MEC Anton Bredell on restoring local government in South Africa

Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, has called for a renewed focus on ethical leadership as the foundation for turning around the decline in municipalities across South Africa.

Speaking at the Local Government Indaba in Johannesburg today, Minister Bredell said that without ethical leadership, no number of new laws or revised frameworks will improve service delivery.

“South Africa has enough resources in the system to meet the needs of our people. The real problem is corruption, theft and poor management. Ethical leadership is the only way we can restore dignity, trust and delivery in our municipalities,” said Bredell.

The Minister outlined several key interventions to turn local government around in South Africa:

“We need a new financial model that aligns national, provincial and local responsibilities with sustainable funding. As long as national government takes a top slice first, other spheres of government will not receive their rightful allocation.” 

We also need stronger consequence management, such as automatic intervention when councils fail to pass funded budgets. In this manner, we will spend much less time in court fighting with municipalities, and more time supporting them at the early onset of challenges. Also, make it a law that municipalities should spend a minimum of 8% of their budget on infrastructure maintenance of critical infrastructure.”

Minister Bredell said the creation of independent auditors employed by National Treasury within municipalities can act as a shield for professional officials subjected to political interference. “We are struggling to attract and keep qualified and experienced municipal managers and financial officers. We require reform in legislation to enable and attract suitable and qualified senior managers.”

“As government, it is our responsibility to support people to have a dignified life. Research we conducted in the Western Cape shows that the current indigent support provided to vulnerable people is not enough. Legislation provides for 6 kiloliters of water and 50kWh electricity per household, but this should be at least 10 kiloliters of water and at least 150kWh electricity.

I believe that an investment in dignity will yield positive results: Electricity in a home means children can safely do homework at night, improving our education outcomes. Access to clean water will lessen the burden on our clinics and hospitals. The question should not be if we can afford to increase basic services to indigent households. The question should be: Can we afford not to invest in our people?”

“Coalition politics is here to stay, but municipalities cannot be held hostage by kingmakers while communities suffer. We need to put residents first, above party politics,” Bredell added.

Enquiries:
Wouter Kriel
Spokesperson for Minister Anton Bredell
Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
Cell: 079 694 3085
E-mail: Wouter.kriel@westerncape.gov.za

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