The FF Plus today during a debate on the annual report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Gauteng, once again called on the ANC government not to divide local municipalities in the province into the Metro Councils after 2011.

The ANC recently announced that the municipalities of Nokeng and Kungwini would both be incorporated into the Tshwane Metro Council. Both these local governments are known for its maladministration and poor management. "The Tshwane Metro is not geared to deliver services to rural areas in Bronkhorstspruit, Cullinan and Rayton," Mr. Jaco Mulder, FF Plus MPL for Gauteng and member of the portfolio committee for Agriculture and Rural Development in the province says.

The demarcations should be dealt with, with greater responsibility. It may be that certain parts closer to Pretoria such as Silverlakes could indeed become part of the Metro but service delivery should take part closer to the community. The centralization policy of the ANC government is taking service delivery further away from the communities and is also harming essential service delivery in rural areas which could have direct negative consequences for the agricultural sector and development of rural areas.

The interpretation of the Rural Tax Act and many other local regulations are already a source of frustration for farmers in general.

According to Mr. Mulder, the effective management of local governments by qualified municipal managers should be the solution and not the re-integration into big, clumsy and ineffective metro councils.