The sheriff of the court pounced on a Limpopo municipality to attach its assets in order to recover R9.7m owed to a service provider in connection with an electricity project started in 2017.
The Limpopo High Court in Polokwane instructed the sheriff on Wednesday to attach properties belonging to the Fetakgomo Greater Tubatse municipality in Burgersfort after it withdrew from appealing a judgment in favour of Mphaphuli Consulting.
On Thursday, the municipality was scrambling to pay the funds after sheriff Elias Mohlala arrived at its offices to attach about 20 vehicles, including TLBs, waste removal trucks, four Toyota Hiluxs and a Toyota Corolla.
Engineering firm Mphamphuli Consulting was initially granted an order in June compelling the municipality to pay the company R9.7m for work done in 2017 as part of a major electrification project meant to benefit about 26 villages.
But the municipality insisted on appealing the case despite repeated postponements and failures by its legal team to submit opposing documents.
A few days ago the municipality withdrew its application for appeal at the last hour, meaning it would have to pay Mphaphuli.
The company’s director Lufuno Mphaphuli then approached the high court in Polokwane for a warrant of execution after the municipality apparently failed to pay up or communicate with him.
The company was contracted by the municipality in 2013 to work on a R326m project called Operation Mabone, meant to accelerate access to electricity for more than 26 villages.
It seems the project had been rolled out in phases but problems between Mphaphuli and the municipality started in March 2017 when the municipality approached the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to have the company investigated for overcharging.
A 2019 report by the SIU found that Mphaphuli had overcharged by R76m, which it said he must pay.
But controversy descended into a string of legal battles, leaving some of the areas that were supposed to get electricity by the end of 2017 in the dark.
Mphaphuli told Sowetan the fallout with the municipality had been regrettable because residents continued to suffer the consequences.
“This is a project that would have ensured that service delivery can be unlocked. Why would you want to punish 14,000 households. These are poor people and all they wanted was to have electricity,” he said.
Mphaphuli said he had to sell four of his properties because he struggled to keep his business running.
He said his reputation had also suffered as a result of the disputes.
The municipality’s spokesperson Tolo Kubane said he could not discuss anything related to the project as it was sub judice.
Eunice Mathibela 35, of RDP section in Mandela Village, said they were relieved when they started seeing electricity poles being erected in the area in 2016 after years of not having electricity.
But the community’s hopes were dashed when the development suddenly came to a standstill and they were left in the dark.
There’s a strong smell of paraffin inside Mathibela’s house as she relies on it to prepare meals for her five children.
Mathibela, who is unemployed, said she spends part of the social grant she gets for her children on 20l of paraffin and candles every month.
“Life is hard because there is no electricity. During winter, we burn anything — wood and old shoes — just to keep warm,” she said.
Mathibela said they also have to ask residents from neighbouring areas to charge their phones.
Evidence Mphali, 35, said some people resorted to illegal connections because they had grown tired of waiting for change.
Mphali said the illegal connections, which they paid R500 to install, were cut off four years ago when residents from neighbouring villages that have electricity reported them to the police.
She said the illegal connections created a lot of animosity among people from villages with electricity, while areas like Lephakeng, Mandela and Sedibeng remain unelectrified.
“When the project started I fantasised about getting a fridge but after all these years we are still suffering. I would rather have load-shedding for a few hours than live like this,” Mphali said.
Lethabo Maroga, 55, from Mariseleng Village, said they worked well with the company and were glad to get the monthly salary that came with it but things turned bad when Mphaphuli could not afford to pay them because the municipality was not settling invoices.
mahopoz@sowetan.co.za
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