Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Delmaine Christians, MP – DA Member of National Council of Provinces |
| Date: 17 September 2019 |
| Release: Immediate |
| The Democratic Alliance is of the firm view that much more must be done to stop the politicization of senior management appointments and fill critical vacant posts in municipalities as a matter of urgency.The rapidly deteriorating state of Northern Cape municipalities was revealed at a briefing of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Kimberley today. The NCOP is visiting the Northern Cape this week, with the aim of assessing service delivery on a local government level, particularly within afflicted municipalities.The provincial department of COGHSTA revealed that Northern Cape municipalities have some of the highest staff vacancy rates in the whole of the country. In fact, Renosterberg municipality has not had any senior managers for two consecutive years.There is a direct correlation between high vacancy rates and instability of local government institutions. At the same time, critical programmes, such as the Infrastructure Development Programme (IDP), which relates to bulk water supply amongst other things, are in effect driven by junior staffIt is then no wonder that so many municipalities in the Northern Cape are unable to manage their finances and find service delivery on the verge of collapse.An Eskom presentation showed that debt owed to them by Northern Cape municipalities has escalated by an astronomical 577%, from R192 million in 2015 to R1,3 billion as at July 2019. Out of 26 local government institutions in the province, only six municipality’s bulk accounts with Eskom are paid up to date. Meanwhile, out of the 18 municipalities that are currently in arrears with Eskom, only two are honouring their debt.Sol Plaatje municipality, which houses 25% of the Northern Cape population, is also in arrears and owes R70 million for July month only.Municipalities further owe the Department of Water and Sanitation in excess of R121,779 million. This is in addition to what they still owe the water boards.The reality is that more and more municipalities simply cannot manage their budgets. This is detrimental to service delivery and their ability to continue functioning as going concerns.Until such time as the administrative side of municipalities is run by professional staff who are fit-for-purpose, and that the politics of municipalities is limited, we cannot expect a change in the day-to-day running of local government institutions.The DA hopes that the week-long programme of the NCOP will shed light on the growing challenges faced by municipalities.A hastened government intervention is urgently needed before the lights go out, the taps dry up and there is nothing left of municipalities, aside from mountains of debt. |
| Media Enquiries |
| Delmaine Christians, MPDA Member of National Council of Provinces084 503 9574 Shelley De WittResearcher082 847 1387 |
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