Pay Up! Deputy President Mabuza Tells Government Depts, Consumers

Riyaz Patel

Deputy President David Mabuza told the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Wednesday that national and provincial government departments owes municipalities R9.7bn, which, he pointed out, directly impacts on basic service delivery functions of local government.

“If departments don’t pay, they must explain to the President why they are not paying. We can’t sit here and process laws that we don’t respect, we must be the first to uphold the laws that we pass here,” the deputy president underlined.

Part of the challenge, Mabuza added, is that “we must confront as a nation is a culture of non-payment, especially with regard to consumer debt.”

“We must engender a culture of paying for services that have been rendered and consumed, especially from public entities like Eskom, just as we do with any other form of services rendered for private consumption,” he added.