Ward councillors who have run up large bills for unpaid municipal services will not be removed from the ANC’s candidates’ list for the forthcoming municipal elections according to Gauteng ANC spokesman Dumisa Ntuli.
While not condemning the non-payment Ntuli admitted that it was “irresponsible” of councillors not to pay their rates and services accounts sent to them by different municipalities.
She was reacting to accusations from the Democratic Alliance that the organisation was “turning a blind eye” to the scores of councillors who have not paid their outstanding accounts and consistently refuse to do so.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission there will be 55 684 candidates standing in the May municipal elections and as a result it is hardly surprising that many of the individuals are not in good standing with regard to their municipal accounts.
It comes in the wake of a survey that shows that just one-in-ten South Africans is satisfied with the performance of local government despite the fact that service delivery is defined by the constitution as a primary responsibility for local authorities.
The survey by Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) interviewed 2 375 adults in 21 municipalities in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and North West.
The biggest complaint was the gap between what people expect the government to delivery and what the government has delivered. The second reason was a lack or responsiveness to council issues such as inadequate water, sanitation and roads infrastructure.
The final reason was combined into a lack of transparency, increased corruption and nepotism among council officials and employees.
Moreover, the majority of South Africans who live in rural areas have been “forgotten” when it comes to basic infrastructure and services. A report by the South African Association of Civil Engineering says that the quality and reliability of basic infrastructure is poor and, in many places, is getting worse.
It says that the ability of the Department of Water Affairs – and by implication, the different municipalities – to deliver clean water to rural and urban areas had deteriorated dramatically.
It says that users who pay for water do not pay anything like the real costs of water treatment and supply and this encourages high levels of civil disrespect for municipal infrastructure.
“Effectively this encourages the squandering of natural resources and burdens future generations with the costs of repairing currently subsidised services,” says the report.
The municipalities owe the different water boards R1,7-billion.
Homeowners and ratepayers – including those councillors with outstanding accounts who are standing for election in the municipal elections – owe the various South African municipalities almost R38-billion for electricity, water, refuse removal and rates.
Readers' Comments Have a comment about this article? Email us now.
They should be named if they want to stand for election. Those wanting election should be leading by example. - Brian
An absolute disgrace!!! - Lynda
In the Transvaal in the old South Afica, the Municipal Elections Ordinance provided that a prospective candidate is disqualified to be elected as a councillor , if on nomination day, he/she is in arrears with municipal rates and service accounts for more than three months. What happened in the new South Africa? Is there no longer such a provision in the appropriate legislation? - Freek
Name them and show us how much they owe! - Solomon
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