Mangaung - the first metro under administration in South Africa - along with other municipalities such as Kopanong and Mantsopa, have allegedly defaulted on payments for close to a year, and in some instances for several years.

Bloem Water has blamed this huge amount of debt for its struggles and said this has a disastrous impact on its financial and operational sustainability. 

In July 2019, the embattled metro, which includes Bloemfontein, Dewetsdorp, Botshabelo and Wepener, filed for a High Court interdict against the water institution after it cut water supply to 30% for thousands of residents as a result of R449 million that was in arrears at that time. The water institution has further warned of catastrophe if the debt is not paid by these municipalities. The municipalities are yet to comment on OFM News' media enquiry.

In late January 2020, the embattled metro failed to pay salaries in a timely manner. This then led to the municipality pressing on the Provincial Department of Public Works to settle its debt. Bloemfontein is home to several provincial government departments. The maintenance and servicing of these provincial government buildings fall within the ambit of the Public Works Department’s responsibilities. It is this department that must pay the metro for services rendered. It is unknown at this stage how much the provincial government owes the metro for services.

“We continue engaging stakeholders to resolve the current status, to no avail. There have been numerous previous submissions to related authorities, mainly related to the non-payment of accounts and restrictions of water supply to the municipalities,” it adds.

The outstanding balances, as at 31 May 2020, are as follows: 

Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality - R1 014 898 965 

Kopanong Local Municipality - R383 989 662

Mantsopa Local Municipality = R2 303 000 

Total amount owed to Bloem Water = R1 401 191 714  

OFM News/Lucky Nkuyane and Olebogeng Motse