Riyaz Patel
A delegation from The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has heard of the chaotic state of all 22 municipalities in the North West province.
North West Premier Job Mokgoro set the tone, painting a depressing state of affairs. “If we are to tell the truth and be honest with whoever would care to listen to us, the state of our 22 municipalities in the North West province is nowhere near becoming sustainable, responsible and people-centred,” he said at a briefing at the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality.
Compounding the problem, Mokgoro said, there are instances of various municipalities resisting section 139 intervention, “where instead of working together with the provincial government to stabilise and turn around the state of municipalities, they opt to challenge the intervention in the courts of law.”
The MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements, Mothibedi Kegakilwe, outlined the very poor delivery of basic services to communities such as water and sanitation, electricity, and infrastructure.
This was coupled with a general incapacity and failure to retain highly skilled staff “who in turn is replaced by unqualified employees in most of the local municipalities.”
Reports from The South African Local Government Association (Salga), the provincial Auditor-General’s Office, and various other relevant stakeholders, painted a similarly bleak picture.
The NCOP delegation urged the North West Provincial Legislature, district and local municipalities, and other relevant stakeholders to work in unison to develop strategies to turn things around.
“We need a provincially based strategy. Major problems are confronting the North West province and as the NCOP, we will decisively deal with this situation,” said NCOP delegate Thamsanqa Dodovu.
NCOP Provincial Whip and the Leader of the NCOP Delegation in the North West, Eric Landsman, said: “These daily service delivery protests in all corners of our country mirror the cries from our communities, especially the poorest of the poor, that they need the simple basic service in order to survive. Most of these basic services are supposed to be provided at local government level.“
In May, The North West provincial government placed seven municipalities under administration, bringing to 15 the total number of municipalities under administration in the province.
https://www.parliament.gov.za/news/north-west-local-municipalities-their-knees
Last month, China Dodovu, the chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said: “Our preliminary assessment is that there is a crisis at municipal level in the North West, with some being technically insolvent, meaning they are unable to deliver much-needed basic services to the people.”
The provincial government cited financial distress, collapse of service delivery and instability in council as the reasons for the intervention.
The affected municipalities included JB Marks in Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp, Mamusa in Schweizer-Reneke, Lekwa Teemane in Bloemhof and Christiana, Ratlou in Setlagole, Tswaing in Delareyville, Madibeng in Brits and the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District in Vryburg.
