Battle for stable municipal management is on

Amendments to the Municipal Systems Act to prevent senior political party functionaries from filling management positions in local government is set to go ahead and  be on the statute book before next year’s general municipal elections. The process,however, by all indications will not be plain sailing and some battles seem to lie ahead.

As the Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, was signing service delivery agreements with provincial ministers of local government and mayors from across the country, he declared his determination to launch the amendments to the act through parliament before the end of this year.

A fierce battle, however,  appears to be looming between the African National Congress  and its governing allies in the labour movement over its attempt to depoliticise local government in order to improve service delivery. There are also signs of possible resistance from within the parliamentary caucus to the proposed amendments, which already carry the stamp of approval from the cabinet.

The Municipal Systems Amendment Bill, which will prohibit office-bearers in political parties from being appointed to senior management positions in municipalities is heading to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), where the government and labour are expected to clash . The bill was referred to Nedlac because  some of the clauses will impact on the employment conditions of those in municipal management positions.

The matter is also expected to dominate discussion at the provincial and local government summit which the ANC is to hold before the end of the year.

The proposed amendments are largely aimed at improving service delivery, the tardiness of which has for several years  sparked sporadic violent protest. Party patronage has often been blamed for the problems of municipalities as many political appointees lack the necessary skills and expertise for their posts. Many municipalities have become dysfunctional and some have been put under provincial administration.

In an attempt among others to improve the utilisation of available skills, the provincial and local government summit will also discuss the future of the provinces — whether they be scrapped or reduced -- and the future of district municipalities, as there are calls to introduce a metro system across the country.

In a newspaper interview last week Shiceka said he was determined to forge ahead with the amendments despite the objections from some quarters that it will infringe on the constitutional rights of politicians. The amendments, if passed by parliament, will among other things  avoid the spectacle of wholesale changes in municipal positions affecting   political appointments made after the municipal elections of 2006.

Shiceka said the aim of the amendments is to depoliticise municipal management and prevent political infighting from getting in the way of service delivery and to transform municipalities into professional work environments.

He says there was a strong and clear mandate from delegates to the recent meeting of the ANC’s National General Council (NGC) in Durban that the amendments should go ahead. The decision at the NGC was taken in plenary sessions despite initial indications that some provincial delegations were strongly opposed to it.

He is also on record as saying that once the bill is signed into law, those party office-bearers in municipal management positions would be allowed to finish their terms. Then they will have to choose. “They will  be asked to choose between being either a municipal manager or a party office-bearer,” he said.

There is an apparent inability or refusal from some within the ANC and the alliance to recognise a distinction between the functions of the state and those of a governing political party. Nomaindia Mfeketo, chair of the ANC sub-committee on governance in Durban, described the issue of politicians in senior government management positions as “rather an internal party issue” and that legislation might not be the correct solution.

In arguing against the amendments, the general secretary of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) --  an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and governing alliance partner --  Mthandeki Nhlapo, went as far as equating the position of President Jacob Zuma to that of a civil servant.

Claiming that the bill would violate the constitutional rights of party office-bearers to apply for any position, like any other citizen, he said:  “The president of the country is the president of the party. Why then should provincial chairs and secretaries not occupy certain positions in local government?”

He also threatened that Samwu would oppose the bill “not only in the boardroom but in the streets”.

In the meantime in another move to improve service delivery in the run=up to next year’s municipal elections a number of MECs and mayors from across the country last week signed service delivery agreements with the minister at a ceremony on the East Rand.

They met Shiceka and South African Local Government Association (SALGA) chairman Amos Masondo for the signing ceremony. It was the first time the local-government sector had signed  agreements of this nature, the minister said.

The agreements are aimed at ensuring a responsive, accountable and efficient local government system and Masondo said they laid the basis for improving the quality of people’s lives. They are intended to address job creation, service delivery and access to water and sanitation, and ensure better municipal financing, planning and support.

Minister in the Presidency Collings Chabane said the next phase would be to focus on effiency and capacity issues to support various government departments. He said the next four to five years would see a new system of governance emerge.

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