Top CEO slams cadre deployment in South African municipalities

Fortress Real Estate CEO Steven Brown said cadre deployment has destroyed and hollowed out South Africa’s municipalities.

He said the result of this has been deteriorating service delivery, particularly for basic services such as electricity, water, sewage, and road connections.

Brown made these comments during a discussion with Peregrine Capital in September 2026, where he explained the negative impact of cadre deployment on local businesses and communities.

As a Real Estate Investment Company that owns 205 buildings across eight South African provinces, Fortress has felt the impact of declining service delivery.

“We need the municipalities to work. We have to connect our electricity points to the municipal connections, our sewer points, and our driveways to the road,” he said.

“We are sort of part and parcel of the municipality, and if that’s not working, it’s a problem for the country and it’s a big problem for all the property owners and us.”

In its 2026 Integrated Annual Report, Fortress identified poor service delivery and infrastructure decay as major risks to its operations.

“Continuing high levels of unemployment, infrastructure decay, and poor service delivery contribute to the potential risk of civil unrest,” it said.

These factors also raise the risk of increases in Fortress’ water, electricity and utility-related costs.

“The committee maintains a high-risk assessment of this risk, and focuses on appropriate measures to safeguard, protect, and adequately insure the South African direct property portfolio,” the company said in its report.

To address these risks, Fortress has increased its efficiencies to reduce reliance on municipal-supplied utilities. 

This has included ensuring that its properties have backup and alternative supply facilities. For example, in the 2026 financial year, Fortress generated and consumed 52,468 MWh of solar energy.

The group also reported that consistent and reliable water supply remains challenging across most of its portfolio.

“We aim to have backup water available at our retail centres for two to three days, coupled with boreholes and purification plants,” it said.

“We currently have backup water tanks at 31 of our retail centres, and our new logistics developments are built with backup tanks.”

Cadre deployment is the problem

While Fortress has been able to mitigate some of its municipal service-delivery challenges, Brown said this is merely a band-aid for the real problem.

“If I could wave a magic wand, it would be to get a professional civil service,” Brown said. 

“The cadre deployment of the past and putting politicians in roles where you need really competitive civil servants has destroyed municipalities, and I think it’s hollowed them out.”

Brown believes that a competent civil service, staffed with professional civil servants who are not in their positions because of their political affiliations, is the solution.

“We need people who can actually get going with service delivery and very simple things,” he said.

“Let’s get the power working, let’s get the water working, and most importantly, let’s get safety and security working.”

“If we can police things and lock the criminals up, people will feel safe and things will start to gain momentum.”

Brown acknowledged that the national government, through the Treasury, has aimed to encourage municipalities to improve service delivery.

In July 2026, the National Treasury temporarily withheld R17.63 billion in Local Government Equitable Share allocations from 69 non-compliant municipalities.

This applied to local governments that failed to adopt funded budgets, address wasteful expenditure, and pay bulk suppliers such as Eskom.

Brown said this was a move in the right direction, but did not address the core problem plaguing municipalities across South Africa.

“Are they helping these municipalities to really try and become operationally effective and efficient?” he questioned.

“I don’t think you can make things that much better by starving them of cash, but you can’t just let the cash continually be used to just splurge and spend and waste.”

He added that private companies have also attempted to step in and fill the gap left by municipal shortcomings. However, this is also not a solution to the root problem.

“I would love to see them try and create that municipal institutional capacity as opposed to fixing potholes and traffic lights on their behalf,” he said.

“I don’t think that helps the problem, I think that puts a band-aid on it. If we really want to get serious, we need to build these municipalities.”

“We need to be absolutely dogmatic and only hire competent professional civil servants and keep the politicians running the show at a high level away from the core.”