It is time to revisit the viability of provinces. There are those who feel provinces should be scrapped because they are a financial burden to the country.

Do we need provinces?

Local government can play that role . This layer of government is far removed from people .

But I doubt if the ruling party would be willing to scrap them. Doing away with provinces would cause political turmoil because it would result in job losses for cadres.

But I digress.

The news that three ANC-led provinces (Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo) are in dire financial straits is shocking, but not surprising. It was a long time coming. I just hope there are no other provinces (Eastern Cape?) that are in a similar or worse position.

The ANC is in charge of eight provinces out of nine. The other province, Western Cape, is under the DA's control. If three of its controlled provinces are not properly managed, the ruling party should be concerned.

The contributing factors to the mess are mismanagement, corruption and cadre deployment. Instead of accepting full responsibility for their failure to prudently manage their budgets, the provinces shift blame.

They claim their financial woes are caused by high salary increases.

It is clear that premiers in the affected provinces have failed to play their roles.

Will that count against them in their performance appraisals? If it was in another democracy, they would have stepped down - or would have been asked to do so.

The provinces have asked for a bailout from the Treasury.

The national government responded by putting the provinces under administration. But Gauteng and Free State are not entirely affected - it is only certain departments that are placed under administration.

These provinces are apparently not happy with the national government's move.

Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane is the only one who has expressed support for the government's move. Others view the government's action as a ploy by President Jacob Zuma to get rid of his enemies before the Mangaung elective conference next year.

The government would do well to find a lasting solution to this problem. Otherwise, the challenge will persist and our country's economy will be brought to its knees.

The pertinent question is: do the provinces have a turn-around strategy to change things for the better?

As long as the ANC is unwilling to fire incompetent deployees - and as long as corruption is not curbed - the status quo will remain, and a better life for all will be nothing but a pipe dream.