Auditor-General report exposes depth of local government decay

IF ANYONE is still puzzled about why the ANC slipped to just 40% of the national vote at last year's national general elections for the first time in democratic South Africa, they have not been paying attention to the state of the country's municipalities.

- LEE RONDGANGER

The ANC did not lose votes because of a sudden surge in opposition support but because South Africans are gatvol.

They are gatvol because of the broken street lights, the taps that run dry, the potholes on the roads that are a nightmare and the rubbish that is not collected.

And this is where the ANC has failed dismally. The Auditor-General's latest consolidated report on local government outcomes reads like a post-mortem of the ANC' electoral performance.

It exposes, in stark numbers, just how deep the crisis of service delivery runs at municipal level, where the ANC governs the majority of councils and metros.

In the 2023-24 financial year, 87% of municipalities failed to comply with procurement and contract management laws. In 63% of cases, these failures were severe enough to materially affect finances. Additionally, 77% of infrastructure projects inspected had serious deficiencies - meaning the roads, clinics, waterworks and housing projects ordinary people are promised are either not being built, or when they are, they are substandard and unfinished.