THE move by the Cabinet to depoliticise municipalities is welcome. We hope it will pass through all houses as quickly as possible. We also pray that it will be enacted with full regulations before the next local elections next year.

This will be a boost and a deterrent to service delivery strikes. For too long now the ANC has pursued a policy of jobs for pals that has almost crippled service delivery. Incompetents have been voted or appointed onto municipal councils based on who they supported or put into power.

Many councillors did not know their municipalities nor did they care to familiarise themselves with their duties. The exorbitant salaries attracted career opportunists, who did not feel they were accountable to residents.

They felt that the posts were a reward for participating in party politics instead of developing our country.

The approval of the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill has angered those who thought they could also access jobs they were not qualified for.

There will be uniformity in government services, qualified and competent appointees will deliver or be fired. This will put an end to the rolling mass action against poor service delivery. Council employees will know that their continued employment rests on tangible results.

Municipal services have lurched from one scandal to the other and the government's promise to train officials for this important task will further the development that is sadly lagging behind other less developed states.