I once asked Trevor Manuel in an interview whether he had any regrets about his time as SA’s finance minister (1996-2009). I only remember one of them — that he hadn’t managed to do more to fix the problems in local government.
Last month, outgoing National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane threw up his hands and admitted that with about 170 of the country’s 257 municipalities (66%) now in financial distress, the Treasury could no longer cope with the extent of the crisis.
One has to wonder how the situation has been allowed to build to the point where most municipalities are no longer financially sustainable, rendering service delivery dysfunctional in large parts of the country. Potholed roads, raw sewerage spills and extensive water and electricity cuts are becoming the norm.
The situation has become so dire that it threatens the entire country’s economic growth prospects. The value destruction in residential property alone is almost incalculable, according to Brenthurst Wealth Management director Magnus Heystek. His guess is that it’s well over R1-trillion over the past 10 years, if not substantially more. “Most small and medium-sized towns have become worthless,” he tweeted last week. “Those values have evaporated. Poof. Gone.”
Local government experts lay much of the blame on the ANC’s practice of cadre deployment — the handpicking of loyal ANC cadres for senior administrative and technical posts for which they often lack the qualifications or experience. This has destroyed professionalism at the top and led to a skills flight from local government. Crony capitalism and corruption have flourished.
The exception is the Western Cape, where most of the municipalities remain financially sustainable, and practice strict financial controls and good budgeting, according to local governance ratings agency Ratings Afrika. In fact, the top four ranked municipalities in 2021 — Mossel Bay, Saldanha, Swartland, and Midvaal — are all DA-run.
Politicians have ‘failed dismally’
Last week the DA launched court action to have cadre deployment declared unconstitutional based partly on the findings of the Zondo commission. The commission’s Volume I report states that the appointment of boards of directors and senior executives of SEOs can no longer be left solely to politicians, because in the main they have “failed dismally” to appoint people of integrity and ability.
National Treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane admitted that with about 170 of the country’s 257 municipalities now in financial distress, the Treasury could no longer cope with the extent of the crisis.
— Claire Bisseker, Financial Mail assistant editor
There is also the legal precedent set by lower courts. Take the case of Mlokoti vs the Amathole District Municipality, decided in the Eastern Cape High Court in 2008. The presiding judge, JD Pickering, was scathing about the “unwarranted intervention” of the ANC’s regional executive in the appointment of the municipal manager.
“It is clear that the councillors of the ANC supinely abdicated to their political party their responsibility to fill the position of the municipal manager with the best-qualified and best-suited candidate,” the judgment states. “This was a responsibility owed to the electorate as a whole and not just to the sectarian interests of their political masters.”
Justice Pickering booted out the ANC’s handpicked candidate, Mlamli Zenzile, and replaced him with the applicant, Vuyo Mlokoti, who was by far the best candidate on merit. The municipality was ordered to pay costs.
The penny drops
The penny seems to have finally dropped, at least in parliament, which last month unanimously passed the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill. It gives all municipal officials a year to resign from any office-bearing position in a political party. The DA aims to extend this prohibition to the entire public service through its End Cadre Deployment private-member’s bill. It also seeks to beef up the powers of the Public Service Commission (PSC) to enforce merit-based appointments, free from political interference.
But SA’s torrid experience with state capture shows that no amount of legislation can defeat corruption and incompetence unless it is backed by political will from the very top to enforce accountability. This is just one reason President Cyril Ramaphosa must be transparent about the burglary on his Limpopo farm. His evasiveness is deplorable. SA deserves better.
• Bisseker is a Financial Mail assistant editor.
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