Children scatter rubbish on the streets of Lichtenburg on 27 May 2021. Photo: Gallo Images
While Gauteng and Western Cape have the two best-run municipalities, the North West and Free State provinces are leading when it comes to dysfunctional ones, with their councils failing to deliver services, honour third-party payments or pay worker salaries.
Wasteful expenditure, poor governance and instability are the order of the day at most municipalities across the country, as detailed in Auditor-General reports.
The ailing municipalities often appoint unqualified individuals, leading to unnecessary costs as they hire expensive consultants to prepare annual financial statements.
Councils are worsening and are nearing collapse in the North West, according to the Auditor-General’s 2020-2021 local government report.
In an effort to help with financial management and boost recovery, the provincial government placed eight municipalities under mandatory intervention.
Last month, professionals ranging from governance to financial and legal experts were sent to help out at the following dysfunctional municipalities:-
However, the ANC-led province is yet to give feedback on intervention work so far. But at Ditsobotla Local Municipality, things have since worsened.
Ditsobotla owes worker salaries, creditors and third parties such as medical schemes and pension funds, while residents go for months without clean drinking water.
The Citizen has learnt that several service providers owed millions by the municipality have since approached the courts to force Ditsobotla to cough up.
The first legal action is happening on Wednesday next week when a sheriff from Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court will attach municipal movable assets such as vehicles, furniture and tools.
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The lack of proper roads and reliable water supply in Ditsobotla drove out dairy company Clover from Lichtenburg two years ago when it relocated to Durban.
Almost 400 employees lost their jobs.
Another municipality that’s unable to pay salaries is Christiana-headquartered Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality, which falls under Dr Ruth Mompati.
Lekwa-Teemane informed employees on Wednesday that it is experiencing financial difficulties and won’t pay May salaries.
Many Free State municipalities owe power utility Eskom huge amounts of debt while their records of service delivery remain dismal.
Years of corruption and fraud and the appointment of unqualified personnel have left most of the councils unable to achieve clean audits.
At Mafube Municipality in Frankfort, retired workers are struggling because Mafube failed to pay their pension funds.
Last week, workers at Mohokare Local Municipality downed tools and vowed to never return to work until the employer paid their pension and medical aid.
According to the Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor Ian Riddle, workers’ benefits lapsed after Mafube stopped honouring its obligations in August 2022.
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Several pension funds have taken defaulting Free State councils to court, but to no vail, as they fail to comply with judgements directing them to pay up.
Other councils including Kopanong, Tokologo, Mantsopa, Nketoana, Maluti-A-Phofung and Masilonyana failed to submit financial statements and were subsequently unaudited,
At the province’s only metro, Mangaung, suburbs and townships are a stink due to raw sewerage flowing in the streets and homes.
Although the metro is under national administration following years of corruption, mismanagement and political infighting in the ANC, residents argue that nothing has improved.
Meanwhile, residents in the province submitted a barrage of complaints about poor services to the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in the province.
The commission says it decided to consolidate all complaints and is considering holding an inquiry into poor municipal services in the Free State.
The complaints received range from lack of refuse removal, spilt sewerage and lack of unreliable water supply.
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