A worrying culture has taken root in the KwaDukuza municipality, where unanswered emails have become the unofficial policy of municipal governance.

For months at a time, correspondence from councillors and residents to officials sits unread and unanswered.

The local government framework is designed so that officials implement policy, while councillors are elected to provide oversight and act as a conduit between residents and the administration.

Without strong performance management and disciplinary measures, non-responsiveness from officials simply dilutes accountability. In some cases, officials are shielded by political networks, allowing them to operate with impunity.

The consequences are dire, as councillors cannot answer questions from residents when their own requests for information go unanswered. Service delivery basically collapses when requests disappear into a bureaucratic void. If an official can ignore elected representatives with impunity, can we honestly say that accountability to residents and ratepayers still exists?

It is time for this culture to be confronted head-on. That means implementing strict response timelines, tying responsiveness to performance reviews and ensuring political interference does not shield under-performance. Councillors have a constitutional duty to represent their constituents. Officials have a legal and moral duty to support that mandate.

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