Problems persist in SA’s ‘distressed’ municipalities despite improvement

Despite the improvement in the number of municipalities classified as “distressed”, administrative and governance problems in cities and towns are still a cause for concern, says Deputy Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Dickson Masemola.

At a local government summit this week in Limpopo, political infighting and factional battles in municipalities were identified as the root cause of poor performance by councils.

Key to the problems were political battles between mayors and speakers.

ALSO READ: Hlabisa says dysfunctional municipalities a priority, but laments Cogta budget cuts

“For municipalities to succeed in their aggressive plan to provide services to communities, mayors and council speakers must speak from the same page.

“They must work together at all times.”

He said there should be a cordial relationship between district municipal mayors and local mayors and mayors and speakers.

Masemola said several municipal councils were unable to discharge their duties to the best of their abilities because there wasn’t a smooth working relationship between the council principals.

This often led to the “dismal” performance of municipalities in their audit outcomes.

“While we’ve seen an improvement from 66 municipalities facing challenges to 34 requiring attention, we must not overlook other municipalities that need our support,” he said.

NOW READ: Cogta minister warns non-performing councils will be shut down and re-elected