President Cyril Ramaphosa didn't mince his words when he spoke to the leaders of the troubled Ditsobotla municipality in North West on the importance of prioritising service delivery for residents instead of enriching themselves.
The national executive and provincial government met on Friday to discuss solutions for the municipality, which was placed under administration on Tuesday after minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs Velenkosini Hlabisa visited the province.
Hlabisa discovered that the municipality continued to face severe delivery service challenges and financial constraints.
Ramaphosa said the government was committed to fixing the province and ensuring it returned to providing quality services to residents.
“The national executive, working with the provincial government, is determined to arrest the situation and turn the municipality around so that it once again delivers consistent services and enjoys the respect of communities.”
The president warned leaders that failing to deliver basic services such as water and electricity to residents amounted to a violation of the rights of the community.
“Failure to deliver services is an infringement of the basic rights of citizens.”
Residents have been grappling with water outages in the province, with Ramaphosa stressing that the issue needs to be resolved.
Ramaphosa said it was unacceptable for residents to go longer than a day without water.
“No one should go more than a day without running water while there is a deafening silence from the municipal offices about when water will be restored.”
Ramaphosa admitted that the national government's budget constraints were trickling down to municipalities, resulting in delays in service delivery, but said this should not be used as an excuse for failure to deliver services.
“We need to recognise that fiscal constraints are holding back a number of projects and programmes, particularly at a municipal level. But nothing can excuse poor governance, maladministration, financial mismanagement, wastage and corruption.”
The president said local government leaders must serve residents with diligence and show why they deserve their income as public servants.
“If a municipality is put under administration, we need to know what the elected representatives and municipal officials are doing to earn their salaries.”
This is the province's ninth intervention since 2008.
According to parliamentary records, Ditsobotla municipality has been under a series of administrations since May 2008. These include repeated section 139 interventions.
In July, the financial woes of the municipality were laid bare in the Mahikeng high court when the municipality was ordered to pay more than R7.5m, plus interest, to Kwende Construction CC within 14 days, after a payment dispute over emergency electrical repairs.
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