The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has been dealt a fresh blow by National Treasury that could see the metro forfeit more than half-a-billion rand due to severe underspending.
The latest threat comes after finance minister Enoch Godongwana halted the transfer of R591-million of the city's grant and equitable share funding in July 2023.
DA caucus leader in the metro, Retief Odendaal, said that squabble was “due to the manipulated irregular appointment of a CEO for the municipal entity, the Mandela Bay Development Agency, allegedly to facilitate state capture”.
In a letter dated 12 February 2023, National Treasury deputy director-general responsible for intergovernmental relations, Malijeng Ngqaleni said the municipality had seven working days to respond and motivate why it should retain the funds, something the DA said it would sure gets done.
Ngqaleni said failing this, National Treasury intended to cut among others, the grant for bulk water infrastructure and the expanded public works programme.
“These devastating cuts would severely hamper the Metro's ability to provide even the most basic of services to certain areas of NMB, hamper the city's ability to provide temporary employment opportunities through its Expanded Public Works Programme, and severely hamper the rollout of critical infrastructure projects,” Odendaal said.
He said the DA would liaise with the municipality's chief financial officer, Selwyn Thys, "to ensure that the metro fights to retain this funding".
ActionSA’s Eastern Cape premier-candidate Athol Trollip said the party was alarmed, but not surprised.
“The possible forfeiture of these funds will have devastating consequences for the City and its long-suffering communities, given the critical role these various grants play in the metro's development and the well-being of its residents,” Trollip said in a statement.
“It is crucial for the residents of this metro to be aware that these grants focus on critical areas, contributing to the improvement of their lives, job creation, and a necessary boost to the local economy.
“The revelation that the city's expenditure reports, as at 31 December 2023, are below the 40% threshold is deeply troubling, indicating a clear failure in financial management and woeful project execution by the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.”
