ActionSA has accused the City of Joburg of not paying Joburg Theatre more than R2 million for services rendered.
In a statement, ActionSA Joburg Caucus leader Nobuhle Mthembu said the party was “gravely concerned” about the financial status of the city.
Mthembu said the party has learnt that Joburg Theatre had suspended its catering services due to non-payment for services rendered.
“ActionSA Joburg Caucus has been reliably informed that Joburg Theatre (SOC) LTD which is affectionately known as Stages has suspended all hospitality and catering services owing to the outstanding payments by the city.
“The city owes Stages more than R2,9 million, this includes among other things, food provided for the councillors during their sittings and other city activities,“ Mthembu said.
The party said it was surprising that the city would fail to honour its commitments to service providers.
“With a budget of approximately R80.9 billion, the city should be in a position to honour its financial obligations but the opposite is the case.
“This begs the question as to how many service providers this Government of Local Unity owes. Is this the reason why the previous Council Sitting was cancelled?”
The party said things under the current administration, led by mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, had gone from bad to worse as service delivery continued to suffer.
“What we have witnessed in the City of Johannesburg since this administration took over, has never been witnessed since the dawn of democracy.We have seen service delivery crumbling under this current administration.
“To add insult to injury, more than 3 000 employees who are supposed to be serving the residents of the City of Johannesburg are currently ‘working from home’. However, they are doing so without access to their work emails and landlines,“ Mthembu said.
ActionSA Joburg Caucus said the lack of service delivery had a negative impact on the residents who were paying a high price as the city crumbled.
“We therefore call upon all service providers who have rendered their services to the City of Johannesburg yet have not received any payment to come forward,” she said.
Attempts to get comment from the City of Joburg were unsuccessful at the time of going to publication. This is a developing story.