Local government not to settle down soon

Coming out of a turbulent year in which news headlines were dominated by reports on violent service delivery protests throughout the country, the local government scene in South Africa seems to be destined for another year filled with turbulence and uncertainty. It is also likely to be a year of two halves. The first half to be dominated by the run-up to and the event of the Fifa Soccer World Cup 2010 (WC), after which it can be expected that the full attention will switch to the run-up to the crucial local government elections of 2011.

The election campaigning can be expected to start early and might even in some instances threaten the smooth delivery of crucial services during the WC period as some parties might try to use the opportunity to cause embarrassment for incumbent city governments during that period.

There was also a clear indication this past weekend from President Jacob Zuma that local government will be receiving high priority in the immediate future. He chose local government as one of the issues for special attention in his address at the 98th anniversary celebrations of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in Kimberley on 9 January 2010.

While there already have been strong indications of plans to try and use structural changes at institutional level to help address the problems of poor service delivery, like a possible single civil service for all three levels of government, president Zuma now added an additional issue. The blurring of political and administrative roles at local government level was hampering delivery at local level, he said.

This problem could indeed become a crucial issue in the quest for stability and smooth service delivery at local government level after next year’s elections.

The third level of government in South Africa has been notoriously known for falling victim in the past to instability at bureaucratic management level when there are changes of the guard at party political level. Political appointees at that level have almost routinely led to them being replaced, often at astronomical costs in terms of severance packages, when elections are won and lost or when switches in political allegiances of councilors change.

"We are of the view that municipal employees should not hold leadership positions in political parties," Zuma said and added that the ANC would "tighten its deployment procedures" to make it more "objective and transparent".

"We will tighten our deployment procedures to ensure that we deploy comrades with political integrity and professional competence," he added,

The deployment of officials on the basis of party political affiliation in bureaucratic management has also complicated the often already strained relationship between the three levels of government in instances where different political parties hold power at different levels. This has especially been the case in the Western Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal at times.

President Zuma’s remarks should also be judged against the background of a turn-around strategy for local government announced late last year by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka.

He said that the plan, if adopted, would see the implementation of a requirement that municipalities would need the approval of provincial governments and the national minister to suspend municipal managers.

“People are suspended, sometimes for a year, but continue to earn salaries. They are fleecing the state. By requiring municipalities to seek concurrence from provincial and national government, we are promoting accountability.”  Suspended municipal officials will also be banned from working in other spheres of government, he said at the time.
As things stand, it can be expected that next year’s municipal elections will be extremely keenly contested. For at least two opposition parties, it could in fact be a make-or-break affair. 

In the Western Cape, where the ANC has lost control at provincial level and its structures has been plagued by internal divisions and strife, the municipal elections could be equally crucial.

The fortunes of the ANC-breakaway party, the Congress of the People, have taken a big knock after last year’s general election came too soon after its formation to be in a position to make any real impact. Next year’s municipal elections might be its last opportunity to establish itself as a serious player on the South African political scene.

In KwaZulu-Natal, the Inkatha Freedom Party will also be fighting for its survival after a bruising general election last year and a subsequent rebellion against the party’s top leadership by its youth brigade. It would seem as though the party is finding it difficult deal with the prospect of having to replace an aging Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who has ruled the party with an iron fist for many decades.

Expect the campaigning to start very early, to be fierce and to get intertwined with the whole issue of service delivery, with more protest actions during the course of the year very likely.

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Comments (1)

• |2010-01-13 13:22:41 OLOF NASLUND  - I can not vote, only pay.
  Our local municipality workers /politicians make sure to fleece the money from the rate payers and their own state on their spending spree for luxury cars and their personal pockets. Their earnings and extras that are build in the system gives us a sad indication that money is free flowing like water from a well. Adding their families members, to the municipal cake for different jobs just confirms that this is going all the wrong ways. The accountability is zero. The poor will soon revolt and the paying leave and ANC "service delivery" is something of the past. Poor or paying, no-one gets anything. How far can they push the public before a new "Cabinda" is born. It is a sad sad state of South African affairs.
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