THE LONG VIEW
POLICY MATTERS I DEMARCATION
BOUNDARY
REDETERMINATION
Aluwani Ramagadza
The role of municipal demarcation in service delivery remains a hugely contentious topic, nearly 30 years after the advent of democracy, writes Trevor Crighton
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s municipal boundaries are shifted, municipalities assume financial and service delivery responsibilities for new areas that current residents often do not want to be joined together – often resulting in violent clashes.
We are of the view that communities are entitled to receive municipal service, regardless of where they are situated,” says Ramagadza. “Demarcation changes should be considered as a solution when other interventions have not worked.”
Understanding the Challenges
FLAWS IN THE PROCESS
Dr Michelle Maziwisa, postdoctoral research fellow at the Dullah Omar Institute, says that evidence seems to suggest that the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) has successfully amalgamated South Africa’s 1 262 racially and economically divided municipalities (in 1994) into 257 municipalities (by 2016) and has also brought in traditional areas that had no municipal administration into a single local government system. “However, while the MDB can pull together two local communities into one, the reality is that those communities need to have buy-in, otherwise this can severely compromise the amalgamation process. This also filters down to ethnic and linguistic differences, as well as perceptions of corruption, administrative capacity and service delivery capacity within a particular municipality,” she says. Aluwani Ramagadza, acting CEO at the MDB, says that despite requiring more financial resources to establish its regional presence, improving its research capacity and eliminating a number of its HR challenges, the MDB has continued to ensure that its work around municipal boundary redeterminations – inclusive of amalgamations – is efficient. Through its studies, the MDB is aware that amalgamations have not been as successful as was envisaged because the dysfunction in most municipalities has very little or nothing to do with their spatial configuration. “The MDB is not responsible for providing services in municipalities.
In an academic paper entitled “Municipal demarcation process in the establishment of the Collins Chabane Local Municipality and reasons for the eruption of Vuwani, South Africa”, authors Mavis Netswera and Eric Nealer state that there is a gap in the Demarcation Act in terms of its silence on how the MDB should go about ensuring that all demarcation factors are complied with. They state that failure to apply all factors correctly may create municipalities that are unable to fulfil their constitutional mandate. There are perceptions that public participation in demarcation debates is low, but the MDB says this is not the case. “Public participation cannot be deemed low as the act requires it in four phases of the process before final demarcation. However, due to the lack of understanding of the MDB’s functions and processes, stakeholders and the public show little or no interest until the process is concluded,” says Ramagadza.
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Dr Michelle Maziwisa
He says the MDB has conducted various initiatives to attract interest, raise awareness and educate the public about demarcation processes, and encourage active participation. “That the MDB does not have regional presence in provinces to assist has created challenges. We have requested assistance from municipalities in terms of sharing information and being able to assist communities,” Ramagadza says.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE Maziwisa believes that the best solution for solving service delivery issues by altering demarcation lines lies in resolving underlying tensions between linguistic, cultural or ethnic groups seen to be in a dominant role in relation to those seen to be in a nondominant role. “The Auditor-General has consistently raised concerns about poor municipal financial management. Without fixing this problem, even in good and promising amalgamations, there would still be financial problems and, as a result, service delivery problems,” she says. “What is needed is increased transparency at local government level and revisiting economic linkages between urban and rural spaces and between affluent and poor spaces, as well as addressing the urban sprawl through city planning – some of which fall outside the Municipal Demarcation Board’s mandate.” She adds that poor service delivery will often lead to protests, which, in her view, goes beyond the mandate of the MDB. “Whether it is doing sufficient due diligence prior to implementing amalgamations, I am not sure,” she concludes. ▪
VOICE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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2022/06/30 4:08 PM
