Ekurhuleni the only stable municipality of 11 in Gauteng – Maile
Image: Sharon Seretlo
Out of Gauteng’s 11 municipalities, Ekurhuleni is the only one considered to be stable.
This was revealed by cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Lebohang Maile during a briefing on the state of municipalities in the province.
Maile said municipalities were continuously adopting unfunded budgets that could not meet their financial obligations which had a negative impact on service delivery, including their sustainability.
“Ekurhuleni is stable. Another one, Midvaal, is at a very low risk of being dysfunctional. Other municipalities are at risk and require very close monitoring and support – [which are] Tshwane, Johannesburg, Mogale, Rand West, Lesedi, West Rand and Sedibeng. Two municipalities [Emfuleni and Merafong] are dysfunctional and also in financial distress,” he said.
Both municipalities are under administration.
Maile revealed that as Cogta officials attempted to turn things around in the distressed municipalities, his officials were not always well-received. “Municipalities are in a crisis and we need to develop a shared understanding of what constitutes this. The bigger the municipality is, the bigger the problems it experiences.
“Cogta officials are not well-received in some municipalities and in some cases, senior officials delegate their duties to juniors,” he said.
Touching on governance issues, he said that only three municipalities had permanent municipal managers, with the rest being vacant. Government departments also owed municipalities R449m in unpaid rates and services.
Maile said he fully supported municipalities’ efforts in debt collection provided they had fully functional billing system and were not billing on estimates.
“We support debt collection efforts by all municipalities because we subscribe to [the] user pay system, but at the same time we ask municipalities to have accurate billing systems,” he said.
On the government owing unpaid rates, Maile said the government put money aside every financial year for this purpose due to wanting municipalities to stay viable and remain self-sustainable.
“You get [officials and mayors] who sometimes grandstand and go out without facts. It’s not just about collecting but also an accurate billing system,” Maile said.