Chairperson, congratulations to the Minister and the Deputy Minister on their appointments. We regard them as an improvement on the past and as the DA we look forward to working with you. We know you are both very knowledgeable and will be far more hands-on with the choir baton in hand. You were honest today, Minister, but you will also have to be tough, because local government is in a crisis.
First of all, there is a financial crisis. In many provinces, such as the Northern Cape, the Eastern Cape and the North West, the majority of local municipalities are technically bankrupt. The local government expenditure review of the Treasury found that municipalities have developed a grant dependency syndrome. The financial viability of the whole local government sphere is at stake. Even a metro such as Tshwane has experienced cash-flow problems.
We all know the challenges. On average, 38% of citizens of a municipality cannot contribute a cent and rely on free basic services, which municipalities cannot fully fund from their equitable share. Bad billing and poor debt collecting aggravate the problem. Even state departments do not pay their accounts. After a lot of debt has been written off, the total debt owed to municipalities last year still exceeded R40 billion. The regional electricity distributors, REDs, are looming in the background, and the huge increases that Eskom is applying for are going to break the camel's back, because studies have shown that citizens cannot spend more than 9% of their income on municipal services.
But what is shocking - and this is where we can play a role and discipline our councillors, and we will also do our bit on our side of the House - is their managing of municipal funds and their skewed priorities that we see.
Byvoorbeeld, Tswaing-munisipaliteit in Sannieshof het nie R285 vir sy posbus se huur of R75 om die sleutel daarvan te vervang nie. Hulle het nie ink vir hul drukkers sodat inwoners hul motorlisensies kan hernu nie. Hulle het wel R1,3 miljoen vir 'n Mercedes Benz vir die burgemeester ... [Tussenwerpsels.] ... en R900 000 vir 'n huis in Delareyville net vir onthale, een in Rustenburg, buite hul gebied, en hulle het ook sommer 'n plaas gekoop. O ja, en daardie uitvoerende komitee, moet u onthou, het op belastingbetalers se koste die eindstryd van die Rugbywreldbeker in Frankryk bygewoon.
Mafikeng-munisipaliteit, weer, het R1,3 miljard nodig om sy waterinfrastruktuur reg te kry, maar R1,4 miljoen word sommer van die begroting weggevat om 'n onder-17-sokkerspan vir maande na Brasili te stuur terwyl hulle eintlik op skool moet wees.
Daarom verwelkom die DA die Minister se sterk standpunt teen al hierdie wanaanwending en korrupsie wat hy in die Oos-Kaap oor Mnquma-munisipaliteit ges het, en ek haal aan:
By the time the Special Investigating Unit is finished there will be neither bush nor stone where both corruptee and corrupter can hide ...
En dit is die pad wat u moet neem, Minister, en ons sal u steun. Ek kan vir u belowe dat waar die DA in beheer is, sal ons geldbronne verantwoordelik bestuur en goeie dienste lewer. U hoef nie bekommerd te wees oor die Wes- Kaap nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[For example, the Tswaing Local Municipality in Sannieshof does not have R285 for the rental of its postbox or R75 to replace the key for it. They do not have ink for their printers in order for the citizens to renew their motor vehicle licences. However, they do have R1,3 million for a Mercedes Benz for the mayor ... [Interjections.] ... and R900 000 for a house in Delareyville, solely for entertainment purposes, one in Rustenburg, outside of their area, and have even bought a farm. Oh yes, and you should remember that the executive committee attended the finals of the Rugby World Cup in France at the expense of taxpayers.
The Mafikeng Municipality, on the other hand, requires R1,3 billion to get their water infrastructure functioning, but R1,4 million is simply taken from the budget to send an under-17 soccer team to Brazil for months whilst they are actually supposed to be at school.
Hence the DA welcomes the Minister's strong stance against all these misappropriations and corruption when he spoke about the Mnquma Municipality on visiting the Eastern Cape, and I quote:
By the time the Special Investigating Unit is finished, there will be neither bush nor stone where both corruptee and corrupter can hide ...
And that is the route you should take, Minister, and we will support you. I can promise you that where the DA is in control, we shall manage the monetary resources responsibly and deliver good services. You need not be concerned about the Western Cape.]
Secondly, municipalities are also in a human resource capacity crisis because of overzealous transformation since 2000, with no regard for retaining skills and experience. Buffalo City Local Municipality in East London does not have a single engineer.
By talle munisipaliteite, soos by Kou-kamma-munisipaliteit, word die ingenieurspos vir jare vakant gelaat, terwyl 'n blanke ingenieur op die dorp bly en graag sy dienste beskikbaar wil stel. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[At a number of municipalities, as in the case of the Kou-Kamma Municipality, the engineering post has been left vacant for years whilst a white engineer resides in the town and would like to make his services available.]
As part of Project Consolidate, 280 professionals were put in at least 85 municipalities and a governance report of your department indicates that in December 2008, 1 283 technical experts were deployed at municipalities. This is not nearly enough, and there are so many problems with this outside help that is parachuted in for a limited period that their influence is not what it should be. Councils - and this is a big mistake that has happened - have treated their experienced professional staff so badly over the past few years that a new phenomenon has emerged: these people are no longer willing to work directly for a municipality but will only render their service to an agency such as the Development Bank, which then seconds them to a municipality.
Die DA s gesonde arbeidspraktyke moet voorkeur kry bo die ideologiese uitdryf van kundigheid. Munisipaliteite het baie mag met die aanstel van personeel, en ons weet die "nasionale demokratiese revolusie" van die ANC vereis dat net kaders in alle posisies aangestel moet word. Maar ek is bly as hulle dit nie meer wil doen nie, want as ons nie gaan terugkeer na groter meriete met aanstellings nie, gaan munisipaliteite al hoe meer in 'n moeras wegsak. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[The DA is saying that healthy labour practices should take precedence over driving out expertise on ideological grounds. Municipalities have huge power with regard to appointing staff and we know that the national democratic revolution of the ANC demands that only cadres be appointed to all positions. However, I am glad if they no longer wish to do so, because if we do not return to making appointments based largely on merit, the municipalities will sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire.]
Let's get rid of the closed patronage system.
'n Derde tema wat ek graag wil aanraak, is om te s die DA glo nie in sentralisasie nie. Daarom wil ons die Minister vra: Hou u departement klein, skaf al hierdie ongevulde poste af, maar bou kapasiteit by die provinsiale departemente sodat hulle munisipaliteite kan steun en moniteer. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[A third theme that I would like to touch on is to state that the DA does not believe in centralisation. Therefore we would like to ask the Minister: Keep your department small, abolish all these unfilled posts, but build capacity in provincial departments in order for them to support and monitor municipalities.]