The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) has expressed cautious optimism about the department’s efforts to improve distressed municipalities.
This comes after COGTA officials, including Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa and Deputy Ministers Namane Masemola and Prince Burns-Ncamashe, updated the Parliamentary Committee on their initiatives on Tuesday in Cape Town.
These included implementing a Municipal Performance Turnaround Strategy for distressed municipalities and introducing policy and legislative measures to strengthen local government.
The committee welcomed COGTA’s plans to address governance, financial management, and infrastructure issues in municipalities.
In its presentation, COGTA outlined the challenges, especially in the top 10 distressed municipalities, in terms of funded and unfunded budgets, debt owed to water boards and Eskom and subsequent service delivery problems.
The committee heard that the Department, through its entity, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), has invoked Schedule 6B of the Division of Revenue Act to enhance the effectiveness of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). T
his is currently being implemented in the uThukela District and Emfuleni Local Municipalities, with a total allocation of R88.3 million.
Additionally, MISA conducted a preliminary analysis and recommended the conversion of R494 million under Schedule 6B by National Treasury.
This funding is earmarked for 21 municipalities, primarily affected by Department of Water and Sanitation charges in the Vaal River Basin.
The first phase of this intervention is subject to Capacity Building Plans, municipal consultations, and the submission of agreements.
The committee welcomed these efforts but emphasised the need for an implementation plan with clear timeframes and stronger accountability measures for officials who fail in their duties.
Regarding Section 139 interventions, the committee urged the department to act decisively while strictly adhering to legal requirements. Currently, 38 municipalities are under Section 139 interventions.
Committee chairperson Dr. Zweli Mkhize told COGTA officials: “Without saying you should not use Section 139 or any form of intervention, we are simply saying that the department must be very focused on how you use a constitutional provision properly so that your procedure can be guided in law in a way that makes it unchallengeable.”
The committee also highlighted the importance of disaster management, risk mitigation, and timely infrastructure recovery, stressing that these issues directly affect communities.
It further called for the inclusion of traditional leaders in municipal turnaround efforts.
While acknowledging progress, the committee noted a significant performance gap between the 10 worst-performing municipalities and the 61 that are functioning well.
“We will be factoring in all of this as we do our oversight visits,” Mkhize said.
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