The events that led to the recent dissolving of the Lekwa Municipality in Mpumalanga is likely to blaze a trail for other councils that have experienced severe poor service delivery and general municipal ineptness, says Finance Deputy Minister David Masondo.
The dissolution of the municipality came after a High Court ruling that ordered government to intervene in the affairs of town, which was at the time plagued by ongoing financial and service delivery crisis. The order of the court was the first of its kind in the country.
Addressing the ex-council on Monday, the Deputy Minister said Lekwa was not the only municipality to have failed in terms of the constitutional and developmental mandate assigned to local government.
“Regrettably, 25 years into a new local government dispensation, after the introduction of progressive and enabling municipal legislation, extensive capacity-building efforts and increased grant allocations, there are 39 other municipalities in a situation as critical as Lekwa,” he said.
He said there were 163 municipalities in financial distress and 108 councils that have passed an unfunded budget in the 2020/21 financial year.
He said it was vital that national government acts on leadership that undermines the proper functioning of municipalities.
“Too many people suffer when municipalities cannot function as envisaged and provide the basic services that impact on day to day lives and livelihoods.
“The crisis at Lekwa is unfortunate. Even more unfortunate, is that being ordered by the High Court to intervene goes against the very essence of our cooperative intergovernmental system,” said the Deputy Minister.
However, he emphasised that in any crisis, there were also opportunities.
“Opportunities to redefine what is acceptable and what is not, opportunities to remind ourselves of our duty to serve, opportunities that force us to rethink our approach.
“Several valuable lessons for all three spheres of government will no doubt emerge from this experience,” said Masondo.
“Perhaps the most explicit lesson to emerge right from the outset, is that where municipalities fail to heed the call of their communities, and provinces fail to act in addressing municipal dysfunctionality timeously and appropriately, the courts will provide recourse if approached.”
He said a further lesson to emerge from this experience was that political and administrative leadership is fundamental to creating a viable municipal sector.
“In our experience, we can confidently say, that a financial and service delivery crisis starts with a crisis in management and leadership.
“It is also perpetuated by a failure to deal decisively with disruptive management and leadership issues. If we are serious about fixing a financial and service delivery crisis, we need to first fix the political and administrative leadership crisis.”
Last month, Cabinet took a decision to dissolve the municipal council in Lekwa. Furthermore, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has ordered a stand-over of the bi-elections pending the local government elections later this year.
Masondo said while the rights, responsibilities and power of councillors were officially revoked on 12 May by virtue of the Cabinet decision, salaries for councillors were until the end of May 2021.
However, as of 1 June, Johann Mettler, would be responsible for operations – legislative and executive functions – after he was appointed administrator. Mettler, a lawyer by profession, has extensive local government policy and regulatory experience.
He is the former Municipal Manager of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and played an instrumental role as the administrator in the intervention at Msunduzi Municipality in 2009. Masondo said it was hoped Mettler would ensure a smooth and swift recovery in Lekwa.
“We hope that full cooperation will be given to Mr Mettler in this assignment,” he said.
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