Municipality owe Bloem water over R400 million

Local News/25 November 2021, 07:17am / Mandla Nkosi

kopanong local municipality logo

Tromsburg: Cash strapped Kopanong Local Municipality in Free State, continues to swim in a pool of debts, this is after water entity BloemWater, which also supplies the Mangaung Metro, disclose that the local municipality struggles to pay their debt.

According to BloemWater’s Maruping Rapudungoane, municipality owes the entity a whopping R489.4 million, the municipality’ account increased after it failed to pay since July 2021.

Rapudungoane indicates that, the Municipality is unable to keep up with the payment commitment plan due to it’s financial status.

However, the municipality previously defended itself saying, it wasn’t getting sufficient funds from revenue collection to offer the large number of qualifying residents, basic services, such as water and electricity, for free.

Previously Free State Head of Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Mokete Duma, also told The Insider that the department, together with the municipality, had developed a financial recovery plan aimed at dealing with the financial crisis in the municipality.

Meanwhile in Mangaung, the Metro has committed itself to an agreement that they will pay the water entity in the second week of December, and the full balance will be paid in January 2022.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between the Metro and the entity, in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo.

The agreement led to the full restoration of water in Mangaung.