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Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Daily Maverick
Spies and SA's narco secrets — behind the US sentencing of global drug trafficker ‘Sultan' Muhammad Asif Hafeez
Muhammad Asif Hafeez of Pakistan previously pleaded guilty in the US to drug trafficking charges. Now he's reportedly been sentenced in a case also implicating Vicky Goswami, a Mandrax mastermind who once testified about dominating South Africa's narco trade — and murders. South Africa's narcotrafficking arena, part of global organised crime, is saturated with suspicions linked to spies, double agents and politics. A sprawling case that touches on some of these elements involves Muhammad Asif Hafeez, also known as 'the big boss' and 'Sultan', from Pakistan. He once claimed to be a US government informant. In November last year the US Justice Department issued a statement announcing that Hafeez, 'one of the world's most prolific drug traffickers', pleaded guilty to narco conspiracy charges there. It also said Hafeez had been dominant 'in a sophisticated international drug trafficking network'. That drug network extended all the way to South Africa. And among those involved in it were individuals who have, or are suspected to have, operated in different countries' government circles. Daily Maverick previously referenced a 2019 Vrye Weekblad report that said Mandrax trafficker Vicky Goswami of India, in sealed grand jury testimony in the US, alleged that members of the Gupta family were involved in money laundering on behalf of Hafeez. A Gupta lawyer on a previous occasion previously failed to respond to Daily Maverick questions about this. And a lawyer for Hafeez had said his client denied knowing the Guptas. Now, it was reported that earlier this month, on 6 June 2025, that Hafeez had been sentenced in the US to an effective 16 years in jail on the charges he previously pleaded guilty to. Hafeez and heroin The BBC summed up the case: 'After a complex joint operation between the British and American authorities, Hafeez, 66, was extradited from the UK in 2023. He pleaded guilty last November. 'He was (recently) sentenced to 16 years in a New York prison for conspiring to import drugs — including enough heroin for 'millions of doses' — into the US.' Unlike previously when the US government issued press releases when accused individuals in the broader case linked to Hafeez were arrested, pleaded or were sentenced, this did not happen with the handing down of his jail term. Daily Maverick unsuccessfully tried to get direct confirmation and details on Hafeez's sentencing, which has since been reported on internationally, from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. A search on the US government's inmate locator platform did not show anyone detained there under his name. But an inmate recorded as 'Muhammad Hafiz' was jailed there and his age was recorded as 66 years — this, based on what the US previously divulged in a press statement, is roughly the same as Hafeez's age. Daily Maverick has also established that one of his aliases listed on an indictment against him is 'Muhammad Asif Hafiz'. This therefore suggests that Hafeez is indeed a sentenced prisoner in the US. Akashas of Kenya He appears to be one of the last key figures, if not the last one, in this specific US case to be sentenced. It has yet to be seen whether the case will now quietly taper off or if information gleaned from it, which may include secrets about South Africa's drug trade, will result in further arrests and legal proceedings. Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Ibrahim Akasha Akasha Abdalla, Gulam Hussein, Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami extradited to the US over drug trafficking — Hot 96 FM Kenya (@Hot_96Kenya) February 1, 2017 Hafeez was accused of conspiring, from about 2013, with others including two Kenyan brothers, Baktash Akasha Abdalla and Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, better known as the Akashas. According to the US, Baktash allegedly headed an organised crime group known as the Akasha Organisation. It distributed drugs in Kenya, throughout Africa and into the US. Hafeez was accused of being a primary supplier of drugs to the Akashas. Goswami and South Africa This is where Goswami fits in because the Akashas and Hafeez had worked with him. Goswami's past, with strong connections to South Africa, is detailed in this journalist's book, Clash of the Cartels: Unmasking the global drug kingpins stalking South Africa. It details how Goswami appeared to be politically connected in this country. A section also notes some lingering questions about him: 'Was he working with South African activists and politicians who later rose to power when the state became a democracy? 'Will he dig up and detail the dirt on old South African acquaintances? Is he actually an intelligence agent for another country, perhaps the US?' Decades ago, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Goswami operated in Zambia — coincidentally where former president Jacob Zuma became the ANC's intelligence chief during apartheid. In the early 1990s he based himself in South Africa. Goswami later ended up in Dubai and in 1997 he was jailed there for dealing in Mandrax. Goswami was released from a Dubai prison in 2012 and headed to Kenya. The following year, according to US authorities, drug trafficking webs around Goswami expanded to include, among others, the Akasha brothers and Hafeez. Factory raid in India A New York US Attorney's Office press statement picks up the story — and references South Africa. It said that 'by early 2014' the Akasha brothers 'and other members of the Akasha Organization started