Lack of Service Delivery a Problem of Dysfunctional Municipalities, Says David Mabuza
- Deputy President David Mabuza agrees dysfunctional municipalities are a well-documented problem for communities in all nine provinces of South Africa
- Mabuza said these municipalities are to blame for service delivery failures and crumbling infrastructure
- Speaking amid a recent housing protest in Lichtenburg, North West, Mabuza said the government needs to be more responsive to avoid service delivery demonstrations
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Dysfunctional municipalities are a well-documented issue for communities in all nine provinces of South Africa.
Corruption, maladministration and mismanagement are among a plethora of problems facing these parastatals.
Source: Twitter
Deputy President David Mabuza said these municipalities are to blame for service delivery failures and crumbling infrastructure.
He visited the Northern Cape to assess the contamination of the Vaal River – which flows through Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State – from sewage and other sources, SABC News reported.
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Mabuza said the government needs to be more responsive to avoid service delivery protests amid a recent housing protest in Lichtenburg, North West, where two trucks and a bakkie were set alight.
"We are in a democratic state, and it’s the rights of citizens to demonstrate their feelings," said Mabuza, according to eNCA.
Service delivery a hot topic for upcoming elections
Conceivably, the quality of local government services will be a key factor for voters during the local government elections, which the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has resolved to hold on 1 November.
During his visit to the Northern Cape, Mabuza conceded that the contamination of the main water source presents a health hazard to the local communities. Mabuza called for interventions to solve the issue of pollution.
"The biggest problem we are confronting is dysfunctional municipalities that are experiencing a lot of squabbles, [but] these are the services they must provide," said Mabuza.
"Municipalities are water authorities. This time, the Minister of Water and Sanitation is intervening, but they are authorities in their own right. They must deliver water and sanitation."
Eased lockdown restrictions on the cards as new infections slow ahead of elections
In other news, Briefly News recently reported that discussions around easing the lockdown restrictions are taking place as the local government elections draw closer.
TimesLIVE reported that a sustained slowdown in new infections spurred the government into preparing to ease the restrictions.
The restrictions were to curb the spread of the coronavirus at the height of the recent third wave.
Briefly News has it on good authority that larger public gatherings are likely to be permitted, particularly with political parties needing to campaign for the municipal elections set for 1 November.
Mabuza, speaking during a visit to Rustenburg in the North West as part of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Covid-19 vaccines, according to SABC News, said talks are underway to relax the current lockdown restrictions.
Source: Briefly News
