Stakeholders in Thabazimbi have urged the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration (Traditional Affairs, Human Settlements and Water and Sanitation) to recommend that the National Council of Provinces dissolve the Thabazimbi Local Municipality to ensure efficient service delivery.
The committee conducted an oversight visit to the municipality following the Limpopo Executive Council’s notice to the National Council of Provinces to invoke provisions of Section 139 (1) (c) of the Constitution and dissolve the Thabazimbi Local Municipality Council. “At a certain point in time, a decision must be made for the good of the people of Thabazimbi. These councillors have been selfish and are not concerned about service delivery. They have been planning to remove each other from the day they were inaugurated,” said Mr Moses Moakane, a small business representative in the area.
A representative from the local business chamber also echoed the sentiments that the municipality is dysfunctional and that their advances to the municipality to assist with economic development fell on deaf ears. “In the past twelve years, we have dealt with 13 different municipal managers, which makes it difficult for us to know who to interact with and advance the economic development of our municipality,” the representative said. He further argued that the infrastructure is beyond repair, leading to serious losses in water and electricity, which rob the municipality of much-needed revenue.
Mr Moses Maepo also supported the dissolution because he believes the councillors worry not about service delivery but protecting their salaries. “The egos of our councillors are standing in the way of service delivery, and the municipality cannot move forward to resolve the challenges of unemployment and infrastructure development. It is sad that a municipality that accounts for 50% of the GDP of a district municipality cannot invest in infrastructure to grow the economy further,” said Mr Maepo.
The MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGHSTA) in the province, Mr Basikopo Makamu, had informed the committee that the municipality had only spent 40% of its Municipal Infrastructure Grant at the end of June 2024, a month before the end of the municipal financial year. The Municipal Infrastructure Grant aims to eradicate municipal infrastructure backlogs in poor communities and ensure the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, roads, and community lighting.
The decision by the provincial executive to invoke Section 139 (1) (c) was taken because of various challenges affecting the municipality, including governance and management challenges. These challenges included a significant dysfunctional council, two parallel structures with each structure having a management team, a bankrupt municipality unable to pay creditors, including Eskom and Magalies Water, a high vacancy rate in the senior management of the municipality, and operating on an unfunded budget.
Following the interaction with stakeholders, the committee observed that the challenges facing the municipality directly impact service delivery. The committee raised concerns that councillors did not raise service delivery issues throughout the interactions with the committee but focused on internal fights amongst themselves. “The general attitude we have witnessed amongst the councillors is of a group not concerned about the people and service delivery, but only their selfish need to protect their salaries. What must guide every councillor is a commitment to service delivery, and, unfortunately, we have not witnessed this commitment to servant leadership from councillors in this municipality,” said Mr Mxolisi Kaunda, the Committee Chairperson.
The committee will now deliberate and recommend to the National Council of Provinces whether to approve or disapprove the invocation of Section 139 (1)(c) of the Constitution. “What will be central to our deliberations and recommendation to the National Council of Provinces as per Section 139 (3)(b) is to protect the interest of the residents of the municipality and ensure that quality service delivery is achieved. It is important that a municipality is functional and able to implement the objects of local government as set out in Section 152 of the Constitution,” Mr Kaunda said.
By Malatswa Molepo
02 October 2024
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