and job losses in the Vaal and elsewhere.
Many unpaid service providers now face the threat of closure due to non-payment by ELM, which ironically is trying to attract companies to the Vaal despite rapidly-crumbling service infrastructure which cannot support even existing businesses.
Yet the embattled local authority still appoints service providers knowing payments will be erratic if at all and despite massive mismanagement of its existing revenue stream which has led to huge debt to power and water bulk utility providers Eskom and Rand Water.
Earlier this year Kritzinger wrote an open letter to ELM on the crisis and said payment of service providers by the municipality was the lifeblood of the local economy and that ELM should use as many local services as possible.
Service providers provided goods and services at great expense and were then not paid, leading to potential business closures.
Companies desperate for payment have called Mooivaal Media to highlight the gravity of their plight and the threat ELM mismanagement poses to the regional Vaal economy and especially the township economy.
Written by Craig Kotze and originally published in the Sedibeng Ster