The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) calls for action be taken at once to remedy the human rights violations resulting from maladministration in the Northern Cape.
These violations came to light in a report issued by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) earlier today.
The report outlines the systemic collapse of municipal management and service delivery in addition to a persistent pattern of maladministration. As a result, residents are deprived of their constitutional right to water, sanitation, a healthy environment and human dignity.
Accordingly, the HRC found that most municipalities have already met the threshold for intervention in terms of section 139 of the Constitution.
A particular cause for concern is the finding that warning signs of financial and institutional decline are not followed by timely, coordinated and sufficiently robust interventions. This directly implicates the provincial sphere of government and indicates that the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Mr Bentley Vass, is failing to fulfil his constitutional obligations.
Among the serious shortcomings identified in the report are:
• Sol Plaatje Local Municipality’s ongoing sewage spills and infrastructure decay, which warrant the declaration of a provincial disaster
• Renosterberg Local Municipality, where the current provincial intervention is ineffective and more decisive action is required
• Dikgatlong Local Municipality, marked by severe capacity constraints and excessive expenditure on emergency measures
• Emthanjeni Local Municipality’s budget is unfunded and service delivery remains inadequate
• Kai !Garib Local Municipality still does not comply with financial regulations
Those responsible for widespread financial mismanagement and irregular and wasteful expenditure face no consequences. The result is inadequate planning, a lack of infrastructure maintenance and, ultimately, the collapse of service delivery.
In the Freedom Front Plus’s view, this ongoing failure amounts to a breach of the Department’s constitutional mandate in terms of sections 154 and 139 of the Constitution.
The party, therefore, calls for the following:
• Immediate interventions in terms of section 139(1)(b) at the affected municipalities
• Formally declaring a provincial state of disaster in Sol Plaatje
• Urgently stepping up the intervention in Renosterberg
• Introducing mandatory financial recovery processes where accountability applies
• Boosting law enforcement to curb infrastructure vandalism and theft
• National intervention where the province fails to act
This report leaves no room for doubt; the situation in the Northern Cape warrants immediate and decisive action.
The Freedom Front Plus will employ all legal and oversight mechanisms at its disposal to hold the Department and its political leadership accountable, and to safeguard the rights of residents.
