Dear residents of Makana Municipality
We are in the last month of 2017 and as we all know this year came with its fair share of challenges. With that said we have managed to pull through under very difficult financial challenges. This is for many people a period to sit back and relax with family and friends after a very busy year. Although a lot of workers have gone on leave or are planning to go on leave we have made preparations to ensure that workers that are in charge of essential services will be available to attend to any service delivery issues that may arise during the holiday season.
Municipal offices will close at 12 midday on Friday 22 December. The offices will remain closed for the Christmas holidays until workers report back for duty on 2 January 2018. During this time there will be workers on standby.
I would also like to reassure the residents of Makana that despite our financial challenges we are doing our level best to see to it that our major debts are paid on time and we want to ensure that we adhere to payment plans that we have agreed on.
The municipality previously entered into various payment plans with Eskom. These payment plans were unrealistic from a municipal perspective, but they met Eskom’s requirements. The municipality as a result defaulted on these payment plans, and meetings were held with Eskom after it threatened to shut down the electricity supply to Makana as from December 2017. The Municipality and Eskom have agreed on a new payment plan and we would like to assure residents that there won’t be any power interruptions as a result of non-payment.
The municipality has also entered into a similar payment plan with Amatola Water, which was in charge of the municipality’s bulk water supply. The proposed plan is realistic and the municipality will stick to it.
I would also like to take this opportunity to urge rate payers to continue pay their accounts during the holidays so we can continue to deliver services to the people of Makana. I would also like to appeal to the residents to save water as much as possible. We will continue to do our best to provide uninterrupted water supply throughout the holidays and into the future.
On behalf of the Council of Makana I would like to take this opportunity to also thank all municipal staff who worked tirelessly throughout this year to provide services to our community.
May you all have a blissful Christmas and a New Year filled with blessings.
