Committee calls for substantive plans from COGTA to assist municipalities

16 July 2019

The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has called for the development of a clear plan by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on how it will assist in the urgent and decisive reversal of challenges in local governance. The committee today received the Annual Performance Plan (APP) and Budget allocation for the department for the 2019/2020 financial year.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr China Dodovu, highlighted the lack of detail on how the department will address the enormous challenges within the local government sector as a worrying factor. “The presentation is not reflective of challenges prevalent within the local government sector and it seems there is no urgency to resolve those challenges. The Auditor-General has just released a report that stressed that only 18 of 257 municipalities received clean audits. The Eskom debt is escalating, there is poor spending of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, and deteriorating financial management systems point to a need for a clear plan and urgency, which unfortunately this presentation lacks,” Mr Dodovu said.   

To remedy this, the committee has called for a clear plan of action in consultation with the South African Local Government Association aimed at remedying challenges within the sector. These plans should include strategies to strengthen governance and financial management within municipalities, improve the skills base within this sphere, generate revenue, and devise plans for equitable share and grants, and for the repayment of delivery of services such as water and electricity. “The achievement of the targets on the current APP will be futile if interventions are not implemented to deal with challenges at municipal level,” Mr Dodovu emphasised.

Despite this, the committee welcomed the assurance by the Department that within the next month it will brief Parliament on a comprehensive five-year strategic framework that will also succinctly outline interventions aimed at changing the face of local municipalities. The committee will engage the strategic framework when it is tabled to ensure speedy implementation of interventions to ensure improved service delivery.

“As the committee, we are committed to ensuring the viability of municipalities to ensure that they are able to deliver basic services. In its oversight work, the committee will emphasise ensuring that cooperative governance is enhanced and that municipalities are re-energised to deliver much-needed services to our people,” Mr Dodovu emphasised.

Issued by Malatswa Molepo on behalf of Parliamentary Communications Services, 16 July 2019