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Trade union Solidarity today stated that, in reality, more than a third of South African municipalities are dysfunctional at various levels. This follows after Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, said in response to a parliamentary question that only a third of South African municipalities are dysfunctional.

According to Dr Eugene Brink, senior researcher at the Solidarity Research Institute, Solidarity has, over the past two years, examined various aspects pertaining to municipal service delivery in six provinces. From this research it appears that most of the municipalities studied, showed serious shortcomings as far as basic service delivery is concerned.

“For example, our research shows that huge backlogs exist in North West Province as far as refuse removal is concerned and that pit toilets still abound in this province. In many municipalities, notably in the Free State, North West and even in certain parts of Gauteng, residents don’t have clean drinking water. Moreover, most municipalities in the Eastern Cape, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga rate very poorly when it comes to audit opinions by the Auditor-General,” Brink says.

Brink is of the opinion that several factors contribute to the fact that a bleak picture is painted of South African municipalities. “The non-delivery of basic services, poor management, a total lack of capacity, cadre deployment, impunity of transgressors and non-performers are, and will remain, the major obstacles municipalities have to surmount. Moreover, operating costs are driven up by employing consultants to do the work of those who have been appointed and are still employed to do a certain job. The taxpayer, therefore, has to pay double, yet there is still little improvement in municipalities’ audit opinions,” Brink says.

Brink added that the South African Institute for Race Relations last year also found that poor municipal service delivery could be attributed to political appointments, a lack of capacity and a lack of accountability.

Brink welcomed minister Gordhan’s efforts to address the decay in municipal service delivery, but indicated that the problem was larger than what the minister professes it to be. “Our research indicates that a total lack of service delivery is experienced in the majority of local municipalities – and not just in one third of municipalities. So far, the Western Cape is the only province where municipal service delivery is at a desired level,” Brink says.

“Minister Gordhan will first have to realise the full extent of the decline in municipal service delivery before he could attempt to resolve the problem,” Brink says.

Issued by Solidarity