Parliament, Wednesday, 18 July 2023 – The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation and Human Settlements is of the view that the persistent political instability in the City of Johannesburg highlights the urgent need to develop a credible framework to guide coalition governments and ensure the stability necessary to ensure delivery of quality service delivery. The committee today concluded the second of four interactions scheduled with municipalities in Gauteng and raised concerns about the negative impact of instable municipal political leadership on service delivery.
According to the committee, a credible framework is necessary to ameliorate the current instability and will ensure that municipalities serve the people and are not abused by political parties for selfish purposes. “The committee had previously scheduled a meeting with a mayor to deal with audit reports by the Auditor General. Upon arriving in Gauteng, the committee was informed of a change in mayorship, leading to the postponement of a meeting. The administration has also raised concerns that this political instability impacted on their ability to plan and implement plans, as a change in leadership often leads to change in focus,” said Mr China Dodovu, the Chairperson of the committee.
The committee remains concerned that the City of Johannesburg is struggling to implement consequence management, considering that irregular expenditure increased by 15% with irregular expenditure at R6.7 billion and with fruitless and wasteful expenditure increasing by 23%. Despite these high figures, no tangible consequence management has been implemented. While the committee welcomes the assurance that the new administration is at an advance stage in constituting a disciplinary board, the constant changing of leadership has impacted on the operation of this critical body.
The vacancy rate within the municipality is also a concern, especially at senior management level. Permanent management-level appointments are necessary to ensure implementation of the audit action plans and to drive the service level strategy. Meanwhile, the committee welcomed the appointment of a city manager and chief financial officer and urged these individuals to urgently ensure audit action plans and financial recovery plans are implemented.
Meanwhile, the committee welcomes the initiative to engage city residents to improve revenue collection, which is critical in ensuring the running of an efficient and effective municipality. “The City of Johannesburg as the economic hub of the country plays a critical role if the economic plans of the country are to be achieved. But for residents to pay for their services requires the delivery of quality and reliable services they are happy about and a functional billing system. The municipal manager and the CFO must together with other senior managers drive the process of improved service delivery to ensure improved revenue collection,” Mr Dodovu emphasised.
The committee remains concerned by the continued overreliance on consultants, which drains the city’s coffers. While the committee accepts the need for specific skills in certain areas, it has urged the city to improve internal capacity to ensure that some of the functions are implemented internally.
Meanwhile, the committee supports the call made by various political parties that the South African Local Government Association together with the Department of Cooperative Government, both national and provincial, train councillors to empower them to deliver on their critical mandate, especially the Section 79 committees of the Municipal Structures Act. The committee also asked political parties to monitor and implement consequence management against councillors who do not perform their duties properly.
Despite some of the challenges identified, the committee welcomes the continued efforts to strengthen performance within the city. The committee will tomorrow interact with the City of Ekurhuleni to assess the state of service delivery, financial management and overall functionality of the municipality.
Details of the visit
Date: Thursday, 20 July 2023
Venue: City of Ekurhuleni Municipal Officer
Time: 11:00
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, MR CHINA DODOVU
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Malatswa Molepo (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8438
Cell: 081 512 7920
E-mail: mmolepo@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour