The North West government has painted a bleak picture of the status of eight municipalities which have been ravaged by fraud, corruption and poor service delivery which have crippled them.
The provincial government said the state of Ditsobotla, Mamusa, Moses Kotane, Maquassi Hills, Mahikeng, Tswaing, Kagiso Molopo and JB Marks local municipalities has deteriorated and got worse since a parliamentary oversight visit last year.
Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho said a laissez-faire attitude and culture of violence has plagued some of these municipalities, leading to officials fighting over positions at the expense of residents.
Illustrating her point of a poor working ethic, Rosho said there was a high non-attendance of council meetings by councillors, and service delivery issues not discussed at all special council meetings. She said bouncers have been hired to prevent officials from accessing their offices and “gangsters affecting the smooth running of municipalities’’ as municipal gates are closed allegedly by employees of contractors over nonpayment.
On Tuesday, Rosho and MEC for co-operative governance, human settlements and traditional affairs (Coghsta) Linah Miga appeared before the portfolio committee on Cogta in parliament to present a report on the state of municipalities under instability and the support they are receiving from the province.
Ditsobotla and Kagiso Molopo, two of the municipalities flagged for maladministration, have been disbanded by the provincial executive committee.
In six years, Ditsobotla local municipality in North West has had 14 municipal managers, four mayors and four speakers. This is a result of warring ANC factions battling over power of the public purse which has left the municipality totally dysfunctional.
Last week Monday, angry workers stormed a council meeting demanding they get paid. However, even the municipality's 39 councillors — 21 of whom represent the ANC — and senior managers have not been paid, according to municipal spokesperson Pius Batsile.
On Wednesday, Batsile said the workers, councillors and managers remain unpaid.
''Nothing has changed. We have not been paid salaries for August and we are supposed to be paid on Friday. We do not know if those payments will come through,’’ said Batsile.
A municipal worker, who asked not to be named, said he was swimming in debt.
The 28-year-old technical controller said he had to borrow R6,500 from friends to pay his children’s school fees, scholar transport and buy groceries.
“My debit orders for my car and house bounced. I have not been able to pay for them. My banker does not even want to give me a loan because of my bad financial situation. The municipality has put us in a terrible situation and we are tired of their empty promises,” he said.
The SA Local Government Association (Salga) also made a presentation before the committee.
Salga said that instability in these municipalities is a result of a lack of accountability, little or no service delivery management, weak controls, unbilled revenue and debt not recovered, a lack of proper record keeping, continued dependence on consultants, deteriorating financial health, non-compliance with procurement processes and failure to pay Eskom and water boards on time, among others.
These challenges have prompted chairperson of the committee Fikile Xasa to summon the respective municipalities to appear before it. Xasa said the municipalities are expected to appear before the end of the year.
''The committee will engage with the municipalities individually through their political and administrative leaders. The committee will also invite the national and provincial departments of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, national and provincial Treasury, Salga and other key role players,’’ said Xasa.
kokam@sowetan.co.za
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