The quest for citizen-centric municipal leadership

There’s no doubt that South Africa’s economy is under pressure, with the construction sector being one of the most underinvested. This is despite the fact that it is the foundation for any meaningful change in terms of industrial development, allied job creation and much-needed social infrastructure.

space are being spearheaded by the AuditorGeneral (AG) South Africa’s office, led by AG Tsakani Maluleke. Referring to the latest 2021-22 MFMA consolidated general report on local government audit outcomes, she called on all South Africans to be “active participants in helping improve accountability and to hold local government accountable.”

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Aside from the private sector investment we need to make positive gains, the improved performance of the public sector is vital to ensure that government policies are aligned with market influences that will promote micro- and macroeconomic development. At the coal face, municipalities remain the essential community interface for the enabling environment needed to make this work, backed by national and provincial government funding, where applicable. The latter comment is made on the basis that municipalities must and should function as independent and profitable entities in terms of their operating mandate.

When it comes to recruitment and selection, only the best civil servants should hold positions of office. That must be a priority for government and municipalities in attracting exceptional talent and ensuring that all outcomes are performance based, with salaries in line with the same or similar skills in the private sector.

Coalitions

A thorny issue is the widespread evolution of the coalition government model at municipal level. While it arguably promotes democracy, erratic changes in mayoral leadership due to competition within political parties hampers the effectiveness of sustainable social and interrelated infrastructure planning. With the possibility of a similar cabinet coalition model emerging following the 2024 National Elections, policymakers need to ensure that there are sufficient checks and balances. Team South Africa comes first.

Local government audit outcomes

Positive gains in this respect within the municipal

More specifically, she referred to “…citizen-centric municipal leadership.” That makes perfect sense because the rates and taxes paid by households and business are meant to facilitate municipal operations and create a reserve for planned maintenance upgrades and new infrastructure.

For the year under review, there was an estimated expenditure budget of R487.12 billion scheduled by municipalities to operate and deliver services. That’s a substantial amount of money, despite these tough economic times, and a number of municipalities did demonstrate competent leadership and execution. But not enough to make a difference overall.

Out of 257 municipalities, only 15% – accounting for some 29% of the total municipal expenditure budget – achieved an unqualified with no findings (essentially clean) audit. So, there’s room for improvement. And the AG also emphasised that when “political transition occurs, the administrative functions must continue to fulfil their duties” going forward.

The shining metro stars for 2021/22 were the cities of Cape Town and Ekurhuleni. Then from a provincial perspective, the Western Cape led in terms of the most municipalities that scored clean audit options. This demonstrates that exceptional local government performance is possible and happening, but not on the scale yet that we need to make South Africa function optimally.

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