By Nkhensani Chauke
Deputy President Paul Mashatile said on Tuesday that the majority of South African municipalities are grappling with significant challenges, including the inability to settle bulk water and electricity bills, as well as deteriorating infrastructure.
He made the remarks during his keynote address at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) National Executive Committee (NEC) Lekgotla in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Mashatile said that these issues worsened after the 2021 Local Government elections, which saw an increase in municipalities with hung councils.
“This has forced many municipalities councils to be governed through coalitions. However, in practice, coalition governments have been unstable and are often terminated before the end of their term of office,” said Mashatile.
“Instability in local government coalitions has contributed to severe inefficiencies and service delivery challenges. Coalition arrangements have compromised the ability of municipalities to adopt policies, pass budgets, adopt by-laws, and make senior management appointments.”
Mashatile called for a collaborative approach to revitalise local government and for the need to address the issue of poor governance in municipalities.
He said SALGA has been a vital support system for municipalities, helping them to secure targeted grant funding from fiscus and executing strategies to improve service delivery in local communities, dating back to the inception of organised local government in 1996.
“SALGA, in particular, has an entrenched responsibility to represent organised local government at various levels of government, including its representation in the National Council of Provinces,” said Mashatile.
“In this regard, SALGA has been influential in the passing of critical legislation that is intended to improve service delivery at local government. These include the Electoral Laws Amendment Act of 2021 and the municipal systems Amendment Act, to mention few.”
He added that local government’s functionality as a collective was only achievable through organised local government structures and called for SALGA to play a representative role, as the voice of local government across numerous intergovernmental structures.
“The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa establishes local government as a distinct field of governance within framework of cooperative governance, where the three spheres being distinctive, yet interconnected and mutually dependent,” said Mashatile.
“Given that local government compromises 257 municipalities, effective engagement relations necessitate that local government operates collectively.”
He encouraged SALGA to persist in its collaborative efforts with government and other social partners to develop solutions to the challenges confronting municipalities.
“With regard to payment of water boards, the Minister of COGTA proposed a one-stop solution to resolve the interlinked financial challenges between municipalities, water boards, and other stakeholders. This approach would involve streamlining the payment system through the National Treasury. Under this model, funds owed by government departments to municipalities would be directly routed through the Treasury, which would then allocate payments to water boards and other creditors like Eskom,” he said.
During his address, Mashatile also encouraged municipalities to explore new models to effectively collect revenue and ensure financial sustainability.
“In doing so, it is important that we consider strengthening municipal public accounts committees to ensure oversight powers on procurement processes, expenditures and compliance with financial regulations,” said Mashatile.
“As government, we are harmonizing planning and budgeting as part of adopting the District Development Model, which is based on One Plan vision, to obtain the best results in developing a better life for everyone. As you would know, we are implementing a Public-private Partnership model in water supply with the National Treasury and the Department of Water and Sanitation to ensure that we resolve the current water crisis facing a number of communities.”
Mashatile also urged the importance of intergovernmental integration for local government to turn the corner and achieve progress.
“Intergovernmental integration is critical for promoting collaboration, collaboration, coordination, and communication across different levels of government. Through coordinating our efforts and resources, we can solve the complex difficulties that our communities face and, ultimately, provide better services to our residents,” said Mashatile.
“Together, we can streamline processes and leverage impact. It is through this collaborative approach that we can unlock innovative solutions and drive sustainable development across our nation.”
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