Chairperson, hon Minister, I want to quote what I said on 3 November 1998, from the Hansard of that date, column 7359. That was when the Municipal Structures Act was accepted and debated in Parliament. I said the following:
Ek wil vandag die voorspelling hier maak dat die amp van uitvoerende burgemeester sodanige gevolge gaan h dat die betalers van dienste op plaaslike regeringsvlak 'n stadium gaan bereik dat hulle net minder en minder gaan betaal en dat die nie-betalers meer gaan word. Hoekom s ek so? 'n Uitvoerende burgemeester kan nou sy burgemeesterskomitee kom aanstel, en daardie komiteelede moet aan net een persoon dienstig wees, naamlik die uitvoerende burgemeester. Die dienstigheid is nie meer daarin gele of hulle hul kiesers se belange op die hart dra en dit bevorder nie, want die uitvoerende burgemeester het die bevoegdheid en die mag om so 'n lid van sy burgemeesterskomitee eenvoudig aan te stel en te ontslaan na sy goeddunke en soos en wanneer hy wil. Dt het ek al in 1998 ges. U adjunkminister was die groot dryfveer agter die wet. U het niks nuuts kom s nie. Wat u vandag hier kom s het, is ... (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
I want to make the prediction here today that the office of executive mayor will have such consequences that the payers of services at local government level will reach a stage where they pay less and less and the number of nonpayers will increase. Why am I saying this? An executive mayor can now appoint his mayor's committee, and those committee members only have to be loyal to one person, namely the executive mayor. Diligence no longer stems from them having the voters' interests at heart and wanting to promote them, because the executive mayor has the competency and power to appoint or dismiss such a member from his mayor's committee at his discretion and as and when he pleases.
I said this in 1998 already. Your Deputy Minister was the main driving force behind the Act. You did not say anything new. What you have said here today is ...]
... smoke and mirrors. What the Minister is saying now is what the ANC has been saying for the past 16 years. If the Minister's deputy checks Hansard, he will see that he used the exact words that the Minister used today.
Hier is die kern van die problem: Die mense betaal nie hul diensgelde nie. Daar is al meer as R60 miljard uitstaande in agterstallige diensgelde. Hoekom? (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The essence of the problem is the following: People we not paying their service charges. More than R60 billion is already outstanding in overdue service charges. Why?]
I want to tell the hon Minister that that is why there are ratepayers associations.
Hulle hou hul geld terug, want hulle s hoe goed die dienste is wat daar gelewer word, hang af van die uitvoerende burgemeester se bestuur. Minister, as u 'n "turnaround strategy" daar wil stel, moet u ontslae raak van die stelsel van uitvoerende burgemeesters. U moet 'n burgemeester daar stel wat graag diens aan die gemeenskap wil lewer. Die probleem is nou dat jy 'n uitvoerende burgemeester kry wat niks weet van plaaslike regering nie. Dit is 'n politikus wat verkies word deur 'n bepaalde politieke party, maar van munisipale sake en die bestuur daarvan weet sodanige uitvoerende burgemeesters bitter min.
Daar behoort 'n opgeleide amptenaar te wees. Die burgemeesters misbruik hul magte, deurdat hulle hul mag afdwing op die amptenare om hul wil en wense uit te voer. Daar is sommige uitvoerende burgemeesters wat nie vir jou sal kan antwoord as jy vir hulle nou vra wat in die munisipaliteit aangaan nie. Sy belangrikste taak is om in die oggend in sy 4x4 Mercedes of sy 4x4 BMW te klim, na die kantoor te ry en te s dat hy 'n groot kantoor het en 'n salaris het om te ontvang. U moet van hulle ontslae raak. Dankie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[They are withholding their payments, because they say that the quality of the services rendered depends on the management by the executive mayor. Minister, if you want to introduce a turnaround strategy, you need to get rid of the system of executive mayors. You need to appoint a mayor who wishes to provide a good service to the community. The problem at present is that you have an executive mayor who knows nothing about local government. A politician is elected from a certain political party, but that executive mayor knows very little about municipal matters and their management.
There should be a trained official. The mayors are abusing their powers by forcing officials to carry out their wishes and commands. There are some executive mayors who will not be able to answer you if you were to ask them now about what is happening in their municipalities. His most important task is to get into his 4x4 Mercedes or his 4x4 BMW in the morning, drive to his office and say that he has a big office and receives a salary. You must get rid of them. Thank you.]