Durban - The out-going ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal has been blamed for the collapse of municipalities in the province because of self-serving interests by deployed political leaders.
The remark was made in a joint media statement issued by Tripartite Alliance partners, the SACP, Cosatu and the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), on Wednesday.
The alliance said narrow political agendas and leaders elevating their interests above service delivery was one of the attributes to the collapse. The alliance stated that people needed to condemn what was happening in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality and reports of rampant fraud and corruption in the Zululand District Municipality.
“The local government sphere of government remains critical in terms of the rollout of the economic recovery and transformation plan. But unfortunately, poor corporate governance and financial mismanagement remains a major hurdle towards recovery. Of particular concern are the high levels of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure,” read the statement
The alliance further called on delegates attending the KZN ANC Provincial Elections conference in Durban this week to acknowledge and adopt clear plans on how to address these issues with speed and commitment.
“The leader of the alliance, which is the ANC, unfortunately failed to ensure that provincial government departments and municipalities across the province maintained a strong relationship with the Office of the Auditor-General,” the statement read.
The alliance said the report by the AG pointed out the failure to detect early signs of administrative and financial distress and interventions had been rather too late in some instances. The alliance expects the new leadership to act decisively in cases of poor governance, irregularities or dysfunctional municipal councils.
“We have seen infrastructure collapsing and service delivery affected with communities denied access to basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity. These are realities we are facing. And this must change after the conference.The leader of the alliance must be proactive rather than reactive to avoid circumstances where municipalities are sliding into interventions as per Section 139,” the statement added.
Daily News