Municipalities lose millions

06 September 2011 - 02:36 By SIPHO MASONDO
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Political interference in municipalities is costing taxpayers millions of rands in golden handshakes and severance packages to the detriment of service delivery.

The Times can reveal today that very few of the country's 278 municipal managers complete their terms of office as they often fall victim to political meddling.

Many municipal managers are either suspended or fired and are eventually bought out of their contracts through golden handshakes and severance packages, often after launching legal challenges.

One of the worst-offending councils is the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro in Port Elizabeth.

The council has not had a single manager serve for the entire duration of his or her contract since the metropolitan municipality was established in 2000.

Former municipal manager Graham Richards has received two golden handshakes worth a combined R6-million after he was fired twice.

Richards received a R3-million payout in 2002 and a R3-million handshake last year.

Ironically, Richards was rehired by the council in 2006 to replace Mzimasi Mangcotywa, who was appointed to replace him.

Mangcotywa received a R2.2-million payout when he, too, was fired.

The situation is similar in the Tshwane and Mangaung metros.

Some municipal managers claim they are purged by new administrations or when they "don't play ball" with politicians who want access to tenders and government resources.

Some municipal managers this week attributed the high turnover and other ills, such as corruption, in local government to meddling by their political bosses.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said he was not aware of the purging of managers by politicians.

"The local government sphere is operating under the Municipal Finance Management Act that defines the relationship between the administration and politicians. The act was introduced to define the roles of managers," Khoza said.

He added that the act made provisions for recourse should managers feel their powers were being interfered with.

Former Tshwane manager Kiba Kekana, who last year received a R2.3-million payout from the municipality after being placed on suspension on allegations of misconduct, said "the fight to change administration structures in government is just for resources".

"It impacts highly, highly negatively on service delivery. The high turnover of managers cripples government. Naturally, once the head of administration leaves, there is a gap in continuity."

Kekana's sentiments were echoed by former Govan Mbeki municipal manager Thabo Mafihla, another recipient of a golden handshake.

"Unfortunately when people take political office they misuse power. They want to do their own thing. That's the beginning of contradictions between the head of administration and politicians," he said.

"What drives this whole thing is that people want to loot. Corruption is a disease; it's a cancer. We're going to be a banana republic. This has killed local government," he said.

Mafihla said he was forced to stay at home for two years - earning a full salary - because he had refused to reinstate an official he had suspended because of corruption. "Our government must be serious about corruption," Mafihla said.

Nico Steytler, director of the University of Cape Town's Community Law Centre and a local government law expert, said: "It is very difficult to be a municipal manager in South Africa because of political interference."

Though there were no statistics, Steytler said the practice of politicians suspending and firing managers and then offering them settlements in the form of golden handshakes and severance packages was "reasonably prevalent".

"There are statements made by the Auditor-General [in which] he mentioned the unacceptability of political interference, particularly in supply chain."

He said when managers were pushed out, municipalities lost continuity, experience and institutional memory.

The co-operative governance ministry condemned the practice of giving golden handshakes.

The South African Local Government Association's governance, intergovernmental relations and international relations executive director, Johann Mettler, said golden handshakes were a concern to the association.

"The sustainable delivery of services to residents and communities is an imperative for local government if it is to be truly developmental."

He said recent amendments to the Municipal Systems Act sought to address the high turnover of managers and other problems in the sector.

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