Residential consumers in the Musina municipal area have a three-month window to settle their outstanding debts and receive a 50% discount. This announcement was made when Musina's 2023/24 budget was tabled last Thursday (29^th).

During his budget speech at the Nancefield Multipurpose Centre, Mayor Nkhanedzeni Godfrey Mawela stated that residential consumers could apply to have 50% of their debt written off. The grace period for this offer will expire at the end of September.

Mawela mentioned that this initiative would assist the municipality in recovering at least half of the more than R50 million owed by consumer debtors.

In addition, Mawela provided an update on the municipality's debt to Eskom. He stated, “When our new council took over in November 2021, Musina Municipality owed Eskom R60.9 million. By June last year, we had managed to reduce that amount by [nearly] R20 million, and the balance stood at R46.9 million. As of now, the balance stands at R16.9 million. We will pay R10 million at the end of July and settle the remaining balance of R6.9 million in December this year.”

Mawela also encouraged the public to utilise the Vhembe Shared Anti-Fraud and Ethics Hotline to report suspected fraud and corruption. The toll-free hotline covers incidents of fraud for the Vhembe District Municipality, Musina, Thulamela, Collins Chabane, and Makhado local municipalities.

To expedite service delivery, Mawela mentioned that the municipality was in the process of filling all priority vacant positions. He stated, “Over the past two weeks, we have advertised externally for 65 vacant priority positions that need to be filled. Additionally, we have advertised internally for 33 positions that need personnel. In total, we have advertised 98 vacant positions to be filled as a matter of urgency.”

Furthermore, Mawela provided updates on completed projects and new projects scheduled for the upcoming financial year.