The statements by Thembi Nkadimeng, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), regarding the “remarkable improvement in the overall state of municipalities countrywide” are misplaced and verge on wishful thinking.
The fact that her own Department, COGTA, points out in its report that 89% of the country’s municipalities are still considered either already dysfunctional or at risk of regressing into total dysfunctionality speaks for itself.
The COGTA report also points out that municipalities are still ignoring recommendations by the Auditor-General (AG), the prescribed blue and green drop reports, or municipal financial and other legislation. The constant decline of services and infrastructure, despite continued and expensive interventions by the Department, is also highlighted.
These shortcomings are once again, as before, attributed to (mainly ANC) political faction fights, corruption, nepotism, maladministration, unfunded budgets, inflated wage bills and vacancies in key positions which have not been filled for years (due to, among other things, Affirmative Action).
In short, the report confirms the ANC’s sheer inability to govern at any level.
Moreover, it is evident from the report that the ANC government keeps focusing on national interventions for local problems as a result of, among other things, its reluctance to take action against local ANC cadres.
This “nationalising” of local services creates a situation where the people of South Africa are forced to pay double tax. It seems that the ANC government is happy to accept that local government taxes are lost in a bottomless pit of corruption and incompetence and, so, service delivery, which has already been paid for, has to be financed with national tax money.
Nkadimeng’s attempts to sugar-coat the ANC’s failures with apparent “optimism” while the facts clearly speak to the contrary is not only opportunistic, but also demonstrates the ANC’s desperation in the run-up to the elections.
South Africa deserves better than the ANC.
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