The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water and Sanitation) is concerned by the minimal positive progress achieved in municipalities under Section 139 (1) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The ineffectiveness of the interventions has a direct and negative impact on essential services that those municipalities must render to the people.
Currently there are 10 Section 139 interventions in municipalities in KZN. Eight municipalities are under Section 139(1)(b); namely Mpofana Local Municipality, uThukela District Municipality, Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality, uMzinyathi District Municipality, uMkhanyakude District Municipality, Mtubatuba Local Municipality, Umzumbe Local Municipality and Zululand District Municipality; and two have directives in terms of Section 139(1)(a); namely uMhlathuze Local Municipality and Msunduzi Local Municipality.
‘Section 152 and 153 of the Constitution spells out the objects and developmental duties of
municipalities and the current state of the intervention doesn’t give hope, generally, that the institution of these interventions is bearing fruit and that residents of these municipalities are better off now than when the interventions were instituted. The lack of tangible progress feeds into the perception that section 139 interventions are generally ineffective,’ said Mr Mxolisi Kaunda, the Chairperson of the committee.
The committee is of the considered view that the inability to resolve matters such as non-payment of suppliers, inadequate council oversight over management, growing debtors’ book, low cash reserves and lack of adequate skills will continue to hamper effective service delivery if not resolved. Furthermore, the committee considers some of the challenges are patently unacceptable and undermine the trust given to those elected representatives by the citizens.
‘It is also concerning that some of these interventions have been in place for a long time with UMzinyathi District Municipality’s in
tervention having started in 2016 while Mpofana Local Municipality’s and Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality’s interventions started in December 2017. While the committee acknowledged the need for the interventions, it is imperative that they yield results,’ Mr Kaunda emphasised.
MPOFANA LOCAL MUNICIPALITY
The committee welcomed the appointment of senior management within the municipality and is hopeful that they will drive the implementation of objectives of the municipality and resolve poor audit outcomes within the municipality. Despite this, the committee remains concerned that the ballooning Eskom debt has not been resolved which will lead to further debt for the municipality.
The committee has also urged the KZN Executive Council to expedite its decision to consider the municipality for Section 139 (5) to impose a financial recovery plan on the municipality to ensure that the municipality is in a good financial position.
UTHUKELA DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY
The committee raised concerns that a majori
ty of the identified inefficiencies have not been resolved including the underspending on capital budgets, lack of capacity to undertake water and sanitation function, low collection rates, weak financial management controls and poor state of infrastructure. ‘It will be difficult to achieve the objects of the municipality without adequate financial management controls and inadequate skills base. Also, the inadequate spending on infrastructure maintenance will result in further deterioration of public infrastructure that is necessary to drive service delivery and economic development,’ Mr Kaunda said.
The committee has called for consequence management officials for misconduct and dereliction of duty to regain adequate governance standards.
INKOSI LANGALIBALELE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY
The committee noted and appreciated the commendable progress in resolving a substantial number of challenges that led to the intervention. The committee welcomed the assurance that the municipality is now operating with a funded bu
dget and that all senior management positions have been filled. Furthermore, the committee welcomes the assurance that the municipality has reviewed its organogram and that a completed staff establishment will be submitted at the end of September. The committee has called on the administrator to speedily work towards resolving the remaining areas that have been partially achieved.
UMZINYATHI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY
The committee considers it unfortunate and unacceptable that the municipality has refused to give consent for the ministerial representative to have access the municipality’s primary banking facility. While this matter has now been resolved by the appointment of a new ministerial representative, it nonetheless delays implementation of corrective measures to ensure that the intervention succeeds. Despite this, the committee has called for the administrator to urgently prioritise investigations into allegations of maladministration, fraud and corruption to ensure that they are resolved.
The committe
e noted the legal procedure to challenge the intervention into Zululand District Municipality and uMhlathuze Local Municipality and will await the courts judgement on the matter. Although the Constitution allows for any dispute to be ventilated in the courts, the same Constitution puts a premium on cooperative governance between all spheres of government. ‘It is thus unfortunate that spheres of government have resorted to spending resources that could be used for service delivery to fight court cases,’ Mr Kaunda said.
Meanwhile, the committee will expeditiously consider the Section 139(1)(b) intervention at Umzumbe Local Municipality and will make a determination as mandated by the Constitution. The committee will also await the comprehensive update report once it serves before the KZN Exco before the end of October 2024.
‘What is important for the committee is to ensure that all municipalities are functional and offer efficient and quality services to the people,’ Mr Kaunda concluded.
Source: Parliament
of South Africa
