‘Take politics out of local government’

Former president Kgalema Motlanthe wants to see local government strengthened through building a permanent, capable local state, with the required expertise and resources to ensure effective service delivery and support for the local economy.

Addressing the three-day Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation’s Inclusive Growth Forum in the Drakensberg over the weekend, Motlanthe called for the establishment of a local state, which should be “distinct and independent from the political component of local government”.

He said: “Such a state must be able, not only to collect revenue, but also develop programmes that grow sustainable local economies. It must outlast the term of politicians.

“This requires much more than the [integrated development plan] process, which is dominated by political inputs and communities at large.”

With widespread corruption and inefficiency impeding most local municipalities and metro councils from delivering services to communities, Motlanthe told delegates, who included diplomats, ministers and academics, that South Africa’s local government required an overhaul.

He said: “What we have seen is a situation where the political component at local level has tended to overreach and get involved in the administration.

“This has resulted in the blurring of the lines of accountability, where political expediency has triumphed over administrative excellence and professional conduct.

“In the process, service delivery has been compromised and local economic development stunted.

“An effective local state must not only exist to add a mark-up to the supply of water and electricity, but develop mechanisms of generating income without placing an additional tax on the citizenry.

“In doing so, the local state will be able to generate revenue in a more sustainable manner.”

The country, he said, needed a local government “understood as part of the state, distinct from government, because governments come and go but the state is permanent”.

“The idea is to create an administration which will be permanent, made up of professionals who have the required skills.

“The capacity to provide basic services must remain in the hands of a professional bureaucracy.

“The rationale for us to focus on local government and local economies is that local government is the sphere of government closest to the people. It is at the cutting edge and at the coal face of service delivery.

“Equally, evidence has shown that it is at the local level that the most impact is made on the lives of the citizenry.”

Rampant corruption linked to political party patronage was among key factors that contributed to the collapse in the functioning of the country’s local government, delegates attending the three-day Inclusive Growth Forum organised by the Kgalema Motlanthe Foundation acknowledged yesterday.

The annual gathering, held in the Drakensberg and attended by high-profile political, business, academic, labour, youth and community leaders, has been debating socioeconomic issues deemed impediments to the development and growth in SA, with a focus on strengthening local government.

Reporting back to the plenary after deliberations, a commission chaired by SA Local Government Association chief executive Xolile George found lack of accountability, rampant corruption and the collapse of institutional capacity and patronage as factors that led to lack of the much-needed service delivery in most district and metro councils.

A sense of urgency and action was required by government to change the status quo.

Among its resolutions, the gathering found there was:

Need for a new political agency that transcended vanguard politics, which mobilised socially on a shared vision;

Need for a social compact, which cascaded down to local government level – creating an environment of accountability in municipalities;

Need for an accountable and ethical leadership which would not compromise on quality, with seasoned leaders like ministers being deployed to local government; and

Need for the removal of unqualified managers and political proxies at local government.

On urbanisation – expected to reach 80% in 30 years – the forum found migration from rural to urban areas had the potential to become “a real catalyst for growth”.

While migration to cities lifted households out of poverty, placing pressure on city infrastructure, the urbanisation process had to be managed to maximise opportunities “rather than building new cities”.

Delegates also expressed support for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s focus on strengthening district municipalities. Reporting on resolutions reached in the commission on education, chartered accountant and social commentator Khaya Sithole said while the country geared for the fourth industrial revolution, basic literacy was “still a challenge”.

“Lack of literacy skills is fundamental before we talk digital literacy,” said Sithole.

Equal digital access, said Sithole, should be extended to all South Africans “regardless of where you live”.

On the oceans economy, the summit identified aquaculture as a business sector that could contribute an estimated R3 billion to SA’s gross domestic product.

The commission on oceans said aquaculture could contribute to “improved livelihoods of rural communities by growing production five-fold to 20 000 in 2019”. –

Lack of literacy skills is fundamental