to work to import ton quantities of methaqualone precursor chemicals into Africa in order to fuel the illicit [Mandrax] pills' production in South Africa'. They used the proceeds of the Mandrax dealings to import ephedrine that was 'produced illegally' at a factory in Solapur, India. In 2016 that factory was raided, though, thwarting their plans. The following year, 2017, the Akashas and Goswami were extradited from Kenya to the US to face criminal charges. That year, Hafeez was provisionally arrested in the UK, where he was based at the time. He tried to prevent his extradition from the UK to the US by turning to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Hafeez had claimed to be a US government informant. But the court found: 'The US Government had denied that the applicant was an informant and, while he may have had contact with law enforcement agencies, the District Judge did not consider that he had done so out of a sense of moral duty. 'Rather, he was someone who had brought to the attention of the authorities the criminal conduct of others who he knew to be actual or potential rivals to his substantial criminal enterprise.' Hafeez was extradited to the US in May 2023. Sentencing and singing in the US By then, Goswami had already started speaking out there, following his extradition years earlier. While testifying in the US in 2019, he referred to the Solapur ephedrine factory that was raided in 2016. He also talked about the assassination in South Africa in 2014 of a drug trafficker — identified in court proceedings only as Pinky, who was shot 32 times. Goswami testified that an acquaintance was promised half a ton of abba (chemicals used to make Mandrax) in exchange for the murder to be carried out. He also explained the reason behind Pinky's assassination: 'Because, first of all, Pinky was threatening us. Second, we wanted to have him killed so we can put an impression in (the) South African drug market (that) we are not here to play.' Daily Maverick has previously reported that while Goswami is wanted in India over the Solapur factory raid saga, he also became a cooperating witness for the US government. As for the Akasha brothers, both have already been sentenced. Baktash was jailed in the US for 25 years in 2018, while Ibrahim was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment in 2020. With Hafeez earlier this month also being jailed, it means the US has in its custody inmates with apparent intimate knowledge of drug dealings in South Africa, an arena that has always been close to political suspicions. DM
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Maverick
Deadly Mthatha flood underscores worsening factors increasing risks for SA
As South Africa reels from another deadly flood, this time in the Eastern Cape, we take a look at the bigger picture of the nation's vulnerability. Floods are the country's most common weather disaster, with intense cut-off low weather systems, probably amplified by climate change, repeatedly causing devastation. After the devastating and deadly flooding that hit Mthatha and other parts of the Eastern Cape last week, people are still searching for missing loved ones, particularly children, and trying to salvage their belongings and homes. Mussa AjiDa said that they were still searching for his child, Simbongile, who went missing after the school transport Simbongile was travelling in was swept up in the Mthatha flooding on Tuesday, 10 June 2025. AjiDa was forlorn and exhausted when he spoke to Daily Maverick. Simbongile had still not been found, more than a week after 13 learners were swept away in the devastating scholar transport disaster. AjiDa said the search would continue until Simbongile had been found. This is just one among several cases playing out as South Africa responds to this most recent flooding incident, driven by heavy rainfall in a cut-off low weather system. Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane confirmed on SAfm on Wednesday, 18 June that on top of the 90 lives lost – including learners from the tragic scholar transport incident – almost 1,600 structures and 5,000 people had been affected by the recent Eastern Cape floods. The immediate priority, she said, was to provide alternative accommodation to allow people to rebuild. But a significant challenge is the availability of suitable land, as many of the destroyed homes were built in unsafe areas too close to the Mthatha River, where rebuilding is not an option. President Cyril Ramaphosa promised last week that the government would assist those affected and provide shelter after entire homes were submerged and washed away. Year after year, parts of South Africa undergo significant flooding, wreaking havoc on housing, infrastructure, the environment and lives as the nation and communities attempt to build more resilient and responsive systems. Increasing trend of weather extremes Dr Stefaan Conradie, a climate science lecturer at the UCT Climate System Analysis Group, told Daily Maverick that recent flooding attribution studies suggest that rainfall from the cut-off low weather system along the east coast was probably becoming more intense due to climate change. In other words, climate change is likely exacerbating rainfall and causing devastating flooding in eastern South Africa. This was evidenced by the World Weather Attribution study on the 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods. South African Weather Service (Saws) meteorologist and weather forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela told Daily Maverick that there was an increasing trend of weather extremes over the central and eastern parts of the country, especially with many adverse weather conditions linked to heavy rainfall affecting KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. In this case, an intense cut-off low weather system developed in the upper atmosphere on Sunday, 8 June, as forecast by Saws. Conradie said that as it moved across the eastern escarpment and south-east coast, a very intense surface low-pressure system developed roughly beneath it. This drove extremely strong winds that also transported a lot of moisture off the still relatively warm Agulhas Current region. 