The five fundamental flaws that keep angry citizens on the streets
The unhealthy mixing of politics and administration is at the heart of service delivery protests
There is a protest against a municipality almost every second day in South Africa. The dissatisfaction expressed by communities through these increasingly violent protests largely relates to service delivery. However‚ if we take a deeper look at the administrative and political structures shaping local government‚ it is clear that there are fundamental inefficiencies inherent in the system. In theory‚ the political and administrative spheres are supposed to work together: side by side‚ but never infiltrating each other. In practice‚ this does not always happen‚ and failures related to service delivery and poor auditor-general findings at municipal levels are the external symptoms of a much more complex problem at the heart of local government. Auditor-general Kimi Makwetu states that the recurring root causes resulting in minimal improvement include: slow response by leadership in improving internal controls; instability or vacancies in key positions or key officials lacking appropr...
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