By Odwa Mkentane
Civil society watchdog Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) says there must be accountability for the alleged mismanagement of funds in the City of Johannesburg as tensions rise over the metro’s multibillion-rand debt to Eskom.
Legal action from civil groups and business chambers has put pressure on the city to prove it has a binding agreement to settle its more than R5.2 billion electricity arrears, amid warnings that a lack of enforceable arrangements could ultimately impact ordinary residents if power supply is disrupted.
The City of Johannesburg maintains it is addressing the debt and has dismissed fears of imminent outages.
According to OUTA Executive Manager Julius Kleynhans, said the consultation process is being conducted in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), which requires public bodies to follow a fair process before making decisions that may materially affect people or businesses. In this case, Eskom is required to consider public representations before deciding whether to proceed with electricity supply interruptions
VOC News
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