Parliament, Thursday, 10 October 2024 – The second day of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs’ (COGTA) oversight visit to several municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday was dominated by a community engagement with the frustrated residents and ratepayers’ associations of Msunduzi Municipality.
The committee is on a week-long oversight visit to assess service delivery issues in several municipalities – eThekwini Metro, Msunduzi Local Municipality, Ugu District Municipality, and Mhlatuze Municipality. On Wednesday, the committee had an almost seven-hour meeting with the administration and political leadership of Msunduzi Municipality, interrogating governance issues such as the municipality’s financial management, vacancies and other human resources concerns.
The committee noted that the underlying weakness in their municipal management system is impacting service delivery. This became clear when the committee Chairperson, Dr Zweli Mkhize, led the committee in the community engagement.
Listening to residents in the meeting, the committee noted a significant divergence in the perspectives of the municipal administration and the communities it serves. Among the residents’ grievances were inaccurate billing and poor service delivery in providing water, sewerage, electricity, roads and refuse removal. The committee noted that the municipality provides emergency measures such as water tanks in areas with water shortages, but this is often not at regular intervals. The committee also received a report from the municipal leadership on what the municipality is doing to address these issues.
Said Dr Mkhize: “The MEC and the municipality tell us that there is progress, but the community feels that there are a lot of gaps and the municipality is not serving them. We need to close that gap to make people feel that even if there are not enough resources, the municipality is still responsive, and there is an effort by the municipality to address their issues – that there is a sense of empathy with the community.”
The committee will make continuous follow-ups to close this gap so that people receive services. The committee will also monitor all the infrastructure upgrades that are underway.
Dr Mkhize said there must be a way to get these matters resolved so that residents can see that the system is able to respond to their challenges. “What we will be doing on our side is to approach the municipality on a matter-by-matter and on a person-by-person basis to ensure that those issues are dealt with.”
In a meeting with the municipality’s leadership, the provincial department of COGTA and councillors, the committee heard that the municipality had been subjected to a Section 139(1)(b) intervention, which was downgraded to Section 139(1)(a) in 2024 due to ongoing service delivery challenges, specifically in waste management, roads and electricity. A turnaround strategy was developed and is currently being implemented. Progress reports are submitted monthly to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The municipality has also voluntarily followed a financial recovery plan since January 2023.
A central theme of the meeting was the municipality’s financial management and the steps taken to address unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The committee heard that significant progress has been made in eliminating 100% of unauthorised expenditure, and R1.2 million of fruitless and wasteful expenditure has been recovered. The committee also heard that irregular expenditure remains under investigation, with R181 million already condoned during the 2023-24 financial year. Staff are also trained in financial compliance to prevent further unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditures.
The committee also sought answers on the municipal manager’s suspension and will receive a detailed report on the reasons for it. The committee urged the municipality to resolve the issue of people in acting positions and undertook to continuously apply pressure at that level.
Noting Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi’s (the MEC for COGTA in the province) assurances that the municipality is on the recovery side to get the S139 intervention removed, Dr Mkhize said the committee will monitor this process.
“What is important to us is ensuring good governance and financial administration – revenue generation and payment of debts are done properly and the management skills are adequate. All these things are important to the committee,” said Dr Mkhize.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, DR ZWELI MKHIZE.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Name: Alicestine October (Ms)
Cell: 083 665 4345
E-mail: aoctober@parliament.gov.za
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