Municipalities must be separated from undue political influence – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says to improve service delivery, municipalities must be separated from undue political influence that seeks to appoint unqualified candidates in positions.

Ramaphosa presented the Presidency’s budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, where he updated the nation on the progress of several projects undertaken by the government.

Addressing the issue of municipalities that fail to deliver basic services such as water to communities, Ramaphosa highlighted last year’s Green Drop report, which points to serious challenges in municipalities when it comes to managing water resources.

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“That municipalities are underspending or not even utilising critical grants to upgrade and maintain social infrastructure like water treatment facilities is unacceptable,” said Ramaphosa.

“The Department of Water and Sanitation will continue its ongoing engagements with municipal managers, technical staff, mayors and councillors in districts to address this issue and provide support where it is required.”

Political influence

Another way to ensure municipalities deliver services to communities was to appoint the right people in positions of power, said Ramaphosa.

“We need to strengthen local government by separating the administration from undue political influence For example, the appointment process of officials such as the municipal manager and chief financial officer could involve competence verification by national departments like Cooperative Governance and National Treasury. This would help to ensure people with the right skills and experience are appointed.”

Eskom debt

Not only are municipalities failing to provide clean water to communities, but also struggling to keep up with the Eskom debt, which, according to Deputy President Paul Mashatile, stood at R56.3 billion at the end of December 2022.

During his maiden oral replies in the National Assembly in March, Mashatile announced Eskom would provide incentivised relief to municipalities whose debt is unaffordable.

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However, the relief will come with conditions that will ensure there is no repeat of debt build-up over time.

Some of the conditions will include the installation of prepaid meters to correct non-payment and operational practices in the affected municipalities, said Mashatile.

“Municipalities must use the money they are allocated effectively and efficiently for the intended purposes. If this is not the case, there should be consequences.

“The culture of non-payment, not only by municipalities, but all organs of state and individual households customers is concerning. We cannot over emphasise the need to discourage a culture of non-payment of public services.”

READ MORE: Eskom to provide relief to municipalities whose debt is ‘unaffordable’ – with conditions