ADDRESSING a local government summit in the Mother City, Gordhan raised some pertinent issues relating to the shocking state of municipal governance in the country.
It is worth repeating, because it makes for chilling reading and affects all of us.
The key points Gordhan made were:
• Out of 278 Chief Financial Officers in all municipalities, 170 are not qualified. That represents about 61%;
• The R320-billion municipal budget was handled by these unqualified officials;
• One third of the country’s municipalities were dysfunctional and in serious trouble;
• Corruption was a cancer busy destroying local government;
• The Hawks, Special Investigation Unit and Public Protector have 241 investigations underway into municipal malpractices;
• Because of a deficient system, there are few consequences for transgressors of the law. Officials move from one job to the next without facing the consequences of their misconduct.
Dim view
Gordhan took a dim view of all this, saying unqualified people should be fired and he would put a stop to the corruption and incompetence. Exactly what the nation wants to hear.The almost daily reports of citizens protesting in the streets and on the highways about the lack of service delivery and ineptitude of local government officials, bear testimony to the deplorable quality of much of our local leadership.
South Africa simply cannot afford this appalling mess to continue unchecked. Apart from collapsing infrastructure causing irritation – lack of water access being the hot topic at the moment – people often remain oblivious to the long-term damage and cost implication that awaits.
Let’s call it the Eskom Syndrome.
Just as consumers are being ruthlessly hammered to fund the electricity supplier’s incompetence, lack of planning and budget overindulgences, so too will ratepayers, in time to come, increasingly be hustled out of their hard-earned cash to keep on sponsoring the freewheeling ways of the municipal elite.
But here’s the thing. If we hope to turn things around, the public should get involved and not leave it to the media or the minister alone to raise the alarm.
As a nation we need to collectively ensure that so much pressure is brought to bear on local government entities, that the dead wood and corrupters are weeded out.
That means citizens must attend municipal meetings – yes, it is open to the public – and make time to study reports, especially the budget bits, and make some serious noise about transgressions.
These people are, after all, our representatives. They must work for us – honestly, diligently and with respect to our tax contributions.
If we remain silent and apathetic, we probably deserve the ongoing exploitation.
