NELSPRUIT – Premier Mr David Mabuza said last week that the provincial government was grappling in resolving the challenges faced by the municipalities. He said the municipal level was the sphere of government that matters most.
Mabuza met with the minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) on Thursday. Mabuza asked Mr Lechesa Tsenoli for his department’s dedicated support to the municipalities in Mpumalanga.
He told the minister that although the provincial government was making progress in certain areas, there was still a long way to go. “Sometimes we even think our comrades in leadership positions within the municipalities are failing us, but we realise there are more serious problems which need thoughtful involvement of national government,” he said.
It was the minister’s first trip to the province as part of his department’s outreach programme. Mabuza explained to him that most municipalities in Mpumalanga were using unfunded and unrealistic budgets. He also said the disclaimers they received in their audits meant that money meant to bring services to the people were not being utilised correctly.
The premier also complained about corruption as one of the contributing factors to failures of the municipalities as many councillors were doing business with government. He also said that some municipalities do not have the capacity to generate their own revenue and if they did not get help to recuperate money, they might as well close shop.
“It is unfortunate that there is lack of quality leadership. Issues of governance are a challenge. This is the sphere of government that matters most. Maybe we have taken our best leaders and placed them at national government, far from the people,” Mabuza said. He told the minister that the national government needed to have a dedicated team to concentrate on enforcing interaction between the councilors and the public.
Tsenoli undertook for his department to maximise its support of the municipalities.
