Province intervention shows 'a failed state': AfriForum

The national government's intervention in the Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo showed that South Africa was heading towards a failed state, AfriForum said on Tuesday.

"The decision of Cabinet to intervene... is indicative of the real danger that South Africa could be moving closer to becoming a failed state," AfriForum community affairs head Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg said in a statement.

He said it was surprising that Gauteng, as the richest province in South Africa, was in need of financial and management assistance.

"This raises questions on the financial health and stability of other provinces.

"In a nervous international economic climate, South Africa can ill afford the collapse of government institutions," he said.

Jansen van Rensburg said a collapse at provincial and local government levels would force communities to find alternative ways to ensure sustainable service delivery.

On Monday, Cabinet announced that the national government would intervene in some areas of the Free State, the health department in Gauteng and five provincial departments in Limpopo under the Constitution.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told SABC radio news on Tuesday that Cabinet had been monitoring the finances of these provinces for some time.

"There's been a... trend of underspending, overspending, violating supply chain provisions and this is what we want to thoroughly investigate now," he said.