Speaker, residents of Gariep Municipality, which includes the towns of Burgersdorp and Steynsburg in the Eastern Cape, are living in constant fear that Eskom will implement the decision to disconnect the bulk electricity supply to the entire municipality. Gariep Municipality has been in arrears on the electricity accounts since July 2011, to the amount of R11 million. A debt agreement was reached between Eskom and the Eastern Cape province to assist with payments to the value of R5,5 million.
To compound this situation, the Gariep Municipality could not even honour its monthly payment, which is now outstanding, amounting to another R1,4 million. Today, the municipality, in a bid not to have the electricity cut off, eventually paid the R1,4 million and signed an agreement in terms of which they would pay the outstanding amount of the initial debt over the next three months.
The ANC-run Gariep Municipality is plagued by the cancer of rot and corruption, which has already led to a forensic investigation into the municipality. The DA has repeatedly called on the MEC for Local Government in the Eastern Cape to release the report. However, this request has fallen on deaf ears. Today, I will submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act, PAIA, application in order to get the report released. We ask the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs to urgently meet the Eastern Cape MEC for Local Government in order to solve this crisis. [Applause.]