It is very difficult to be financially viable as a local government, given the vast challenges facing municipalities in South Africa.
Water, electricity, roads, housing and health place huge strain on the public coffers, especially in the light of persisting back blocks, even 20 years after democracy. It is the objective of all municipalities in South Africa to achieve the status of being a financially stable local government. The benefits of being labelled a stable local government are investment, economic growth, development, employment and ultimately, prosperous happy residents and citizens.
By attracting these benefits we can push back the frontiers of poverty and inequality, thus creating a better life for all. In a book about Ekurhuleni launched two years ago, the author dedicates several pages to the history of our City. The beginning as a mining community, the depression, the economic boom and industrial development, the struggle for democracy, and eventually the recession we faced in our recent past. It was quite interesting that the various local governments that preceded Ekurhuleni faced vastly different challenges from what we face today as one of the largest cities in South Africa servicing a population of 3,178 million people.
It is incumbent on the leaders of the city to manage finances responsibly and prudently. One mechanism to assess responsible financial stability is the annual Municipal Financial Stability Index (MFSI). This MFSI index is a barometer that measures the financial stability of local governments. Financial stability in Ekurhuleni is a key indicator of how stable our City is.
In the latest MFSI report Ekurhuleni scored as the second best performing Metro on the MFSI. The only City that is financially more stable than Ekurhuleni, is Cape Town – with only a very small margin.
There are several service delivery challenges that require improvement before we can ever claim to be stable, but Ekurhuleni is definitely progressing. The MFSI index is a clear indicator that Ekurhuleni can be recognised as a front-runner when it comes to financial stability. Similarly, to the Clean Audit, financial stability does not mean that there are no problems. It does however mean that we manage the public funds in a responsible and effective manner to meet the vast needs of our citizens.
Let’s bridge the gap and build better communities! Please follow me on Twitter @neildiamond7 for regular municipal updates.
