Improved governance – the great challenge in local government?

PROFESSOR HENRY WISSINK

When news broke about a new national government dispensation and the possibility of a government of national unity based on multiparty governance, many South Africans and even the market responded positively about the country’s future.

However, the reality at the local government level remains grim. Local government is in serious trouble. The recent auditor-general report reveals that 90% of municipalities are either in distress or experiencing serious dysfunctions.

This is particularly concerning because local governance is where effective government should have the most direct impact. It is at the local level that people live their daily lives, relying on basic essential services such as transportation, water, energy, safety, health and sanitation.

Alarmingly, most metropolitan areas (six out of eight) are struggling to meet the growing demands of expanding metropolitan populations. By 2050, it is projected that More than 70% of the population will be urbanised, a trend that will continue to depopulate rural areas, leaving most rural areas and their smaller local authorities without the resources or opportunities needed for development.

The poor governance history faced by local governments in South Africa is multifaceted and complex and relates to multiple fundamentals of governance and management. Many local authorities struggle with inadequate revenue generation and collection, especially the municipalities that face increased and rapid in-migration of rural people.

They often rely heavily on transfers from the national government, which can be unpredictable and insufficient to meet local needs. Municipalities may also face significant debt burdens from past borrowing or financial mismanagement.

The high levels of debt consequently restrict their ability to invest in infrastructure or services, and they are sometimes required to implement national policies or mandates without adequate funding.

In addition, the misappropriation of funds, nepotism in appointing personnel and contractors and a general lack of transparency always undermine public trust and the effectiveness of local governance, exacerbated by a lack of skilled personnel and inadequate capacity to manage complex governance and financial systems.

In addition, political interference in management and administrative processes often contributes to disrupting effective governance and leads to decisions based on political expediency rather than sound management.

Poor implementation of often well-devised integrated development plans has led to widespread problems in service delivery, including inconsistent water and electricity supply, inadequate waste management and poor infrastructure maintenance.

A few days ago, large areas of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality were incapacitated by a power blackout. Four major electricity pylons collapsed following gale-force winds, which had devastating consequences and will have a ripple effect on the commercial system of the city and its citizens in the weeks and months to follow.

Poor attention was paid to severely rusted electricity pylons for years, and in desperation, the NMBM had to call for the assistance of the Minister of Electricity and Energy. It is estimated that a R1.7 billion grant will be needed from the national government to reconstruct the deteriorating infrastructure.

This is just one example among many cases of infrastructure collapse in major city centres, highlighting the frequent absence of adequate oversight and accountability mechanisms.

Weak internal controls and insufficient auditing contribute to irresponsible management, financial irregularities and, ultimately, poor performance. This results in inadequate public services, deteriorating infrastructure and diminished quality of life.

In most municipalities, citizens face unreliable access to essential services, which exacerbates socio-economic inequalities, poverty, unemployment and inequalities, and increasing disinvestment by business and industry.

During the past few years, we have seen many efforts by state entities, such as the South African Local Government Association and the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority, calling for research and expert opinions on what local government should be doing to resolve the dire situation in which they find themselves.

The discourses focus on general capacity building, especially enhancing financial management practices, improving transparency and strengthening oversight mechanisms.

The efforts have also included various governance and management reform initiatives, such as focusing on supporting the role of district municipalities (District Development Model and implementing Shared Services Models), legislative amendments, skills-training and service-delivery technology interventions.

Unfortunately, with the best of intentions, the interventions do not seem to resolve the issues. The recent auditor-general’s report highlights three major issues that impede the progress of local governments: insufficient skills and capacity, governance failures and a lack of accountability or consequences.

To tackle the problems, it is advised that local governments be professionalised and staffed with skilled individuals. Achieving this will require co-ordinated and collaborative efforts of all the responsible role players in partnership with municipal leadership.

A unified commitment to fast-tracking skilled executives that are committed to pro-active service responsiveness, effective consequence management, accountability and ethical behaviour is crucial for significant improvement.

Achieving meaningful and sustainable improvements requires a “visible hand” and top-down co-ordinated approach and commitment from all levels of government, supported by business, academia and civil society.

It has to fix and resolve the basic issues that keep local government trapped in their inevitable cycle of dysfunctional governance and management by fixing the basics - what I call improved governance, before good governance.

It will require a strong “visible hand” from the new Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to systematically and urgently intervene in the business and affairs of especially the dysfunctional local authorities.

Perhaps the new minister should consider seeking smart inputs on a new formula in the Municipal Structures Act, for defining the nature, selection and appointment of senior political office bearers (mayors and executive members) that requires specific professional qualifications and experience.

The reformed executive system needs to be designed to address the flaws and squabbles that emanate from the need for coalition formations ending in compromises that often lead to minority parties that become “kingmakers”, enjoy undue influence, and even dictate the appointment of incompetent political executives.

The approach may also require that chairpersons or mayors are held accountable in a system of dual accountability, reporting to their respective councils and to the Cogta minister through the relevant provincial structures regularly, using key performance-based improvements according to standardised local governance performance metrics.

The idea would, of course, require a thorough policy analysis focused on finding the best solution for a dispensation that has not worked well to date. The idea is that municipal executives must be empowered, but also be held accountable for reckless and poor governance.

One way to ensure that all executives and managers appointed in towns or cities are at least well trained and prepared, is to require formal or certified levels of post-school qualifications in Public Governance or Local Governance appropriate to the size of the local government.

Strategically speaking, in the short term and immediate situation, the new Government of National Unity should ask tough questions, and consider driving a “local governance performance and consequence management programme”. When improved governance can be achieved, good governance will follow, and even excellent governance in years to come.

This will allow us to create innovative human settlements, smart towns and cities and smart airport cities (aerotropoli) that can change the destiny of the country.

Henry Wissink is an emeritus professor of public governance at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the research and postgraduate co-ordinator at the Aerotropolis Institute Africa. He is also the co-editor and author of Improving Public Policy for Sustainable Development Impact in the Digital Era. He writes in his personal capacity.

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