Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Gizella Opperman, MP – Member of Portfolio Committee on COGTA |
| Date: 04 August 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| Given the declining state of Northern Cape municipalities, there is an increasing need for high level interventions in the growing number of extremely distressed and dysfunctional municipalities in the province. In this regard, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for a review of the way in which Section 139 interventions are utilised. We also think it is high time that COGTA dusts the cobwebs off its own mechanism to set the tone for municipal assistance, by effectively utilising Section 139(7) interventions.This come as the national COGTA Portfolio Committee assesses municipalities that have been placed under Section 139 intervention, better known as administration.Since 1998, the country has instituted more than 140 Section 139 interventions, with 46 municipalities currently under this type of intervention. The Northern Cape and Limpopo province, however, currently have the lowest number of interventions, despite having extremely challenged municipalities.After 21 years, the Northern Cape has only implemented three Section 139 interventions, of which two were before 2000, in Magareng and Umsobomvu municipalities respectively. Currently, only one municipality in the province, namely Phokwane, remains under administration. This is in spite of the fact that, year after year, more and more municipalities are flagged as needing urgent intervention by the Auditor General in the Northern Cape.We have to wonder why the Northern Cape shies away from Section 139 interventions? At the same time, given that Section 139(7) enables national government to step in if a province fails to execute is legislative mandate, we also need to ask why national government repeatedly fails to intervene?Based on the increasingly fragile state of municipalities, we can no longer afford to wait until a total collapse on municipal institutions has occurred. At the same time, however, we have to consider what the best way forward will be in terms of interventions.I say this against the backdrop that some municipalities have been under section 139 interventions more than three times already, with little to show. Other municipalities, like Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality in Northwest, have been under administration five times already with no significant and sustained impact. In fact, almost half (48%) of Section 139 interventions are for repeat offenders.It seems that the problem is that Section 139 interventions have become watered down because they are misused as a politically motivated tool, that is manipulated to fight internal political battles, rather than used to fight mismanagement and maladministration.We have seen this in Phokwane municipality. The Auditor General has reported that the officials who didn’t perform their duties are still not being held accountable. Even the commitments of Premier Zamani Saul and the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, have not been implemented in this municipality, and there has been no consequence management. Despite the Section 139 intervention, the culture of no accountability continues to be perpetuated. The municipal council has to be dissolved and Phokwane is currently awaiting a mass of by-elections.Another concerning question is why most interventions are terminated following local government elections? The assumption that new councils will be able to fix deeply set structural problems, is flawed. Most new councillors cannot even begin to grasp the intricate details of the deep-routed problems facing their municipalities.It is therefore clear that government urgently needs to relook its model of intergovernmental support and collaboration. When decisions to intervene through Section 139 administration are made, the constitutional provisions of intervention need to be coupled with the financial resources for implementation of these recovery plans. They also need to be protected from political interference and there must be follow-through, until municipalities are confidently able to take back the reigns.This process must be speedily prioritised to stop the further and imminent downfall of municipalities. |
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