Flipside of coalitions

MUNICIPALITIES: BUSINESS LEADERSHIP BLAMES ALLIANCES FOR DECLINE

- Ciaran Ryan

South Africa's crumbling municipalities, with just 16% receiving clean audits in the past year, are hobbled by coalition governments and political appointees.

This is the view of Business Leadership SA (BLSA), in response to the government's White Paper on Local Government, which aims to reverse the staggering decline of municipalities in SA, through merit-based appointments and performance-linked funding.

While many welcomed coalition governments as a sign of SA's maturing democracy and a fracture of the ANC's grip on key centres of power, the downsides have become all too apparent in Joburg and Tshwane.

Since the 2021 local government elections, Joburg has seen six mayors come and go and Tshwane three, due to motions of no confidence.

The situation is even worse in Nelson Mandela Bay, where a decade of political instability has severely crippled service delivery.

The number of hung councils, in which no party holds an outright majority, surged from 27 in 2016 to 70 in 2021, an increase of 159%.