'Extremely heavy rainfall and destructive wind gusts resulted, particularly in the early hours of Tuesday, 10 Jun, over the eastern parts of the Eastern Cape,' said Conradie Multiple intersecting factors result in these kinds of disasters; weather and climate are only one aspect of that landscape. 'The adverse weather conditions in the Eastern Cape were because of the cut-off low that began by affecting the Western Cape and the Northern Cape from 7 June 2025. The weather system progressed to the eastern parts of the country and started to cause havoc over the Eastern Cape from 9-10 June 2025, Monday and Tuesday. The adverse weather conditions lasted for the week, with the emergency teams still helping. The weather system exited the area by Wednesday, 11 June 2025,' said Thobela. The areas over the central and eastern half of the Eastern Cape that were hit the hardest, recorded more than 50mm of rainfall water depth in 24 hours – Mthatha recorded 149mm, Port Alfred recorded 51.6mm and Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) recorded 93.6 mm. But rainfall was not the only factor that escalated the disaster. Following an assessment by the Department of Water and Sanitation, engineers determined that the Mthatha flooding was exacerbated by two simultaneous events. On Monday, 9 June 2025, the Mthatha Dam was already at 99.8% capacity before sudden upstream rains raised its level to 102% by midnight, causing it to spill. At the same time, the Cicira River tributary, located downstream from the dam, was also experiencing flash floods. The department said that it was this combination of the dam's spillage and the heavy, independent flow from the flooded tributary that caused the Mthatha River to overflow its banks. Floods most common disasters in SA and Africa A recent study, published in May 2025, analysing weather-related disasters in South Africa from 1980 to 2023, found that floods and storms are the most common disasters in the country, with the highest number of incidents reported in KwaZulu-Natal. The research, which used the Emergency Events Database, also identified the primary weather systems driving these events. It was conducted by researchers from the University of Pretoria, the Global Change Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, the University of Limpopo, the South African Weather Service and others. Their analysis revealed that the eThekwini metropolitan municipality in KwaZulu-Natal recorded the most disasters during this period, while the Cape Town metropolitan area had the highest number in the western region of South Africa. In Gauteng, the most populous province in the country, Johannesburg saw the highest number of floods, and Ekurhuleni had the most storms. This aligns with what has been experienced across the continent – flooding has been the leading natural disaster in African countries for decades. The study found that floods were the most reported disaster type, with 49 occurrences, followed by storms with 33. Droughts and wildfires were the next most common, with 11 and 10 events, respectively. When it comes to the geographic distribution of these, the eastern part of South Africa, particularly KwaZulu-Natal, experienced the highest frequency of both floods and storms. The Cape Town metro was a hotspot for droughts. When it came to what has been driving the weather systems causing these, the study linked flood and storm disasters to eight types of synoptic weather systems. Cut-off lows were the most significant, causing 48 of the reported disasters. Upper troughs were the second most influential, responsible for 15 disasters. Ex-tropical cyclones were linked to four disasters during the 43-year period. Cut-off lows were also responsible for the Heritage Day floods in Cape Town in 2023 and the Nelson Mandela Bay floods of April and June 2024. The researchers found that the concentration of disasters in metropolitan areas such as eThekwini and Cape Town suggests that human factors such as urbanisation may amplify the impacts of extreme weather events. The research was based on data from the Emergency Events Database, which has specific criteria for including an event, such as 10 or more deaths, 100 or more people affected, a declaration of a state of emergency, or a call for international assistance. The authors noted that while their study provided a comprehensive overview, the reliance on the Emergency Events Database could lead to an underestimation of disaster events, particularly in rural areas where reporting may be less consistent. The study concluded that mid-latitude, mid-tropospheric systems were the primary drivers of flood and storm disasters in South Africa; it is hoped that these findings enhance the understanding of weather-related disaster risks in South Africa for better climate resilience and proactive disaster management. Thobela said the most important lesson they were learning was to make sure there was better communication with the affected communities and to make sure that there were more community engagements that taught about being proactive about weather warnings, rather than reactive. DM
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Promises, potholes and a R71bn budget — can Mayor Xaba Fix Durban?
eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba is trying to lead a turnaround, but the city faces spiralling debt and a billing crisis. eThekwini Mayor Cyril Xaba is talking it up, and who can blame him? The man at the helm of a city hobbled by corruption is putting his best foot forward, trying to build trust with citizens fed up with crooks. Last week, Xaba passed a R70.9-billion budget, and his recent speeches to council and business have been measured and optimistic. Xaba, constantly drilled by ratepayers, is basking in a bit of glory after Durban successfully pulled off a host of big sporting events, which saw the city spruce up and the metro police out in full force. But while the mayor's reassuring language is laden with mollifying words about National Treasury prescripts and the virtues of consequence management, he is in the spotlight. The city's public relations machine aims to signal competency and accountability, distancing Xaba from the ineptitude and looting that have come to characterise the municipality. The jury's out on how much difference Xaba has made since he was parachuted into the top job a year ago. His installation coincided with a provincial intervention in the city headed by former city manager Mike Sutcliffe and former presidential director-general Cassius Lubisi. A month before their arrival, President Cyril Ramaphosa established a working group in response to business concerns about city failures. And, a year before that, the city launched a turnaround strategy. So, while First Citizen Cyril is trying hard, ratepayers, business and opposition parties are concerned that the city is sliding deeper into debt. Not everyone likes Xaba's numbers, especially tariff increases. The average property rate increase is 5.9%; Electricity is up by 12.72%; Water is up by 13% for residents and 14% for businesses; Sanitation is up by 11%; and Solid waste is up by 9%. Daily Maverick sent the city a detailed list of questions relating to the budget, which it says the treasury department wants to answer fully. We will share this when it becomes available. In broad strokes, the budget allows R63-billion for operational expenses and R7.3-billion for capital projects. The big-ticket items include bulk purchases from uMngeni-uThukela Water (R5.7-billion) and Eskom (R18.7-billion). The city spends R15.2-billion on salaries for about 24,000 staff, R7.6 billion on contractors and R1-billion on interest for loans. Debt crisis The city's big issue is growing debt. Residents owe R35.5-billion, which the city puts down to the economic crunch, but critics say rates and services are too costly. Of the total debt, 40% is for unpaid water. Outstanding property rates and unpaid electricity account for 25% and 15%. Most of the debt (75%) is owed by households. Businesses owe 20% and state departments the balance. In December 2023, the debtor's book was at R28-billion. A year later, it was at R35.5-billion, which had risen to R38.6-billion by April. This means the city will need to borrow more or bill more for services. In a bid to staunch the losses, it is offering businesses and residents a chance to write off 50% of their debt if they settle before the end of June. The valuation roll has only 554,280 rated properties (481,000 residences, 17,000 businesses and 7,000 industrial). About 330,000 properties are valued at less than R350,000 and rates-exempt. Another 150,000 are worth more than R350,000, but are not rateable. Durban, with a population of about four million, has more informal settlements than any other city in the country (about 600 with 314,000 households). And, other metros in South Africa have more rate-paying households. Figures from the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa show about 824,000 residential properties on the deeds registry in Johannesburg and about 767,000 in Cape Town. In eThekwini, the Ingonyama Trust (land administered by the Zulu king) controls huge swathes of land where properties are not rated. Alan Beesley is an accountant, a former eThekwini councillor and ActionSA's finance spokesman. 'The only way for the city to fix its books is to spend less and offer a better service that will attract more ratepayers. At the moment, Durban has a shrinking ratepayer base subsidising a growing number of people not paying for services.' Business backlash Xaba has promised the city will bring in more money from rates and services, and that officials will waste less and work harder. 'Dashboards linked to service delivery targets' are among a host of measures to improve and cut annual water losses of R2-billion. 'We will bury potholes, sweep the streets, cut the verges and keep the lights on,' Xaba promised. Reaction to the budget has been testy. The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry is concerned with low confidence in the municipality's ability to spend on priorities. There was a 'continuous disconnect' between what happened on the ground in Durban and the 'grand plans' emerging from the Presidential Working Group. 