Problems of 2009 same as 2015, SA's troubles are like a merry-go-round: Cope

02 July 2015 - 16:28 By RDM News Wire

Congress of the People (Cope) says it wonders how the restating of the obvious problems in local government‚ by respective cooperative governance and traditional affairs ministers‚ will result in a genuine solution when government lacked the political will to take action. Cope spokesman Dennis Bloem said on Thursday that in 2009‚ the government had launched its “turnaround” strategy. Five years later‚ that was scrapped by current Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan in favour of the Back to Basics strategy.“This is a merry-go-round.”He said there were five main perennial issues plaguing local government that government had identified in 2009 and yet again in 2015‚ using slightly different words:2009 - Huge service delivery and backlog challenges. 2015 - A collapse in core municipal infrastructure services.2009 - Problems with political administrative interface. 2015 - Breakdown of trust in the institutions and councillors.2009 - Insufficient capacity due to lack of scarce skills.2015 - Inappropriate placements and skills.2009 - Poor communication and accountability. 2015 - Social distance by public representatives.2009 - Corruption and poor financial management. 2015 - Rent seeking and corruption“The diagnosis in both instances is correct for most municipalities. Clearly‚ what is lacking is political will to sort out the mess.“The ruling party waited for ages to sort out the problem at Nelson Mandela Bay Metro. It was evident to everyone that the municipality was near collapse. Only the proximity of the 2016 local government elections spurred the ruling party to take action.”Bloem said governing parties needed to perform drastic surgery and excise those councillors who were corrupt‚ indolent‚ inept‚ compromised and socially removed from their constituencies.“There is no need to wait for the elections.“A new law must require an independent annual audit of each councillor. This will considerably improve the health of local government. Furthermore‚ as with ministers‚ councillors should also sign performance contracts pertaining to their obligations‚ responsibilities and duties. These‚ however‚ must become public documents for all to access.“The national government is setting a poor example by concealing the performance contracts that ministers sign with the President. This is a good idea denuded of validity and usefulness. Councillors who fail the audit must face serious consequences and even dismissal where that is warranted.“Any whiff of rent seeking‚ fraud or futile expenditure must also lead to a speedy investigation by a special branch of the Hawks.“By enforcing integrity and responsibility among councillors‚ municipal government will become fully functional and service delivery will become accessible‚ affordable and enjoyable.”..

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