Give Limpopo a pro-poor government
Life has not improved under the ANC. The non-financial census of municipalities for the year-end of June 2017 paints a bleak future for most Limpopo citizens.
For most of the 5.7-million citizens in the province, life has become a struggle for survival. It is worth mentioning that Limpopo constitutes 10% of the national population and contributes 7% to gross domestic product.
The ANC-led government has reneged on its constitutional mandate to deliver basic services, such as water, electricity and solid waste management services.
All 27 municipalities in Limpopo have a policy to provide free basic services, but one thing is clear: there is no political will to improve the lives of our people.
Only four of them implement the policy relating to free water, electricity, sewerage, sanitation and solid waste management to citizens, of whom 2.4-million are predominantly on social welfare. This is particularly concerning because, out of the 1.6-million households in Limpopo, 48.9% are headed by women and just under 26 000 are headed by children under the age of 18.
Only 15 Limpopo municipalities submitted integrated development programmes (IDPs), four submitted plans for water quality monitoring and 11 on HIV.
This is indicative that quality of life does not matter to the ANC-led government. The Western Cape remains the only province where all municipalities submitted their IDPs.
With 1.6-million households living in Limpopo, one may argue that 56% of people are living without any support from government.
This untenable situation is not likely to improve. Not one Limpopo municipality received a clean audit from the auditor general and most municipalities are in financial distress.
The chronic shortage of sound financial management and accountability, as well as poor or non-existing controls in supply chain management and rampant corruption, are the root causes of poor service delivery.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, despite his hype of a “new dawn”, does not present a plan for change to end the daily struggles the millions of our people have to endure.
Limpopo needs a change in government with decisive pro-poor policies and a crackdown on corrupt officials who have been holding service delivery to ransom. —