Our towns are broke and threats won’t fix that
Municipalities are shouldering the burden of government policies without being given the means to do so
Municipalities are shouldering the burden of government policies without being given the means to do so - and this is threatening their sustainability. So says South African Local Government Association executive director for municipal infrastructure services Jean de la Harpe. "Municipalities are basically serving as the shock absorber for the poor by providing free basic services," she says. Many of them can't afford to do so and are faced with "massive, ballooning debt" as a result. "We need to ask whether there is sufficient funding in the fiscus to implement these policies of free basic services." Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane told parliament last week that the problem was municipal corruption and mismanagement. De la Harpe, with admirable restraint given a recent finding that Mokonyane's own department is dysfunctional, says this is "unfair". The sustainability of municipalities is under threat because government subsidies to cover them for the provisi...
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