Municipal government – ‘A system of government which recognises the need for special governmental effort to meet the problems resulting from urbanisation.’
Well, that’s according to the Collier’s Encyclopedia.
The emphasis is on ‘meeting the problems’ – it does not say anything about creating a convenient cash cow, where jobs are given to pals with questionable motives and qualifications, dishing out tenders to politically-connected mates and wasting money in a blood-sucking exercise that leaves hard-pressed ratepayers dizzy and moneyless.
While local government may be the most important sphere of government as far as the people (who are more worried about their pavements and potholes than foreign policy) are concerned, it is the sphere that is by far the most corrupt and incompetent in the land.
Every year the Auditor General paints a bleak picture of how over 86% of local authorities fail to receive an audit report that is beyond reproach. These days it is called a clean audit – but that is a pipe dream anyway, as municipalities spend on T-shirts, parties and friends rather than on real needs (largely)Endumeni, sadly, is fast falling into this self-made pothole. The Dube Report (reported on elsewhere in this issue) is a sad indictment of a municipality that is seemingly out of touch with the people whose ‘special needs’ it should serve. A tale of fruitless money-wasting while rates rocket should be enough to make any Endumeni ratepayer splutter on his/her municipal account.
The recent protests against ‘corruption’ are also largely misleading, as these protests are more about securing favours and jobs for those who were left out of the last election battle.
Until such time political appointments are done above the actual needs of the people, there will be no respite for the people.
The thin line between a total breakdown of municipal government and proper local authority is the media.
And we all know how the central government is poised to clamp down on this last resort. So it is up to the hard-pressed people – who fight every day for jobs and food, and complain about potholes and a myriad of other things – to change things.
Sadly, with society the way it is, things will get exceedingly worse before we can hope for any improvement.