Any progress registered by the government of national unity will be rendered pointless in the absence of stability across the country’s large cities.
Unstable metros and municipalities countrywide have proven to be a sharp fault line in attempts by business and government to grow the economy. It is also a red flag for investors — President Cyril Ramaphosa in his opening of parliament address in July said investors were attracted to cities with modern, reliable infrastructure. He identified stabilising the local sphere of government as a priority for his administration, as this was a crucial piece of the puzzle to grow the economy.
He has put in place a presidential working group to stabilise the eThekwini metro in KwaZulu-Natal, in which service delivery effectively collapsed due to instability caused by messy coalitions and corruption.
SA cities drive economic growth and are crucial centres regarding investor and business confidence. Since 2016 they have been plagued by political instability due to messy coalitions and with it, the delivery of crucial services has been hobbled, the upkeep of key infrastructure has declined and business confidence has waned. There are ample examples of this.
In 2021, Clover shut the country’s largest cheese production plant in Lichtenburg due to a failure of service delivery in the North West town. The closure cost the town 300 jobs and cost the company up to R1.5bn. A water crisis in Standerton, Mpumalanga, caused Astral Foods to spend R3m monthly in 2021 just to keep production going. The Lekwa municipality had neglected infrastructure for years until raw sewage began spilling into homes, water pipes burst into the streets with residents collecting it in buckets and wheelbarrows.
The political instability in Gauteng metros in particular have resulted in a visible decline in the state of the cities that form part of the main artery of the SA economy: Johannesburg, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni.
Gauteng is in a precarious state, with a looming water crisis already resulting in cuts in Johannesburg. This emerged due to the national government bungling phase two of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project during former president Jacob Zuma’s time in office.
The result is that water supply in Gauteng is lagging far behind demand and has failed to keep pace with the growth in population in the province. There are already water restrictions on large parts of high-lying areas of the province as the effects of the previous administration’s bungling begin to bite.
The finances of all three metros in the province are not in a good shape. Ekurhuleni, the only metro with a clean audit, regressed in its audit performance in the auditor-general’s latest report. While the fight between the two largest parties, the ANC and the DA, over the City of Tshwane is a local issue and in theory should not have an impact on the GNU nationally, it does pose a risk to the national project’s eventual success. It also goes against the spirit of the statement of intent signed by all parties when they agreed to form part of the GNU.
Part of the basic minimum programme agreed to by parties was to stabilise local government and foster effective co-operative governance across the three spheres.
Due to the ANC proceeding with a motion of no confidence in DA mayor in Tshwane, Cilliers Brink, talks to stabilise the remaining metros have stalled and could collapse. Without DA co-operation in the Gauteng metros, as the second-largest party, the metros remain vulnerable to the political whims of smaller parties.
While national leaders, Ramaphosa in particular, have been travelling the world to invite investors and business to the country, the picture they will face on the ground is far from the rosy one painted by the GNU mirage. Political instability in the country’s major cities is a huge deterrent for investors and businesses hoping to set up shop. What’s the point if unstable councils cause the collapse of basic services?
It’s an awkward and perhaps difficult reality to stomach politically, but revitalising the cities is central to the GNU plan to usher in a new age of economic growth. In this sense, even if the GNU lasts a full five years, it will not have accomplished its goal if it fails to grow the economy and create jobs.
While the ANC may be playing political games at metro level, the cost, in the end, will be borne by the party nationally.
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