The SAHRC has already sent a letter seeking an audience with the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and will in that meeting share its concerns regarding the state of municipalities amongst other concerns it has on the state of the sphere of local government.

The report by the Auditor-General is startling as it paints an overall picture which highlights that the performance of municipalities is progressively deteriorating at an alarming rate in key metrics when regard is had to past performance in this sphere of government. The Auditor-General’s report reveals that the number of municipalities with clean audits dropped from 33 in the 2016/17 financial year to 18. Irregular expenditure decreased from R29,7 billion in the 2016/17 financial year to R25,2 billion in the 2016/17 financial year. It is unconscionable that billions of rands are still irregularly spent in flagrant disregard to the prescripts of the Constitution and the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), when millions of people in this country are living in impoverished deplorable conditions without adequate access to the most basic social services, such as clean running water, sanitation, housing and health care services, which they are constitutionally entitled to. The provision of these socio-economic rights are absolutely fundamental to the upliftment of our communities and lies at the heart of our constitutional order.

Twenty five (25) years into our constitutional democracy, it is regrettable and totally unacceptable that such wastage of precious resources is still rampant in our municipalities. Local government is key to transforming our society with dignity and alleviating the great disparities and inequalities that are still prevalent and currently exist in society. The developmental agenda set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and tackle unemployment is just under eleven years away. This objective is definitely not possible to realise, with the current levels of poor performance endemic in the sphere local government.

The SAHRC believes that local government is crucial for the country’s development. As articulated by President Ramaphosa in his recent State of the Nation address, fixing local government should be a key priority for the sixth government. This is because local government is at the coalface of basic service delivery to communities. The Commission believes that local government will be a key determinant factor on whether South Africa fails or succeeds to live up to its constitutional injunction of improving the quality of life of everyone with dignity and to realise the ideals set out in the National Development Plan(NDP) and the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). In this regard, the SAHRC within its constitutional mandate, will be robustly engaging with relevant stakeholders, such as the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), with whom it has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with, to ensure that improved delivery of basic services takes place and becomes a living reality in all our communities across the length and breadth of South Africa in all nine (9) provinces.

Ends
Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission
Gushwell Brooks – Communications Co-ordinator Tel: 082 645 8573 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.