South Africa’s municipalities have been in spotlight over the years, but more recently due to the recent coalitions taking place in major metropolitan councils (city of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay) over the past few months.
Currently, municipalities face a grim moment, with challenges ranging from maladministration, fruitless expenditure and mismanagement of funds, high levels of corruption, lack of skills and qualifications to poor records management, political interference and a paralysed supply chain, which contribute to the biggest challenge faced by municipalities – public service delivery.
The crippling state of our municipalities has seen numerous protest actions with many citizens using this as a way to express their anger over the poor delivery of basic services.
According to the SAPS Incident Registration Information System, a total of 909 protests took place from August 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021.
This has become the norm in the country, and sadly such occurrences have often led to some lives being lost, all at the cost of a desperate plea for basic services.
As I write about the loss of lives due to protest actions, I remember Andries Tatane – a 33-year-old South African who on April 13, 2011 was shot and killed by police officers during a service delivery protest march in Ficksburg in the Free State.
He was part of the 4 000 protesters who took to the streets and marched to Setsoto municipal offices when they were met by police officers who attempted to disperse them with water cannons. Tatane was not only shot but was also kicked and beaten with batons before being shot twice in the chest.
Such acts are appalling and should be condemned.
While on this, another heartbreaking story relates to a group of men crossing a river in the Eastern Cape using a locked drum. Is that how the local government should treat the poor?
The state of municipalities has continued to disappoint over the years, with very little signs of improvement.
Our municipalities are in tatters. Our municipalities are in deep crisis. Our municipalities are dysfunctional.
While presenting the local government outcomes for 2020/2021 financial year, auditor-general Tsakane Maluleke said there had been an increase in clean audits, with at least 27 municipalities maintaining their clean audit status, 14 achieving a clean audit for the first time, and six losing their clean audit status. However, out of 257 South African municipalities, only 41 (16%) received a clean audit over the past year.
Maluleke expressed her worry. She said there had been no improvement in the status of transparency, accountability, performance, or integrity in the local government sphere.
The lack of political will and the ability to act ethically have brought us to this situation.
While coalition governments are gaining momentum in the country, it can be argued that the collapse of coalition governments in recent months in major metro councils may have made some contribution to poor service delivery.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, speaking to the media last week, agreed that local government was on its knees due to collapsing coalitions. This may have many people asking if political parties lobby for coalitions with the sole intention to weaken the governing party. However, challenges of corruption levelled against municipalities, and failure to provide adequate basic services to citizens, have a long history and have spiralled out of control over the years.
Why is it that coalition governments in other countries work? I am thinking of Denmark which has one of the lowest corruption levels. There has been no majority party in that country for over 100 years.
Such partnerships create more transparency and create more space for proper accountability mechanisms. We need leaders with integrity, and the recognition that the citizens matter more than political affiliation. This is of paramount importance and is a non-negotiable.
I believe coalitions, if handled properly, could mitigate the scourge of corruption and greed among our politicians.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in his state of the nation address argued that the private sector acted in a more driven, focused and faster way than what the government does.
Lukhona Mnguni, in his television show on Sunday, On the Spot, asked a pertinent question: “What is stopping government from adopting the attributes of agility in action?”
Surely this is a question many resonate with.
It is crucial for our local government to be mindful of its true mission in society.
- Ngqambela is a researcher at Rivonia Circle with interest in socio-economic research, policy and politics.
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