Failing local leadership a match in a tinderbox
Experts are surprised there have not been more service delivery protests as municipalities crumble
Local government is in deep trouble. Protests against the poor state of municipal service delivery are being staged across the country, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has revealed an alarming list of unfunded budgets and anaemic municipal coffers, and more than a dozen municipalities face an imminent revenue crisis after investing in the apparently insolvent VBS Mutual Bank. Daily news and traffic reports show how service delivery protests have accelerated over recent months, especially in the North West, Northern Cape and Free State, with protesters appearing to jostle for attention by staging increasingly violent and disruptive protests. Figures on Municipal IQ’s Municipal Hotspots Monitor confirm an uptick in service delivery protests recorded in 2018. At the end of April, the year looks likely to at least match previous annual protest records. Even more worrying, 94% of them were violent, compared to 76% of all service delivery protests we have recorded since 2004. The increasin...
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