Madam Deputy Speaker, at a glance a lot has happened in local government. The amalgamation of over 800 municipalities to the present 283 was a huge undertaking. No wonder that this amalgamation process, especially in the metros, is not fully completed.
The country experienced two fully democratic elections, but the new developmental nature of municipalities is unfortunately still not fully grasped by all councillors. Parliament completed the package of laws for local government with the enactment of the Municipal Property Rates Act and the Public Finance Management Act. A wide range of changes in respect of the funding of municipalities was also implemented by the National Treasury.
The scene is really set for this sphere of government to perform. The DA can concur with the motion that progress has been made with the building of the necessary institutions, with resource allocation and, to a large extent, with participatory democracy. However, we cannot agree as far as governance, capacity and improving the quality of life of South Africans are concerned, that local government has made the strides it should have.
Terwyl ons erken dat 'n groot deel van die bevolking eenvoudig te arm is om 'n bydrae te maak vir die dienste wat hulle ontvang, en dat Suid-Afrika klaarblyklik nie oor genoeg geskoolde en professionele persone beskik om al die poste in plaaslike regering te vul nie, het die ANC veroorsaak dat munisipaliteite veral in twee opsigte klaaglik misluk.
Die eerste is dat kundigheid wat wel beskikbaar was, en 'n groot positiewe verskil kon maak, by munisipaliteite weggejaag is. Baie van hierdie amptenare het al die pad bank toe gelag met die pragtige pakkette wat hulle ontvang het. Maar daardie geld kon eerder vir beter dienslewering gebruik gewees het. Vir baie was dit egter ook 'n gevoel van misnoe, omdat loopbane van diensbaarheid tot 'n einde gebring is. Dit het ongelukkig daartoe gelei dat in die proses ook talle onbevoegde amptenare by munisipaliteite aangestel is. Kort-kort maak die vergoedingspakkette en onverdiende bonusse opslae. Dit wil voorkom asof veral die aanhoudende transformasie ten opsigte van personeel hul motivering totaal geknak het.
Uit 'n onlangse vraag van die DA blyk dit dat daar tans 112 geskorste munisipale amptenare is wat belastingbetalers alreeds R12,5 miljoen gekos het, sonder dat hulle 'n steek werk doen. En ek vermoed dit is slegs die ore van die seekoei.
Die tweede teleurstellende aspek wat die President verlede week uitgelig het, en laat waarsku het dat plaaslike regering di sfeer van regering is wat verreweg die swakste presteer en Suid-Afrika op 'n tydbom geplaas het, is die gebrek aan toewyding by talle raadslede. Omdat munisipaliteite 'n eie sfeer van regering is met groot mag, misbruik talle rade hul mag om korrupsie en nepotisme te pleeg, of sommer doodgewoon swak te regeer.
In hierdie verband wil dit voorkom asof provinsiale LUR'e traag is om hul mag te gebruik en hul partygenote op hierdie manier beskerm. In antwoord op 'n vraag van die DA moes ons verneem dat die LUR in die Noord-Kaap byvoorbeeld niks gedoen het nie, terwyl die burgemeester en die munisipale bestuurder van Ubuntu-munisipaliteit op Victoria-Wes in die hof verskyn het omdat hulle na bewering munisipale eiendom gesteel en hier in die Kaap kom verkoop het.
Die President het in hierdie Raad met my saamgestem dat politieke partye groter verantwoordelikheid sal moet neem vir die dissiplinering van hul lede. Daarom vra ek: Waar is die streek- en plaaslike beheer van raadslede, van veral die ANC, wat meer as 75% van munisipaliteite regeer? Dit is geen wonder, wat gratis basiese dienste betref, dat daar waar daar nog infrastruktuur is - ek praat nie eens van waar daar nie infrastruktuur is nie - slegs 73% van huishoudings gratis water ontvang, en slegs 57% gratis elektrisiteit. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Whilst we acknowledge the fact that a large proportion of the population is simply too poor to make a contribution in respect of the services they receive, and that South Africa obviously does not have enough skilled and professional people to fill all the posts in local government, the ANC was the cause of municipalities failing miserably, especially in two respects.
The first is that expertise that was, in fact, available and which could have made a major positive difference, has been chased away from municipalities. Many of these officials laughed all the way to the bank with the lovely packages they received. But that money could have been used for better service delivery instead. However, it also left many people feeling disgruntled because productive careers were brought to an end. Unfortunately this also led to many incompetent officials being appointed to municipalities in the process. The remuneration packages and unwarranted bonuses frequently cause an outcry. It seems that the constant transformation with regard to staff dealt a permanent blow to their motivation.
A recent question by the DA brought to light that there were 112 suspended municipal officials who had already cost taxpayers R12,5 million, without them doing a stroke of work. And I suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
The second disappointing aspect the President highlighted last week, and made him warn that local government was the one sphere of government that performs the worst by far and has put South Africa on top of a time bomb, was the lack of dedication of many councillors. Because municipalities are a stand-alone sphere of government with wide powers, many councils abuse their power for corruption and nepotism, or simply to govern poorly.
In this regard it seems that provincial MECs are reluctant to use their authority, and protect their fellow party members in this way. From a reply to a question by the DA we learnt that the MEC in the Northern Cape, for example, did nothing while the mayor and the municipal manager of the Ubuntu municipality appeared in court at Victoria West on a charge of allegedly stealing municipal property and selling it here in the Cape.
The President agreed with me in this Chamber that political parties will have to accept more responsibility for disciplining their members. For this reason I ask: Where is the regional and local control of councillors, especially of the ANC, which governs more than 75% of municipalities? Small wonder that as far as free basic services are concerned, where infrastructure still exists - I am not even speaking about areas where there is no infrastructure - only 73% of households receive free water, and only 57% free electricity.]
Lastly, this subject for discussion also refers to resource allocation to municipalities. On the one hand we can praise central government for the R15 billion that was transferred to municipalities and for all the municipal infrastructure programmes - 70 000 jobs were created through this - but on the other hand there is serious concern about how municipalities manage their finances. The Auditor-General reports that a number of municipalities had significant underspending and that they don't even hand in their financial statements. Thank you very much. [Time expired.]