Hon Chair, let me thank the ruling party for opening this debate on this crucial issue of service delivery. Hon Speaker, it is the state's responsibility to ensure that citizens of this country receive quality services. When the executive promises to deliver services to the citizenry, it first has to ensure that it has both the capacity and the resources to fulfil that constitutional mandate. The ruling party cannot justify its failures by blaming them on a third force or, even worse, on the previous administration, an administration it was part of.
It is public knowledge that approximately 90% of municipal water-treatment facilities in this country, which treat bulk-water supplies from dams and rivers, need replacement. The sewerage systems in Gauteng are said to be operating at 102% over their capacity, a situation that is untenable and a time bomb that, if not attended to, will collapse ablution in this busy city region.
In places such as Umtata, although the water and sewerage systems are within the city, the council has no control over the provision of these services. The sanitation services are rendered by the district authority of the O R Tambo District Municipality, while the King Sabata municipality oversees power and roads. This unwieldy situation was brought about by the ANC-controlled O R Tambo District, supported by the provincial government in 2003. [Interjections.] I was not there. [Laughter.] It was not motivated ... Listen to this; listen to this before you talk. It was not motivated by any desire to ensure efficiency of service delivery, but driven by the political desire to punish the UDM-controlled municipality.
This situation has, unsurprisingly, therefore resulted in the collapse of services in the town, with the city bursting at the seams, as there is no planning that has been put in place for the ever-growing population that now has more than doubled from 400 000 to over a million people - without services being upgraded. This conduct of placing party politics above the interests of citizens is at the heart of the crisis in local government. This behaviour results in the appointment of incompetent ANC deployees to run municipalities and the appointment of ANC-connected contractors to deliver services. Hon Speaker, while Cope wishes to condemn the violent destruction of property by the protesters, we are equally convinced that these citizens have legitimate complaints and demands. They have been let down by successive ANC governments at local government level. They are equally shocked that the government's first reaction has not been to listen but to condemn and to duck responsibility by blaming the so-called previous administration.
We are of the view that the ruling party has created unrealistic expectations which are not matched by deliverables. Let us remind you, hon members, that it was the ANC conference in Stellenbosch that resolved to address the challenges of cross-border municipalities. [Interjections.] This was resisted by its allies, the SACP, who went on to mobilise the community of Khutsong until this decision was reversed.
Has government learnt anything from this fiasco? It seems not, to me. Ironically, it is this lack of backbone that gives communities the impression that if you are unruly, you will get your way and, in fact, you will be rewarded by doing what you are doing. An example of this shocking value system is that of Jomo Mogale, a teacher who rendered the schooling system ungovernable in the same community of Khutsong. Today he is reinstated and branded a good teacher by the current government.
The government will not solve these problems by continuing to transfer functions to municipalities without the commensurate budget. The revenue bases of the municipalities are shrinking and their populations are growing. This situation, coupled with nonpayment for services, has reached crisis proportions and requires long-term solutions.
Cope calls for a national indaba in which all sectors of civil society come together to deliberate on the solutions to this crisis so that government can stop using stopgap measures to solve what is an endemic problem.
We therefore believe that three critical things must be addressed. There must be an audit of municipal management which must take place throughout the country. The multimillion-rand projects that have been awarded to incompetent companies owned by civil servants need to be reviewed and stopped in order for the resources to be directed or redirected to service delivery. Government must put in place an early warning system to avoid the unnecessary takeovers of functions belonging to local authorities as a crisis management solution, because these takeovers do not solve the problem. Thank you very much. [Applause.]