Sol Plaatje must turn streetlights on for festive season
| by Grantham Steenkamp, MPL – DA Northern Cape Spokesperson of COGHSTA |
| Date: 09 October 2020 |
| Release: Immediate |
| While the Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the response of COGHSTA MEC, Bentley Vass, to the municipal debt crisis in the Northern Cape that this week plunged four municipalities in the province into darkness, we remain concerned that government’s last minute scramble to renegotiate payment terms with Eskom remains largely reactive and still fails to address the root causes of the crisis. We will therefore continue to call on the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to take the lead in saving what is left of local government.While Covid-19 has understandably affected revenue collection, placing financial strain on municipalities that in turn struggle to pay service providers, the problem is far greater than this.Even before the pandemic, municipalities were failing to adhere to payment agreements with the likes of Eskom and water boards, amongst others. While the issue does, to a certain extent have to do with age-old problems related to poor billing systems and debt collection practices, this is only a part of the problem.The bigger part of the problem stems from poor municipal management coupled with bloated personnel establishments, that see too many officials who are not fit for purpose, having allowed municipalities to slide into a total state of disrepair. This stems from a toxic mix of cadre deployment, unrealistic budgets and ill financial discipline that sees municipalities rather utilising funds to pay the salaries of connected cronies, or squandering funds on corruption, instead of paying off their debt.Therefore, while we note Vass’s submission that the Municipal Debt Steering Committee has made great strides in successfully strengthening intergovernmental relations, this means very little to us. Instead, all it actually tells us is that maybe next time around, COGHSTA will start renegotiating municipal bailouts with Eskom a few days before the lights are switched off, instead of after the fact. It does not, however, provide hope of long-term solutions for municipalities to get out of debt and ultimately become stable and well-run institutions, that will make residents proud to live under their jurisdiction.The DA no longer has confidence in MEC Vass and his team to turn the state of municipalities, including the increasingly dire municipal debt crisis, around.The DA will instead continue to pursue an engagement with Premier Zamani Saul, who, as the leader of his province, should place himself at the forefront of finding long term solutions to the growing mass of local government problems. His failure to do so, will not bode well for the ANC in next year’s local government elections, when residents are presented with the opportunity to compare the state of well-governed DA municipalities in South Africa to dead and dying municipalities in the Northern Cape. |
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