Nelson Mandela Bay’s only animal pound is on the verge of closing its doors after the municipality failed to pay more than R160,000 owed to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) since July.
This has put the fate of 160 animals housed at the Uitenhage facility in limbo, with officials worried they could have to put them down.
However, the municipality says it is treating the matter as a priority and has blamed the nonpayment on there being no valid service contract after the last one expired.
While the nonprofit organisation struggles to feed animals on site, it has also not paid weekly salaries to 14 staff members, SPCA district chair Deirdre Swift revealed.
In addition, Swift was forced to close the pound designated for stray animals earlier in September as a result of the nonpayment.
The closure means the municipality is no longer picking up stray or unwanted animals to send to the pound.
The contract between the SPCA and the municipality lapsed in 2015 and, as an interim measure, the city had a month-to-month contract with the SPCA, which expired in June.
“This is a complete and utter mess,” Swift said on Wednesday.
“There are probably a lot of animals out in areas that should’ve come in. [Animals] that could be suffering but they have not been brought in.
“The fact that [the municipality] has not paid is contributing to animal cruelty.”
Former public health portfolio head and ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said the public health department had been set to advertise a tender in August after the contract with the SPCA came to an end.
Grootboom, who was at the helm at the time, said he had treated the matter as urgent.
“We were going to give them [SPCA] the services, but we were going to do it through the proper channels to comply with the [Municipal Finance Management Act].”
Grootboom said the delayed payments could be as a result of the month-to-month contract not being renewed.
“The process of payment also happens because invoices are sent when it is late.”
Swift said the SPCA had tried to resolve the administrative matters as far back as May and she had submitted all the necessary documents then.
She said that, according to a service-level agreement, the municipality’s animal control unit picked up stray animals and sent them to the facility.
The municipality then paid the SPCA for its services on a monthly basis.
Due to delays in payments, the SPCA uses its own money raised through donations for operational costs, and the municipality reimburses it.
This has, however, not happened since July.
Swift warned that donors who had been supporting the SPCA for many years could back out.
“Without public support, the SPCA will cease to exist.
“If they [municipality] don’t pay us we have limited resources.” she said.
“The bottom line is that if we can’t get money in, those animals that are on site are going to have to be put down.
“The public will be furious if healthy animals are put down simply because we can’t afford to feed them.
“The municipality has used our money – it is now jeopardising the lives of these animals.”
Swift said she had been trying to get the municipality to pay back the money since June.
“I have been trying since June to adjudicate with the metro’s animal control unit to try to get them to make these payments and I’ve just been ignored.
“I don’t have the money to buy lucerne and feed livestock.
“Our money has been exhausted because we have paid this R161,000 and they haven’t paid us back.”
On Tuesday, Swift had to break the news to her staff that they would not be getting their weekly salaries yet.
Of the 14 staff members, four work in the office while 10 tend to the animal’s veterinary needs and clean kennels daily.
“They understand the situation. [But] they are very unhappy,” she said.
“They rely very heavily on these salaries to pay their rent and feed their children.”
She said she had tried to explain to the workers that they would be paid soon.
“It is very disappointing. We have had numerous meetings with the metro.
“This is the third time this year that it has put us in this position,” Swift said.
She said the municipality had previously also failed to pay it earlier this year, but the facility had not been on the brink of closing its doors then.
“Public health has a mandate to have an operational pound.
“It’s disappointing that the council is failing the community, not just the animals.
“People rely heavily on us to assist them,” Swift said.
Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said the matter was being handled as a priority.
“The reason for the nonpayment is that there is no valid service contract between the municipality and the SPCA as the historical contract expired at the end of June 2018.”
He said for regular payments to take place a contract needed to be in place.
“There must be a valid contract between the person receiving payment and the municipality in line with the financial legal framework.”
Mniki could not, however, say when the matter would be resolved.
“All role-players, public health, supply chain, legal services [and] corporate services are working tirelessly to resolve the regulation red tape to ensure services continue in a regular manner.”