Residents of Vanderbijlpark were left disappointed and unable to resolve their issues this morning after the Emfuleni Local Municipality’s customer service centre in Paul Kruger Street, Vanderbijlpark, was closed.
The centre was closed because Emfuleni failed to pay the monthly rent of R6,4 million. The Municipality has been leasing the building, which houses over 100 offices, since 2018.
In the past, the property owner locked the building’s doors – three times last year and twice this year – due to non-payment.
The building, commonly known as the OK Building, accommodates the Finance Department where residents can report billing errors and settle utility accounts.
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has already raised the issue with the Mayor, Mr Sipho Radebe, who was unable to provide a solution.
In the meantime, residents face the risk of having their services unlawfully or unnecessarily disconnected.
The closure follows closely on the heels of a report by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), which recommended that Emfuleni be placed under full Section 139 administration, with financial control transferred to the Provincial or National Treasury.
The Freedom Front Plus will keep pressuring the Mayor and Municipal Manager, April Ntuli, to settle the outstanding lease amount.
Residents have suffered under the maladministration of the ANC-controlled Emfuleni Local Municipality for long enough now.
