Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has criticised National Treasury’s decision to withhold funding from struggling municipalities, saying the move would deepen the local government crisis instead of fixing it.
Speaking on Thursday, Losi said reducing funding to municipalities already battling financial distress was equivalent to “cutting blood” or “cutting oxygen” from a body that was trying to survive.
Her remarks come after National Treasury announced that it would withhold equitable share allocations from dozens of municipalities over governance and financial management failures.
‘Ordinary residents to suffer’
Losi said the consequences of the decision would be borne by ordinary residents who depend on municipalities for water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services.
“We do not agree with the decision of Treasury in the manner that it has been done,” she said.
“How do you expect municipal workers to continue to wake up in the morning, go to work and service communities when the very same municipalities are underfunded? They are cutting funding. That’s literally like cutting blood when the body needs it. It’s like cutting oxygen when the body needs it.”
Cuts will undermine service delivery
She said the funding cuts would not only affect municipal employees but would ultimately undermine service delivery.
Losi said many municipalities were already unable to meet their financial obligations, with some workers reporting for duty despite not receiving their salaries on time.
She said the crisis facing local government had become a broader societal issue rather than simply a labour dispute.
“We are having local government elections on November 4, and yet we have dysfunctional municipalities,” she said.
“We have workers in municipalities that are not respected. Some are suspended and others are dismissed.”
Losi said municipal employees were part of the communities they served and wanted functioning municipalities as much as residents did.
“Municipal workers are here not only for themselves. They are also representing the interests of the communities that they come from,” she said.
“When you starve municipalities and do not deal with corruption, it is services that are not reaching ordinary poor South Africans.”
‘Prioritise tackling corruption’
She argued that withholding funding would not resolve governance failures and instead risked worsening already fragile municipalities.
“The salary negotiations stop. Municipal workers suffer, and ordinary South Africans who are paying for municipal services are the ones who will be at the receiving end,” she said.
Losi said the government should prioritise tackling corruption and improving governance instead of reducing funding to municipalities.
“Instead of government addressing issues of corruption, you are deciding to cut funding. We don’t think it is a response to the challenges that we are faced with,” she said.
She also suggested that those making the decisions were insulated from the consequences experienced by residents.
“People who are making these decisions may have water tankers at home. They may have solar at home. They may be living in suburbs where these services are already outsourced,” Losi said.
“What about ordinary South Africans who rely on the municipality?”
- Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has criticised National Treasury’s decision to withhold funding from struggling municipalities, saying the move would deepen the local government crisis instead of fixing it.
- Speaking on Thursday, Losi said reducing funding to municipalities already battling financial distress was equivalent to “cutting blood” or “cutting oxygen” from a body that was trying to survive.
- Her remarks come after National Treasury announced that it would withhold equitable share allocations from dozens of municipalities over governance and financial management failures.
- ‘Ordinary residents to suffer’ Losi said the consequences of the decision would be borne by ordinary residents who depend on municipalities for water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services.
- “We do not agree with the decision of Treasury in the manner that it has been done,” she said.
