Dysfunctional local governments - media statement issued by UDM Spokesperson on Provincial and Local Government (20 May 2005)
The UDM welcomes the fact that the people of Nelson Mandela Metropole will receive some relief after the intervention of the Eastern Cape Premier. However, we are concerned that people needed to resort to violence in order to get the service they are entitled to. This is just an ad hoc bail out that does not address the underlying problem. What sort of message is this sending? Is the Premier telling the people of the province that violence and protest is the only way to get service? Nor is this a problem unique to the Eastern Cape. Throughout the country these types of protests are on the increase. And they result inevitably in the intervention of the relevant Premier and sometimes even the President of the country. The message being sent is that service and attention will only come after protest.

The Provinces have a constitutional mechanism to take over the functions of dysfunctional municipalities. By intervening, but not exercising this mechanism, the message that municipalities are hearing is that poor service delivery is acceptable, and if residents become truly frustrated the Province will bail them out. This is ridiculous. The incompetent and corrupt officials and politicians in Local Government must learn that they are not untouchable.

But it seems that prior to elections the ANC Provincial and National Government executives are scared of their Local Government counterparts. The tail is now wagging the dog. They would rather intervene to quell protests than discipline the wayward municipalities for their failure to serve the needs of their residents. They hesitate to address municipal incompetence, but at the same time the Minister of Intelligence shows no hesitation to threaten unleashing the intelligence agencies on the protesting people with legitimate frustrations.

Back to 2005 Archive