South African municipality collapse

The country’s municipalities are in trouble, with 35 out of South Africa’s 257 now classified as “in distress”, which the government attributes to unqualified administrators.

However, it also has a plan to arrest this decline and improve local governments’ functionality.

This is feedback from Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, who recently revealed that 35 out of South Africa’s 257 municipalities are now classified as “in distress”.

In a Parliamentary response, Hlabisa said there are currently 41 municipalities placed under interventions in terms of section 139 of the Constitution. 

Section 139 of the Constitution authorises the provincial executive to intervene in a municipality when it fails to fulfil its obligations.

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Hlabisa said that, for many municipalities on that list, this has been the case for over five years, with no signs of improvement. 

He explained that, since he took office this year, his department conducted an audit of these municipalities to understand why they have remained in distress for so long. 

They found that this is often due to issues in the deployment of administrators who lack the necessary capacity and competence. 

The minister said it is critical to assign qualified administrators who can drive meaningful changes and implement recommendations decisively. 

“By the end of this year, we’ll be making an announcement on our assessment, and we’ve asked provincial MECs for feedback on the factors delaying a turnaround in these municipalities,” he said.

The MECs will also provide feedback on what support the national government may need to provide.

Since the formation of the Government of National Unity earlier this year, many have been concerned that the national government’s priorities would be too fractured to provide the necessary support for all spheres of government. 

This is particularly concerning when looking at most previous examples of coalition governments in South Africa, which were formed at the municipal level and often resulted in mismatched priorities and infighting.

However, when it comes to local government, Hlabisa said all political parties in the GNU and on a national level are committed to improving municipalities.

This is because everyone understands that failure to deliver will result in consequences at the ballot box. 

He used the example of Thabazimbi Municipality in Limpopo. In October, Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba informed councillors and officials that the province would take over control with immediate effect.

Ramathubu dissolved the municipal council due to infighting amid allegations of corruption and lack of service delivery.

“The political party that was leading the municipality did not want to associate itself for too long with that failure because they knew, come 2026, people will punish the political party that subjected them to a municipality that was not functioning,” Hlabisa explained.

Therefore, he said the cabinet will be supporting his department’s efforts to intervene directly in South Africa’s 10 worst-performing municipalities, which will be visited and assessed to drive change collaboratively.

The department will specifically focus on municipalities where there are challenges in attracting qualified candidates. 

Hlabisa said the government has a pool of experienced individuals, including CFOs, engineers, and municipal managers, who can step in where needed. 

For those currently occupying technical roles without the requisite qualifications, the government will ask those municipalities to redeploy the employees into suitable positions.

The minister also outlined his timeline for these interventions, which is broken down into three phases:

• Short-term (September 2024 to December 2024): The government is conducting skills audits for senior roles like municipal managers, CFOs, and technical directors to ensure they have the right people in key positions.
• Medium-term (January 2025 to June 2025): The government will provide targeted support and set specific timelines for each municipality to track progress.
• Long-term (July 2025 to June 2026): By this phase, municipalities should have shifted from dysfunctionality to functionality. The government will expect improved audit outcomes, moving from disclaimers to at least qualified audits.

The latest State of the Government report from South Africa’s Auditor-General, Tsakani Maluleke, showed that municipalities have crumbled under a decade of mismanagement, with only 34 receiving clean audits for the latest financial year compared to 163 a decade ago.