'Ekurhuleni coalition paying off' as ratings agency moves metro to stable

The Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality has been upgraded from junk status to stable. 

The FF+ announced this on Thursday, saying it showed that efforts of the coalition government’s hard work to restore financial stability to the council had paid off.

The FF+,  which is a partner in the coalition government, said the GCR ratings agency just upgraded the metro’s status. The party said last week that Gauteng co-operative governance, traditional affairs and human settlements MEC Lebogang Maile named Ekurhuleni as the best-performing metro and municipality in Gauteng.

“The new status could not have been achieved without the coalition government's sheer determination to successfully manage the metro's finances. Ekurhuleni is the only metro council in Gauteng whose monthly Eskom bill is fully paid,” the FF+ said.

It said success was achieved through strict credit control, which was predominantly imposed on large businesses and government institutions. The party said the coalition government works hard to improve infrastructure in a metro where there have been almost no upgrades to infrastructure for the past 21 years.

“The Ekurhuleni metro council has cut back all wasteful expenditure and even the recent state of the city address, which is usually a lavish event, was a simple affair. All vanity projects such as erecting figurines and installing benches in the metro have been stopped.”

The FF+ said the coalition government has accomplished a lot in just four months, but cannot solve all the problems overnight.

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