By Sihle Mavuso
The cash-strapped Nongoma local municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal has been facing financial difficulties for months, according to letters obtained by Scrolla.Africa.
Due to its financial struggles, the municipality believes it will end the year with a R58-million shortfall.
This disclosure is contained in a letter from the mayor, Clifford Ndabandaba, to Barbara Mgutshini, the head of the KZN cooperative governance and traditional affairs department, and the then-acting MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni.
The letter is dated 30 April 2024. In it, Ndabandaba explained the municipality’s financial challenges and appeared to follow up on a request for a financial bailout from the department.
“As indicated in the correspondence dated 11 April 2024, wherein the municipality requested grant funding from the Department, the municipality does have a cashflow problem.
“It is projected that at year-end, the municipality will have a cash deficit of R58,590,898.50. This is caused by the timing difference between the collection of receivables and payment of outstanding creditors from the prior year,” Ndabandaba wrote.
“This is, in fact, a backlog cashflow. It should be indicated that despite the quagmire the municipality finds itself in, it is functional in all other aspects,” reads part of the letter.
Ndabandaba did not respond to written questions from Scrolla.Africa, and his phone went unanswered.
The municipality is run by an ANC, EFF, and NFP coalition after the IFP was ousted in June last year.
The latest developments follow reports that municipality staff are angry after learning that the municipality has not been paying their pension contributions since April this year.
The employees were notified via SMS that the municipality has not been making contributions to the KZN Joint Municipal Pension Fund. The fund asked the employees to contact the municipality over the matter.
Pictured above: Nongoma municipality has had financial issues for months.
Source: Sihle Mavuso
