Chairperson, after these visits, I am really convinced, like never before, that financial constraints are not the main reasons for the poor service delivery by municipalities. Crime, corruption and poor financial management are the problem in local governance. Maybe it is time for all of us to ask ourselves the following questions: Why are people protesting? Why is service delivery not rendered to the people of South Africa? What happened to the Batho Pele principles?
Bobodu le manyofonyofo le tsamaiso e mpe ya ditjhelete, le ho hirwa ha bahlanka ba phahameng ka lebaka la kamano tsa bona tsa dipolitiki kapa feela hobane ho batlwa tekano ya bong, ke tse ding tsa dintho tse amang phumantsho e fokolang ya ditshebeletso. Hantle ntle mona re bua ka ntho e hlokolotsi, eleng phano ya ditshebeletso. Phano ena ke motheo wa tokelo tsa botho.
Ho hloleha ha bommasepala ho ikobela melawana ya mohlahlobi e moholo wa ditjhelete, ke enngwe ya dintho tse bakang mathata kahare ho bommasepala ba bangata. Ho hlahelletse hore bommasepala ba bangata ba fane ka ditlaleho tsa bona tsa ditjhelete kamorao ho nako. Ha ba bang bona ba sa ka ba itshwenya le ho tlisa ditlaleho tsa mofuta o jwalo. Ho hong hape ke hore bommasepala ba hloleha ho bokella ditefello tsa phano ya ditshebelletso. Mohlahlobi e moholo wa ditjhelete o boletse hore bommasepala ha ba tsebe ho laola dikoloto tsa bona le ho etsa phaello, hore ho tle ho tsejwe ho fanwa ka ditshebeletso.
Mona ho bonahala hantle hore tlhokeho ya bokgoni ke yona e emeng tseleng ya hore phumantsho ya ditshebeletso e etswe ka tsela e nepahetseng. Ho boetse ho na le lesisitheho la sepolotiki ha ho lokelwa hore ho bokellwe ditefello, haholoholo ho bao ba nang le bokgoni ba ho lefa mmasepala. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)
[Corruption and bad financial management, employment of top officials based on their political ties or only because of the desire to fulfil gender quotas are some of the things that affect service delivery. In fact, here we are dealing with a critical issue which is service delivery. Service delivery is a basic human right.
The failure of municipalities to adhere to the regulations of the Auditor- General is one of the things that create problems in many municipalities. It has since come to light that many municipalities released their financial reports late. Some of them did not even bother to bring such reports. The other issue is that municipalities have failed to collect municipal rates. The Auditor-General has mentioned that municipalities don't know how to manage their debts as well as saving money so that they could deliver services.
It is quite clear that here that lack of capacity is an obstacle for provision of service delivery to be done properly. There is also no political will when it comes to the municipal rates, especially from those who can afford to pay them.]
Chairperson, municipalities have become virtually synonymous with illegal tendering practices and unauthorised loans to councillors. The obvious consequence of corruption is that it leaves less money for service delivery. Municipalities have generally become a haven for those who have no fears about plundering state resources.
The challenges facing those municipalities are that contractors were paid before the projects were completed. According to the quantity surveyors, 77% or more of the money was paid to contractors, while 40% of the work was done. As a result, those contractors disappeared and left the projects unfinished.
It was also reported that, in most of the tenders, no performance agreement was signed between the municipality and the contractors. During the investigation process, significant documents regarding the projects were destroyed or went missing because the officials were involved. This impacted negatively on the investigations.
Millions are stolen from municipalities and nothing is done to recover it. As a committee, we fully agree that the perpetrators must be brought to book and all findings from the auditors and forensic investigations must be implemented.
The officials and councillors who resign while they are being investigated must be blacklisted by government to prevent them from being employed elsewhere until their investigations are completed.
An exorbitant amount is paid in salaries to officials and councillors. It exceeds spending on service delivery. Bonuses are also paid to councillors despite their failures to run the municipalities.
Municipal resources are spent on the luxurious and lavish lifestyles of the mayors and senior officials - like expensive cars and social parties - while basic responsibilities, like water, electricity, sanitation and roads, are not attended to. That is why people are angry and protesting. Municipal infrastructure grants are only used for the running costs of the municipalities instead of infrastructure projects. The unfunded mandates also pressurise municipal budgets.
Motsamaisi ya kgabane wa dipuisano, ha re ntse re nonya setjhaba maikutlo, re utlwile setjhaba se lla ka hore mmuso ha o se kgathalle ebile ha o se sekehele tsebe dillong tsa sona. Sena se bakile merusu e sa hlokahaleng, e bakileng mathata ho phatlalla le naha. Bomajoro ba bang ha ba hlomphe setjhaba haholoholo ha ba bua le sona, mme ba tletse lenyatso. Sena se halefisa setjhaba le hofeta.
Ha ke phetela Motsamaisi wa Dipuisano, ke batla ho lemohisa Ntlo ena e kgabane hore nako e fihlile jwale, ya hore mmuso wa rona o tlohele ho nyatsa le ho kgella dikelello tsa setjhaba sa haeso fatshe. Batho ba bulehile mahlo mme ba ke ke ba dula ba thetswa, ba fedile pelo ke ho hloleha ha mmuso ho phethisa thomo ya bona. Ke a leboha. [Mahofi.] (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)
[Hon Chairperson, as we were canvassing the nation's opinion we heard the nation's cry about the fact that government does not care about it and does not even listen to its grievances. This has led to unnecessary violence, which has caused problems nationally. Some mayors have no respect for their communities when they address them and they are very arrogant. This attitude angers the nation a lot.
As I conclude, Chairperson, I would like to make the honourable House aware that the time has now arrived for government to stop ignoring and undermining our nation's intelligence. The people have become wiser and cannot be fooled forever. They are running out of patience at the government's failure to fulfil its mandate. I thank you. [Applause.]]