In a landmark judgment that might see communities approach the courts to compel SA’s embattled municipalities to provide services, a community in the Eastern Cape has convinced the court to compel its local municipality to commence with and complete the construction of an access road.
The road, which the community has been waiting years for, will connect Nogqala village to the towns of Ngcobo and Ugie. The construction of the bridge started in 2021 with nothing to show for it — despite nearly R10m supposedly spent on the project.
The frustrated community dragged the Dr AB Xuma Local Municipality in the Chris Hani District Municipality to court to compel it to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities.
In a scathing judgment handed down last week, the high court in Mthatha threw cold water on the municipality’s budget constraints for not completing the access road.
“It is further plain that Nogqala Village residents do not enjoy their right to dignity even after they have met their demise. The dilapidated state of the road stripped Nogqala residents of their dignity. They carry coffins, with long distances, crossing rivers while at the same time they are mourning,” the judgment reads.
“While their departed one is not handled in dignity because of the state of the road, the mourners are not mourning in dignity for the same reason.
“This shows the deep pain and suffering people of Nogqala Village are enduring at the hands of the respondents,” it said.
“One can, in passing, imagine a number of rights protected in the bill of rights that are violated by the aforesaid state of the road, for example, right to healthcare services. A sickly person may ultimately die for lack of means to transport him or her. Accordingly, lack of proper roads threatens the life of Nogqala Village community.”
The court ordered the municipality to provide the community with a progress report within 180 days.
The state and financing of SA’s municipalities took centre stage at the state of the nation address, delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week.
The state and financing of SA’s municipalities took centre stage at the state of the nation address, delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week.
The president said many of the challenges in municipalities arose from the design of the local government system and the government would undertake “extensive consultation to develop an updated white paper on local government to outline a modern and fit-for-purpose local government system”.
The entrenched issues facing local government have already attracted the attention of Operation Vulindlela, a joint initiative of the National Treasury and Ramaphosa’s office that was set up in 2020 to reinvigorate the economy.
The second phase of the initiative would focus on this smallest unit of government, which has drawn sharp criticism from business leaders and citizens for its failure to roll out basic services such as potable water, electricity, clinics and refuse collection.
Desperate citizens have often been forced to turn to the country’s courts to demand better services from local councils.
The high court in Johannesburg has issued no less than six judgments lambasting the City of Johannesburg’s treatment of residents, particularly on its shambolic billing and debt collection methods.
A recent judgment, handed down earlier this year, was particularly scathing about the conduct of officials, which leads to ratepayers turning to the courts for recourse.
“This culminates in unnecessary high court litigation for those few who can afford to seek relief, while many less fortunate customers no doubt remain at the mercy of an indifferent officialdom,” reads the judgment.
“Consequently, severe financial burdens and hardships are imposed on customers and ratepayers. This judgment confronts the grave and far-reaching consequences of continued abuse of power with unflinching resolve.”
With Luyolo Mkentane
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