State of Local Government Overview Report

Fortnightly bulletin for rates and tax payers.

For summaries of all news, please go to the NTU/NBU website www.ntu-sa.net
<http://www.ntu-sa.net/>

Please pass this on to all interested and affected parties.

Number 24

October 23, 2009

Our news this week is all about the Government Report on the state of local
municipalities.

There are no surprises: the report reveals issues that have been agitating
ratepayers for years. However, this report has now brought all these issues
into the open, and ratepayer associations can now begin to pressure
municipalities to bring in change. This document would be a very important
resource for ratepayers to identify problems within their municipal
districts.

There are two very important aspects to this report:

1. The report makes mention of the fact that municipalities have been
allocated a one-size-fits-all responsibility, which not all municipalities
are able to fulfil because of factors such as their tax-base, geographical
locations, etc. (Large metros with businesses and industries fare better
than small towns with high unemployment, for instance). The report also
mentions the need for better communication between the three tiers of
government. However, you as a ratepayer should not allow your municipality
to use this as an excuse for non-delivery. Local government is going to try
everything in their power to shift the blame onto someone or something else
(it is a human response) - if they try to do this, you must point out the
second item:

2. Through-out the report, in every section and under every heading,
the point is made again and again and again that service delivery has been
compromised by political deployment, infighting, corruption, nepotism, party
loyalty and incompetence. This has been underplayed by almost everybody in
government connected with the report. However, you must not let them get
away with it - these issues have now been publicly stated and the time is
right for ratepayers to demand that something is done about it. Highlight
these issues in your own municipality and demand action.

Here are some more elements of interest out of the report:

The report ranked municipalities on various delivery mandates, such as
services, water quality, maintenance, financial controls, fiscal discipline,
debt recovery, community involvement, etc.

The worst-performing province is KZN, followed by Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
The best-performing provinces are Western Cape and Gauteng. The worst of
all the municipal districts is Mbashe in the Eastern Cape, followed by
Msinga in KZN. It was difficult to identify the best-performing
municipalities, as the top few all excelled in different areas. However,
78% of the highest-performing municipalities are in the Western Cape.

75% of municipalities cannot function without government grants. Many
municipalities have so few skills that only a fraction of the municipal jobs
are filled, and there are several municipalities that have created
extra-numery jobs with no relation to service-delivery (clearly in order to
create jobs-for-pals). In one extraordinary case, the tea lady was given
the job of Municipal Finance Manager. Another huge problem was the lack of
communication between officials in municipalities and communities.

Of the six Metros, Cape Town was the best-performing in terms of service
delivery, while Ethekwini was the worst.

I cannot post the whole report, as it is a huge document, but if anyone
wants a copy, please mail me with 'Government Report' in the subject line
and I will send it to you.

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