2024 report card: Velenkosini Hlabisa’s highs and lows this year

Velenkosini Fiki Hlabisa was appointed Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) this year, but how well did he do? We take a look.

When the African National Congress (ANC) invited parties to join the government of national unity (GNU) following their disappointing national and provincial elections in May, the door was opened for power to be shared.

It took a few weeks for President Cyril Ramaphosa to decide on and appoint his third cabinet, which now features ministers and deputy ministers from the 10 other parties in the GNU. These ministers were announced on 30 June and sworn in on 3 July.

Many leaders of political parties that joined the GNU were given the roles of whose incumbents they had previously berated for allegedly not doing their job. Outspoken rivals became authority figures and it became their task to carry South Africa forward.

Hlabisa’s weather and local government challenges

President of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and its parliamentary leader, Velenkosini Fiki Hlabisa was made Minister of the Department of Cogta.

Policy analyst Dr Nkosikhulule Nyembezi told The Citizen Hlabisa’s new role is crucial in the wake of disasters such as extreme weather and flooding, and dysfunctional municipalities, which South Africa saw much of this year.

KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape have been hit by extreme weather repeatedly this year that saw schools closed, homes destroyed and scores lose their lives.

WATCH: Western Cape may close up to 53 schools due to severe weather, 5 000 displaced

“Hlabisa’s prospects of success lie in the political buy-in of multi-stakeholders in dealing with an increase in the number of disasters — such as droughts, floods, and inclement weather — which have increased in their magnitude, severity, and impact as these events have occurred either simultaneously or in rapid succession, straining resources and systems.”

The analyst said these disasters should be met with commitment and enthusiasm on Hlabisa’s part for what the department could achieve and represent.

ALSO READ: Minister sends weather warning ahead of initiation ceremony

Municipalities are failing all over South Africa

Cogta recently revealed that one out of every six municipalities in South Africa is dysfunctional.

In fact, 41 of the 257 district, local and metropolitan municipalities are currently under administration. Twelve of these have been under administration for five years or more.

Administration occurs when municipalities have shown a failure to carry out basic functions and services, with Section 139 of the Constitution stipulating multiple intervention measures, handing provincial governments more oversight power over said municipalities. 

Just recently,  Thabazimbi local municipality in Limpopo went under administration because of its dysfunctional council, bankruptcy, inability to pay creditors, including Eskom and Magalies Water, high vacancy rate in the senior management of the municipality and operation on an unfunded budget.

Yet when compared with Umzinyathi District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, for instance, things could be worse. Umzinyathi has spent the longest period under administration, having begun their latest stint in October 2016.

Mtubatuba Local Municipality in KZN has been placed under administration four times since 2012, with the current intervention beginning in March 2019.

The undisputed leader of administrative action was North West’s Ditsobotla Local Municipality, which has faced interventions eight times since May 2008.

ALSO READ: These are the 5 worst municipalities currently under administration

Hlabisa responds to flagging municipalities

In August, Hlabisa said national government needs to step in and help the 10 worst municipalities in the country.

“We will be very focused on these municipalities. That is where the point of co-ordination and cooperation will have to come into play,” he said.

The Cogta minister said government will do a skills audit in these municipalities, starting with the municipal managers. It will also look at those in political office, such as the mayors and the speakers.

“We will need to know who is there, what are the qualifications of the municipal managers, just to understand, because if you make the wrong deployment, you will hardly get the correct product,” he said.

“You might find the CFO not meeting the minimum requirement of that position, but the council [still] appointed them.”

He said that if the leaders of the municipalities are not qualified for the roles they perform, “things will go upside down”.

He added that political parties need to take responsibility for deploying people to these positions.

“If you deploy a person who is not competent enough to lead a municipality… you will never see a change.

“You can come up with a turnaround plan, they might not comprehend it because of the level of their qualifications.”

Nyembezi cautioned that the high number of dysfunctional municipalities and “lopsided result of national interventions” so far illustrate how destructive the role of political parties in these local governments has become.

[It also] shows that political instability at the local government level could become an issue around which dissent coalesces,” he said.

ALSO READ: VF Plus asks Cogta’s Hlabisa to intervene in Ditsobotla municipality as ‘lawlessness’ persists

The verdict – more needs to be done

The policy analyst said the door is still open for Hlabisa to make an impression in his response to disasters.

However, action is sorely needed in dealing with failing municipalities.

“The irony is that, after an energetic IFP election campaign highlighting crucial issues, the department – the most consistent proponents of electoral reform regarding traditional leadership – could face criticism ahead of the 2025 local government elections for not doing enough to uplift people in rural municipalities.

“The mood is optimistic for a better South Africa that elevates local economic development and the role of the institution of traditional leadership. It would be churlish to disturb it,” Nyembezi said.

Problems at these municipalities began before Hlabisa was made minister. But he will be expected to sort them out over the next few years, or at least stem the tide of failure at local government level.

Additional reporting by Itumeleng Mafisa and Jarryd Westerdale