BY PHUMELELE GAMEDZE
MBABANE – Siteki Town Council today brought residents, businesses and other stakeholders together for its Annual General Meeting (AGM), providing a platform to review the town’s 2025/2026 performance, discuss service delivery challenges and identify areas requiring stronger community cooperation.
The AGM gave residents and stakeholders an opportunity to hear reports from different Council departments, ask questions, raise concerns and contribute ideas on how Siteki can continue improving as the town grows.
One of the major issues highlighted was the continued impact of delayed and non-payment of municipal rates by some ratepayers, including individuals, businesses and government, with Council saying the challenge affects its ability to deliver services effectively.
The concern is supported by Council’s latest publicly available annual financial report. For the 2024/2025 financial year, Siteki recorded E29.78 million in outstanding rates at year-end, compared with E27.15 million the previous year. Although rates collected increased by 70 per cent to E9.18 million, the amount outstanding still rose by about 10 per cent.
The report further stated that government rates paid quarterly did not increase proportionately with accumulated annual billing, while some owners of undeveloped properties could not be traced, resulting in invoices being returned. Council also identified affordability and limited understanding of the importance of paying rates among some ratepayers as challenges.
For ordinary residents, the issue goes beyond figures on a financial statement. Rates provide an important revenue stream that helps a local authority maintain the roads, public spaces, waste services and other facilities people depend on every day.
Despite financial constraints, Siteki’s previous annual report records several areas of work during 2024/2025, including road maintenance, pothole repairs, street-light maintenance, waste collection, environmental management and public health activities. Council also worked with partners to improve waste management and support local economic initiatives.
Infrastructure development also remained a major focus. Council reported progress on the formalisation of Moyeni Township, maintenance of urban roads and development projects, while its 2024/2025 report recorded private developments worth a combined E25.37 million during the financial year.
The AGM also highlighted efforts to strengthen Council’s internal capacity, including the presence of a Town Engineer and improvements within the Human Resources function.
The Town Engineer’s role is particularly important as Siteki seeks to address infrastructure and development needs. Council’s published report identifies the engineering office as responsible for town planning, infrastructure-related functions and advising the local authority on development and investment decisions.
Siteki’s development therefore depends on more than Council alone. The AGM placed residents, businesses, government and other stakeholders at the centre of the conversation, with their participation providing an opportunity to influence priorities and strengthen accountability.
Council’s own vision is to build a people-centred, environmentally friendly and attractive town for residents, visitors and investors. Its published plans also place emphasis on stakeholder engagement, effective waste management, a clean town and public safety.
As Siteki continues to develop, the message from the AGM is clear: sustainable service delivery requires both an accountable local authority and ratepayers who meet their obligations.
Source: Information sourced from Siteki Manucipality Facebook page.
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