More proof from AG Local Gov is about to collapse

More proof is emerging by the day that Local Government is about to collapse. The Auditor General's report released yesterday is the latest, in a line of statistics, which found that a mere 13 or 5% of the 283 Municipalities in the country had received clean audits.

Local Government is the most corrupt sphere of Government with the least oversight - which will collapse without necessary intervention.  Most municipalities that have received negative audits over the past two years have experienced violent service delivery protests.

The Auditor General's office is not the only organisation to raise the alarm with regards to Local Government; the Human Sciences Research Council also recently released similar damning statistics. These facts support what the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and its members have been saying - Local Government is not functioning as it supposed to. It is riddled not only with financial woes but also with corruption, Maladministration and a lack of accountability.

Even the biggest of Municipalities such as City of Johannesburg, the eThekwini Municipality and the City of Cape Town are experiencing serious challenges with regards to delivering decent services.

Together with improving accountability and rooting out the cancer of corruption that has taken hold of Local Government, It would be wise to get rid of Provincial Government - which does not provide any service to the people and which is terribly expensive to have.

The Billions of Rands used to have a Provincial sphere of Government that does not deliver, must instead be used to strengthen the ability of Local Government to deliver much needed services, before it is too late.

Statement issued by Tahir Sema, SAMWU National Media and Publicity Officer, July 24 2012

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