Note to Editors: Please find soundbite in English by Freddy Sonakile MPL
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has for years raised the alarm that the ANC in government at local and provincial level in the North West has been deliberate in collapsing service delivery and governance through cadre deployment, fraud and corruption to collapse any semblance of a democratic and constitutional state.
The state of municipalities throughout the province resembles a failed state, as evidenced by the independent consolidated audit outcomes for local government for the financial year 2020-21 released by the Auditor-General (AG) late last week. Only seven months after last year’s election, the newly established ANC-governed council are already being placed under Section 139 administration.
Should the destructive governance of the ANC continue, the people will find themselves in an increasingly desperate situation. Already, unemployment in North West is just shy of 50% at 49.2%. More than 888 000 persons who can work, cannot find employment. This is almost half of the total labour force of about 1,8 million people.
The collapse in governance and service delivery further add to the misery caused by the economic decline and unemployment. Not only do people not have work, they also suffer the lack of basic services, such as water and electricity supply, high transport costs, both in the fuel price as well as damage to vehicles because roads are at an advanced state of decay, and even public healthcare services are substandard, while schools are increasingly becoming unsafe and learner transport is erratic at best.
Not a single municipality in North West obtained a clean audit. The AG identified 9 municipalities unable to function as a going concern, these are Matlosana, Mahikeng, Maquassi Hills, Tswaing, Mamusa, Naledi, Kgetlengrivier, Moses Kotane and Rustenburg.
Out of 18 local and 4 district municipalities, the AG could not express an opinion on 8 municipalities, these are Ditsobotla, Greater Taung, Kgetlengrivier, Mamusa, Maquassi Hills, Naledi, Ratlou and Ranothsere Moiloa, while the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality obtained an adverse audit opinion with findings.
Rustenburg, Kagisano Molopo, Moses Kotane and Tswaing and Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipalities as well as the Bojanala and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipalities all obtained qualified audits with findings.
Unauthorised expenditure recorded across all local government in North West is at almost R2 billion, with fruitless and wasteful expenditure at R200 million and irregular expenditure almost at R4 billion. In addition to the disastrous financial mismanagement of the ANC, municipalities forked out an additional R238 million on consultants to assist with financial reporting despite the permanent employment of CFOs. The total spent on consultants for by municipalities since 2016/17 now amounts to about R1 billion in addition to the salary bills of finance staff.
The audit outcomes paint a desperate picture for North West, but not all hope is lost. The AG identified that where the DA governs in the Western Cape, year on year improvement in the audit outcomes are being made, while recording 22 clean audits across Western Cape municipalities during the 2020/21 financial year.
It is evident that where the DA has been in government, tax money is being effectively managed to improve the lives of residents. In municipalities the DA took over following last year’s election, we are already seeing positive changes not only in financial management, but also service delivery.
In North West, the AG identified that the “lives and experiences of the citizens of North West were negatively affected by instability in political and administrative leadership, which had a detrimental effect on service delivery.”
It does not have to be this way. Should residents reject the destructive governance of the ANC and vote in the DA, people in North West will receive service delivery, infrastructure maintenance, economic growth and job creation. Because where we govern, we get things done, and we deliver.
Only the DA can rebuild North West and the AG’s audit outcomes is a clear and independent endorsement of DA good governance. North West does not have to be a failed state under the ANC when it could be a capable state under the DA just like the Western Cape.