The DA expressed its concern about where the R155 million comes from that was used to partly pay the Madibeng municipality’s debt to Tshwane.

“Madibeng has since made a R155 million payment to Tshwane, which should have done long ago, but this prompts the question of where Madibeng sourced this money from and why it was necessary for Tshwane to attach the municipality’s bank account before payment was made in the first place,” said DA councillor Jan van Rhyn.

Madibeng and Tshwane entered into a payment agreement in August 2021 under which Madibeng undertook to settle its arrears for bulk water with Tshwane in instalments, but failed to honour the arrangements, forcing Tshwane to take this drastic step in approaching the High Court for relief.

ALSO READ: Madibeng comes up with R155 million before Tshwane grabs bank account

“Tshwane was well within its rights to pursue legal action against the delinquent Madibeng Local Municipality. It is troubling that neither the mayor nor the acting municipal manager informed the Madibeng council of Tshwane’s court application, Councillors only became aware of the legal action on the day the verdict was delivered. Even though the DA welcomes the R155 million down payment, we have reservations about the way the matter was handled by Madibeng. The municipal council needs to be informed in time about any legal action against the municipality, especially in matters like this which may impact the municipality’s ability to ensure basic service delivery which might have dire consequences for the community,” he said.

ALSO READ: Court orders attachment of Madibeng bank account

“The discord and factional fights in the ANC, which are to the detriment of the community, are a major contributing factor to the municipality’s problems.”