Let’s work harder to improve our dire state of our local government

Writes Tsakani Maluleke

Our municipalities remain in dire state and will not be able to make any meaningful progress without the support of provincial and national government. Most importantly, without the effective oversight which has characterised this sphere of government.

This is one of the pleas we made when we tabled the 2023-24 general report on local government audits last month (available on www.agsa.co.za). In the report, presented to the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Select Committee on Public Infrastructure, we painted a picture of a state of local government that remains dire – a central theme of our latest report.

To remedy this grim situation, we call on local government authorities to use their remaining year in office to provide effective and efficient governance and service delivery to improve the lives of the people of South Africa. We further call on all levels of government, including all roleplayers in the accountability ecosystem, to work together to enhance institutional capability and improve the culture of municipalities through diligent oversight and decisive action on municipal failures.

Each year, we also engage with those in national and provincial government tasked with overseeing and supporting local government, including premiers, ministers, members of executive councils and portfolio committees in provincial legislatures and Parliament, imploring them to intervene and assist municipalities that are failing in order for those municipalities to regain control of their financial, performance and compliance management and ensure effective service delivery to their residents.

Despite the commitments made in response to our calls for stringent oversight over municipalities and their entities, action has been too slow at the most, and has had little impact on the lived realities of South Africans at worst. Equally, despite continued advocacy for intergovernmental support and collaboration, the opposite is evident in the lack of partnership among the three spheres of government at most municipalities and in the weak oversight by provincial legislatures and Parliament – particularly at metros. Where the political leadership of municipalities responds well to the support and guidance provided by national and provincial government, improved governance follows.

When support is provided by provincial and national government, progress can be realised, as observed with the reduction of the worst audit opinions (disclaimer opinions) over the past two financial years. When municipalities do not effectively manage their performance, finances and infrastructure, they are unable to deliver on key government priorities that are intended to improve the lives of South Africans.

The messages in our last three general reports have been aimed at the local government administration that took office in 2021 – the mayors, speakers and council members who were elected to represent their communities. We called on them to work with urgency to overhaul a local government characterised by insufficient accountability, failing service delivery, poor financial management and governance, weak institutional capability and widespread instability.

Despite the commitments made in response to these calls, action has been too slow.

Existing legislation is clear on what the responsibilities of mayors, councils and executive authorities are – it is the diligent and effective implementation of these responsibilities that is lacking.

The lack of accountability at most metros is clear from the slow response to unauthorised, irregular, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure, as well as the ineffective accountability structures and processes that we observed. It is rare for metro leadership (including mayors) to account to provincial legislatures and Parliament.

A culture of performance, accountability, transparency and institutional integrity is not ingrained in the metros. Fully functional and high-performing metros will have a significant impact on the lives of most South Africans and businesses – which makes it a goal worth working towards.

A call to action

We remain convinced that capable, cooperative, accountable and responsive institutions delivering on their mandates in national, provincial and local government is the key to municipalities that are characterised by sustained strong performance, accountable leadership and employees, transparent systems and processes, as well as solid institutional integrity.

We therefore urge elected representatives to use the remaining year of their administrative term to intensify their actions and act with urgency towards instilling a culture of performance, transparency and institutional integrity, and to be accountable to the communities they serve. They can do so by addressing the three main weaknesses that hold back local government progress, namely:

• Governance failures;
• Inadequate institutional capability;
• Lack of accountability and consequences.

Local, provincial and national administrative and oversight structures such as municipal councils, provincial legislatures and Parliament and responsible ministries should develop mechanisms that ensure that this critical tier of government lives up to its mandate – delivering on the basic needs of citizens.

We call on the political leadership in all three spheres of government and the elected representatives of the citizens in councils, Parliament and the provincial legislatures for diligent oversight and decisive action on municipal failure to turn around the culture in local government.

As the national audit office we are encouraged by parliamentarians’ latest commitment to strengthen their oversight role over the local government sphere. Let us turn these pledges into tangible action that will benefit the citizenry.

Maluleke is the auditor-general.