'We need to see meaningful action with key timelines and tangible reforms that will accelerate service delivery and reverse the economic decline,' the chamber said. Water losses might be higher because many meters were 'dysfunctional or not working at all'. Tariff tensions The Ethekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM) is tired of city hall promises. ERPM's Rose Cortes roasted the 'habit of reckless lending and spending', saying some parts of the municipality were 'delinquent'. The ERPM says city billing is a mess. 'For example, they didn't read the water meters for extended periods and some residents had underground leaks which they didn't know about. Then, when they actually read the meter, you are hit with a massive bill you can't pay. They won't give us stats on how many meter readers they have. The contractors are paid, but they don't read the meters, some for as long as 500 days.' Cortes says some houses valued at less than R350,000, which qualify for rates exemption, free water and discounted electricity, don't receive this benefit, but others that don't qualify do. The only way to stop blatant theft and crooked deals was line-by-line scrutiny of spending. Cortes said the city recently ran out of money to pay contracted plumbers and even the mayor expressed concerns about the poor workmanship by contractors. Also, city schemes to provide poor relief were dubious, Cortes said. 'Reports on indigent households are inaccurate and the process to register for indigent care is ineffective and stupid.' ERPM's chair Asad Gafar said 500,000 ratepayers effectively cross-subsidised eThekwini's four million-plus residents. 'Ratepayers wouldn't object to the cross-subsidy if the city improved the lives of the poor, but it doesn't. Instead, losses increased, like the water that bleeds into the ground through leaking pipes, or just flows 24/7 at standpipes, unmonitored. Or, the water is pumped into tankers by the mafias and then dumped so they can turn the truck around and fill it up and get paid for another trip.' Broken billing Democratic Alliance councillor Alicia Kissoon sits on the city's finance committee. She said the budget was 'polished on paper', but operationally detached. The real picture emerged in the adjustments budget, where money was 'constantly reallocated in a cycle of crisis management which is like robbing Peter to pay Paul'. R345-million for 100 new water tankers was a prime example of short-term thinking. 'Tankers do not fix leaking infrastructure. It masks a systemic failure to repair broken pipes.' Kissoon said it was unsustainable for so many residents not to pay for rates and services. The city was dealing with a 'dangerous culture of administrative neglect, contractor abuse and non-payment.' Inkatha Freedom Party councillor Jonathan Annipen voted for the budget because the city provided free services to poor residents. He praised the city's recent 'determined effort at transparency'. To 'avoid collapse', the city had to improve revenue collection, debt recovery and credit control. But, Annipen said, billing was bedevilled. 'Daily, we hear heart-wrenching stories where frail, elderly and disabled citizens have their services disconnected, and the city has no credible dispute mechanism. I intervened in the case of a pensioner who was suicidal because he was lumped with a R1.3-million monthly bill for water and electricity, but investigations revealed he was actually owed a credit. 'People wait three months for a water leak to be repaired. Water is flowing down the street by gallons and you call the contact centre, they tell you the fault has been closed.' DM
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Watch – Carole Cadwalladr on how tech giants hijacked truth and power
British author and investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr joins Redi Tlhabi to expose how powerful tech platforms manipulate our data, fuel disinformation, and endanger democracy. From Cambridge Analytica to AI and surveillance capitalism, this urgent conversation asks: Are we sleepwalking into a future where truth itself is algorithmically controlled? And what can we still do to fight back? Support journalism that protects democracy. Become a Maverick Insider. Subscribe to Daily Maverick YouTube channel. @dailymaverickchannel. DM
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Western Cape municipalities' debt to Eskom slowly improving, but Kannaland still a problem
