Q&A: The impact of the state of the nation address on municipalities

Mncube: The role of municipalities, as the face of service delivery, cannot be understated. It is important to remember that the SONA sets out the government’s key objectives and deliverables for the year, and, therefore, appreciates that local government and municipalities cannot be left out of this conversation.

While the SONA does not directly address local government, initiatives at this level need to be directed to support the measures outlined in the address. The relevance of the SONA is even clearer when considering the government’s call for increased coordination between all spheres of government to ensure increased efficiency.

One of the greatest challenges to the government’s functioning has been inefficient government coordination. While provincial and local governments are expected to outline their own specific plans, it is important that these take the priorities set out by the national government into account.

Mbava: We are all aware that the address sets out the government’s key policy objectives and deliverables for the upcoming year, but it also reflects on the achievements, challenges, red flags, and interventions needed to unlock development interventions.

SONA is relevant to all municipalities, as it provides them with the policy priorities for the upcoming year. One of the government’s key policy focuses is the success of the ERRP [Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan], which looks at a massive rollout of infrastructure, energy, job creation, support to support the growth of SA business, and fast-tracking reform measures for a competitive and inclusive economy.

These interventions and policies emphasise the developmental aspect of local government, which is both pro-poor and pro-growth. In addition, local government is one of the key players in economic development due to its familiarity with the local economy.

The Constitution (1996) encourages local government to play a pivotal role in job creation and poverty reduction through local economic development. As municipalities have the ability to adapt their policies and strategies to the local conditions to promote the area/region advantages and reduce obstacles in the system

Mncube: As previously mentioned, it is important that all spheres of government, and other social partners, work together to ensure that the country meets its goals and targets. For the state to perform optimally, it is crucial that all organs of state undertake their core functions and work harmoniously with other state organs.

While it is important to appreciate this principle, it is also important to remember that municipal planning in the country operates within a legal framework. It is also important to remember that local municipalities are expected to produce integrated development plans, whose function is to coordinate the work of local and other spheres of government in a coherent plan to improve the living conditions of persons living in the area.

Beyond the announcing of any principles and broad plans, municipalities are responsible for ensuring the outlining of a specific program of action that is tailored to ensure that the specific needs of the people are met. These plans need to clearly outline objectives, timelines, responsibilities and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating their progress.

Mbava: Municipalities are aware of the legislation and regulations informing their roles and functions. Municipalities are required to understand their role and contribution to the developmental objectives of the country and should strive to eliminate the obstacles in the system. Local government is also the sphere closest to people and can directly impact their standard and quality of living. This can be achieved through the implementation of good governance, sound financial principles, and the development of the capacity of their institutions. This will then improve the municipalities’ abilities in fulfilling their mandate, which will improve service delivery. In doing so, municipalities will then create an economic enabling environment, which will facilitate growth and job creation. This will then address the issues of poverty and inequality in South Africa. 

As part of the ERRP, there is a massive focus on infrastructure. By improving the governance, financial, and investment focus, municipalities may increase the overall performance of their capital expenditure and successfully address the country’s infrastructure needs.

Mncube: The challenge of service delivery has been quite apparent over the years and has, rightfully, been the cause of great concern and frustration for citizens across the country. It is worth mentioning that South Africa has in the past been dubbed the “protest capital of the world” due to frustrations over service delivery.

Issues of service delivery do not only speak to inefficiencies in government planning and implementation, but have the potential to pose risks to the country’s stability if left unaddressed.

Government has launched several initiatives over the years to ensure that municipalities do the work of ensuring service delivery, each with their own wins and losses. In 2019, the cabinet approved the district development model (DDM) aimed at improving the impact of service delivery initiatives. In the main, it encourages collaborative planning at local, district and metropolitan level by all spheres of government, with the understanding that a lack of coherence in planning and implementation negatively impacts on service delivery.

Despite these efforts and announcements in the previous SONA, such as energy generation initiatives, and broadband infrastructure, municipalities still struggle to operate as they should. Municipalities are not improving, as increasing numbers have been declared dysfunctional. Government has done a good job at identifying challenges to service delivery in the country. It is now crucial that existing measures are given priority and additional measures are set in place to improve service delivery concerns.

Mbava: Since the last SONA, municipalities have shown a lack of significant improvement.  There are multiple risks impacting the municipality’s ability to deliver services. These challenges have been exacerbated given the backdrop of Covid-19, which relates to access to basic services and highlighting fiscal gaps.

Research conducted by the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) has found eight core reasons municipalities are in the current predicament; the findings cut across multiple municipalities despite differences in operating environments and demands. This includes lack of skills, municipal audits, revenue management, irregular and wasteful expenditure, repairs and maintenance, supply chain management, and general lack of spending.

During the 2022/23 financial year, the government has focused on improving the challenges experienced by local governments to develop key policy recommendations.

Therefore, to achieve the objectives of local economic development and improved municipal service delivery, it requires that municipalities focus on strengthening municipal finance and investments. These underpin the ability to broaden economic activity and reverse unemployment trends by creating a conducive economic environment to facilitate and promote social and economic development activities.

Mncube: Yes, especially considering the many areas of improvement that need to be addressed.

Quite recently, president Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as president of the African National Congress made it clear that repositioning the country’s dysfunctional municipalities will be at the top of the government’s agenda. It is important to think of this pointing more towards ensuring that existing plans and commitments are honored rather than a heavy focus on the development of new plans.

He has also made a commitment to taking action against dysfunctional municipalities, appreciating that they are at the center of government activity.

Mbava: 

1. Energy Crisis: The ongoing rolling blackouts and persistent unplanned electricity cuts have had a dire impact on business and the recovery of South Africa. The expectation will be that the president will address this. This will go hand-in-hand with the just transition for energy. This is essential to municipalities due to their role in energy distribution. However, it will also affect municipalities that are in the process of gearing themselves up for energy generation.
2. Infrastructure delivery – from a local government perspective, this is fundamental due to the direct impact it has on citizens. Capital spending at a municipal level is a major source of infrastructure provision, but the level of spending has declined over recent years. In addition, there is a persistent level of underspending, which negatively impacts the developmental objective of the country.
3. Water: Another aspect will be water resources and the impact of climate change. It’s important to note that this is also one of the key pillars of the ERRP.
4. Economic growth and job creation will also be on this year’s agenda. In the last SONA the president emphasised the role of the DDM as a large component regarding economic recovery and growth.