Metro owed R105m

Kouga debt grows to R49m and provincial departments also in arrears

Several government departments and a neighbouring municipality owe Nelson Mandela Bay R105-million for services such as electricity and water.

This was revealed during a budget and treasury committee meeting yesterday.

Almost half of the money is owed by the Kouga Municipality, with the local authority in arrears for R49-million since January, according to a report tabled at the meeting.

Eastern Cape government departments such as health, education, roads and public works owe close to R32-million dating back to January.

During the committee meeting, budget and treasury political head Retief Odendaal blamed the previous administration for neglecting to bill the Kouga Municipality properly.

“The previous council was under-billing Kouga until the new systems came into place and that is when their debt reached this amount,” Odendaal said.

He said there were talks between the two municipalities about how to resolve the debt.