Five municipalities in the Western Cape owe Eskom money. They are either run by coalitions or face political instability. As municipalities are slowly working to improve their debt, one municipality is struggling and a financial recovery plan is on its way. Theewaterskloof Mayor Lincoln de Bruyn admitted before the Western Cape Legislature that it was a 'lack of political oversight' that led to his municipality owing Eskom R50-million. The municipality was one of five whose debt to Eskom came under the spotlight of the Western Cape Legislature's local government oversight committee on Wednesday, 18 June 2025. Aside from Theewaterskloof, other municipalities that are in arrears include Matzikama, Cederberg, Beaufort West and Kannaland. The five municipalities owe Eskom R93.1-million, part of which has been written off. According to the Provincial Treasury, there are payment plans in place under a National Treasury debt relief scheme for Beaufort West, Cederberg, Kannaland and Matzikama. These debt relief schemes cover debt up to 31 March 2023. But Theewaterskloof's debt arose after March 2023, which made it ineligible for debt relief. Issues around municipal debt are not new. In an interview with Daily Maverick, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said it was time for municipalities to pay their debts, whether with Eskom or other utilities. Nationally, municipalities cumulatively owed Eskom about R107,350,345,759.00 — more than R107.3-billion — by December 2024. While the Western Cape municipalities account for a small fraction of what Eskom is owed, the power utility has warned that spiralling local government debt could threaten its financial viability. Tuesday's briefing came after the DA's spokesperson in the legislature on local government (and also chairperson of the committee), Dave Bryant, said in May that all five municipalities that owed Eskom were 'governed by unstable coalitions'. On Tuesday, De Bruyn said it was 'political instability' that stood as a reason for the municipality being in arrears with Eskom. Tweewaterskloof is a hung council and is led by a coalition of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Good and the Socialist Workers Revolutionary Party. 'Let me start at the top: from 2021 until November 2024, we are the coalition government, and since November, a new coalition government took over the reins in Theewaterskloof,' he said about the coalition. As Daily Maverick reported previously, Theewaterskloof (which comprises the towns of Botrivier, Caledon and Greyton) had made headlines for its poor governance at mayoral levels, including a back and forth after the DA was ousted in September 2024, which led to the Good party expelling three of its party members. 'For seven months, we have tried to rectify what went wrong in the past. Let me start at the top, and I'm not using it as an excuse. But it is facts, and facts speak louder than words,' he said. 'There was a lack of political oversight,' he said, adding that the Municipal Public Accounts Committee was 'non-existent'. Since last November, the political leaders of the town had established a functioning committee. 'We are trying hard… We are trying our best,' said De Bryun in a bid to fix some of the problems in the municipality, including fixing its outstanding municipal debt. The municipality owes Eskom R54-million. Western Cape municipalities in arrears with Eskom: More trouble for Kannaland During the briefing, another coalition-run municipality that also came under the spotlight was Kannaland. The municipality, sitting at the door of the Little Karoo, has made headlines for the wrong reasons: its debt to Eskom in 2022, and of course, its mayor Jeffrey Donson, who was convicted of the rape of a teenager. Currently, its council is run by a coalition of Donson's party, the Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa (Icosa) and its offshoot, the Karoo Independent Party. The municipality had R14-million approved for a write-off by the National Treasury by March 2023. But now, the municipality is still in arrears with Eskom, owing R48-million by 30 April. Finance MEC Deidré Baartman said Kannaland was soon due to adopt a financial recovery plan, which would be brought before council. When asked by members why Kannaland had been unstable since 2017 and now, as a result, could not pay its debt, Baartman said: 'We are more than happy to do more comprehensive briefings on the different municipalities, but we also need to be honest with ourselves: in the Kannaland Municipality, the support of the Provincial Treasury and the National Treasury was not wanted.' During the meeting Donson did not speak, although it was indicated that he would join the virtual platform. Baartman said: 'We're working as a team so we can get our financial recovery plan over the table, because it's in everyone's best interest.' During the briefing, representatives of the three other municipalities that owed Eskom money were also present. These include Matzikama, which owes R75-million. New Mayor Monica Bottom represented the municipality. She was elected as mayor in a coalition government led by the ANC, Bottom's party, the Patriotic Alliance, Good and the EFF. Cederberg, run by a coalition of the ANC and Cederberg Eerste, was in arrears of R29.9-million. Beaufort West, run by the DA, owes Eskom R51-million. DM
