During President Cyril Ramaphosa’s keynote address this week to the 2022 Local Government Summit, there was an interruption by scheduled power cuts, at which he joked that he was being taught how to cope with the rolling blackouts.

Jokes aside, the two-day summit was a serious affair where municipal and government officials laid bare the state of the country’s 257 municipalities. This year, the hybrid summit was held in Boksburg, Gauteng under the theme  “District Development Model in Action — Towards an Ideal Municipality”. The summit aimed to produce a collective programme of action that would enable an ideal municipality.

Poor audit findings

During the first day, issues over poor audit findings were raised by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Municipalities with poor audit outcomes need support, says Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma”

On the second day of the summit, Ramaphosa took the stage where he addressed delegates. However, his speech was paused for a few moments by scheduled power cuts.

MUST WATCH: President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address is briefly disturbed by load-shedding. @TimesLIVE @SundayTimesZA pic.twitter.com/q1G3mzCmUD

— Amanda Khoza – The Journalist (@MandaKhoza) September 28, 2022

“Okay, I was given lessons on how to deal with load shedding and I must say I am sorry about that,” joked the President while the crowd laughed. Eskom continued “to be our biggest challenge,” said Ramaphosa when the power returned and he could continue his speech.

‘Come and speak to us’

However, during a question session, municipal officials raised several questions.

Mayor of the Harry Gwala District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, Zamo Nxumalo, said funding models for municipalities needed to be addressed. In another suggestion, he said ministers and MECs should undertake a one-week exchange with mayors “so you can see what we are going through” — which garnered much applause from the audience.

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Noluthando Nqabisa, Speaker of the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, questioned why municipal debt to Eskom was not written off when other Eskom debts were. She suggested a provision of potential Eskom debt write-offs that included municipal debt to Eskom. According to a report by Daily Maverick reporter Victoria O’Regan, the Enoch Mgijima municipality owes R778,561,822 in outstanding debt to Eskom, the highest in the Eastern Cape.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Eskom is owed R50bn by municipalities – This infographic shows which council owes what”

Next up, André Truter, mayor of the Saldanha Bay Municipality in the Western Cape, questioned how municipalities could rebuild “from the top up”. He then told the minister and president to “come and speak to us”.

But it was Khumalo Molefe, mayor of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in the troubled North West who spoke of the challenges that mayors face while at the coalface of service delivery. 

At the forefront of service delivery challenges

“It’s our houses that get burnt — our children get tormented”. Molefe said municipal officials and councillors were not protected by the South African Police Service. The Citizen reported two weeks ago that eThekwini councillor Mnqobi Victor Molife was gunned down — the latest in a string of municipal councillors shot dead in the country. Molefe said it felt like they were in an “orphanage sphere of government” and asked for an engagement with the government to discuss his concerns.

‘We will come to you if you invite us’

In response, Dlamini Zuma told Truter that “we do talk to you”. She said she had recently visited Cederberg municipality in the Western Cape after she had been invited. “We will come to you if you invite us,” she said.

The Cogta minister suggested a session with Cabinet ministers and departments where municipal officials could engage, similar to community imbizos held with the public. Dlamini Zuma said some questions posed by local government officials needed responses from other ministers and departments, too.

In his response, Ramaphosa referred to Nxumalo’s suggestion of job exchanges, where he said “be careful what you ask for — you might get what you ask for”.

Addressing Nqabisa’s comments about Eskom debts, he said this was something “we are looking at”, but maintained this was a national issue, adding that Eskom wanted municipalities to pay what they owed.

Responding to Molefe, the President said that when people readied themselves as councillors, they availed themselves to criticism and blame: “I’m blamed for everything. As a mayor, I know you are blamed for everything”.

Ramaphosa said security would be looked at. He denied Molefe’s claim that local governments were treated as orphans. Instead, he said, “it is the firstborn” — which is why the government was paying attention. DM