Deputy President Paul Mashatile has poured cold water on claims that the Western Cape is South Africa’s shining example of good municipal governance.
Speaking during the parliamentary Q&A session in Parliament on Tuesday, Mashatile said the Western Cape local governance model does not consider the daily struggles of its black communities.
Mashatile further dismissed the idea that their model should be copied across the country. This has contradicted earlier remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the ANC roll call for councillors. The president told them to learn good governance from the municipalities in the Western Cape.
Ramaphosa ‘quoted out of context’
Ramaphosa had expressed that municipalities that are doing better are often DA-run municipalities. He added that they had to visit towns such as Cape Town and Stellenbosch to see what they were doing right. And he expressed heartbreak over ANC-run municipalities that would be running backwards.
“Those municipalities that do best aren’t ANC controlled municipalities. And I can name it here, because there is nothing wrong with competition. They are often DA-controlled municipalities,” said Ramaphosa a few weeks ago.
When pressed on whether he was contradicting Ramaphosa, Mashatile came to Ramaphosa’s defence. But with a twist.
“The president was quoted out of context, and let me tell you why. When the president addressed our councillors, his first emphasis was that councillors should learn from one another. That’s where he started.
Municipalities with clean audits
“He then went on to say that he has come across this information that there are a lot of municipalities in the Western Cape that have clean audits. And he said ‘go and see what they are doing as well’,” said Mashatile.
He said Ramaphosa was rather focused on clean audits. And he emphasised that municipalities with clean audits are not necessarily in the Western Cape.
He said the government had taken note of the 2023/24 municipal audit results released on May 28 this year. According to the report, 140 municipalities, about 55%, received unqualified or clean audits.
This, he said, shows an increase in clean audits from 34 in 2022/23 to 41 in 2023/24. He admitted the results showed small progress. But he said it showed improved commitment from municipal leaders and officials to better their municipalities.
“While several municipalities in the Western Cape are doing well in terms of audit outcomes, it is important to note that there is a significant and persistent disparity between the well-being of many residents residing in townships and informal settlements of the province of the Western Cape.
Black communities neglected
“Although the province is often recognised for strong financial governance overall, this does not reflect the lived experience of many black communities. Who continue to struggle with socio-economic challenges.
“Therefore, the Western Cape municipal governance model is not the best in the country. As it fails to address the legacy of the apartheid-era special segregation. The optimum model that we require is the one that would accommodate all individuals regardless of their race or colour,” said Mashatile.
He said while there are running taps in suburban areas, the taps in largely black communities are dry.
