The leader of the MK Party in the North West, Alfred Motsi, has criticised the provincial municipalities placed under administration, claiming that the practice allows the ruling party to do whatever it wants at the expense of residents.
On Tuesday, the provincial MEC for cooperative governance and human settlement, Oageng Molapisi, placed Kgisano Molopo local municipality into administration for failing to provide services to residents and running the city improperly.
Municipalities under administration for years
This move has raised eyebrows. And many question what the ruling party was doing about the municipalities that fail to deliver services.
“Municipalities have been under administration for many years. Every year they send administrators who then get removed. Most of the time it’s not because they did not do a good job. It’s just that the councillors of the ANC are forever fighting,” he said.
He claimed that administrators who are generally deployed to provincial municipalities are powerless. Their recommendations get pushed under the carpet to benefit the few.
“Any administrator who is seconded from the province writes a close-up report that states what he has noticed. Those reports are filed. There is a part where it says action must be taken against some politicians. But because the ANC is a gangster organisation, they protect each other. And some administrators are not given a chance to table what they have found out,” Motsi said.
Call for total dissolution
He called for the immediate and total dissolution of Kagisan Molopo municipality. Also the Ditsobotla, Madibeng, Matlosana, Moses Kotane, and Mamusa municipalities.
“These municipalities have become synonymous with instability. This as well as maladministration and deliberate evasion of accountability.
“Year after year, some of them are placed under administration without any lasting solutions. Proof of a governance system that is both broken and deliberately kept dysfunctional,” Motsi said.
However, Molapisi said the reason the province placed municipalities under administration, particularly Kagisano Molopo, was that the province wanted to stabilise and strengthen the governance and oversight structures of the council.
He said the decision was taken to allow the council to remedy the current situation before it reaches a state of paralysis.
Decision taken to give councillors an opportunity
“The directives should serve as an opportunity for councillors, as elected by the people, to reclaim their space. To play their role and champion service delivery,” said Molapisi.
The municipality has been for a considerable period characterised by instability in both administration and council. This affected the ability of the municipality to operate effectively.
