THE FINK
THE KEY TO FIXING
SA ’ S FAILING MUNICIPALITIES
Anyone who has lived in South Africa for quite some time , would have noticed the deterioration of our infrastructure over the past three decades , and unfortunately it is getting worse , incrementally . The smaller cities and towns have gone to hell , and the bigger municipalities are not behind . We all feel powerless , but there are solutions , if anyone out there is listening . In this issue of aBr , we turn to Nicholas Woode-Smith , an economic historian , policy analyst and author . We picked this article up from a post on the Free Market Foundation website . Woode-Smith writes in his personal capacity and is an associate of the Free Market Foundation .
Municipalities and their functions reflect the reality of governance in South Africa . Grand legislation and regulations formulated and passed by parliament and implemented by ministries have a theoretical effect on the people of this country , but it is the function of municipalities that genuinely affect the day-to-day lives of the South African people . Unfortunately , the reality for many South Africans is that they live in a municipality run by incompetent , self-interested , uneducated and illequipped officials . This has resulted in infrastructural decay , corruption , and the collapse of essential services .
According to the South African Local Government Association ( Salga ), a third of all municipal councillors don ’ t even have a matric . In the private sector , not having a tertiary education would be considered insufficient to even apply for a job . Yet , in the most crucial section of our government , we are dealing with a third of our officials being unable to pass what should be considered the bare minimum certification . But even the matriculated officials are not much better than their lesser educated counterparts . Municipalities are collapsing due to incompetent leadership , the breakdown of processes and service delivery , ineffective use of resources , and degenerating infrastructure . And it is South Africans who suffer for it . As these municipalities ’ breakdown , their ability to gather revenue also breaks down , exacerbating the crisis and causing a downward spiral into collapse .
From 2022 – 2023 , only 34 out of 257 municipalities received a clean audit . 85 municipalities were missing materials and had “ questionable ” spending ; an indication of corruption . 28 municipalities were in deep distress . The knee-jerk solution of ensuring that municipal councillors are qualified is insufficient . Corruption is inevitable , and a democratic system relies on a popularity contest – not true merit . Trying to implement a “ culture of ethics and accountability ”, as suggested by the Auditor General , is all well and good .
But how will that be accomplished when it is in the official ’ s best interests to encourage mediocrity ?
The solution to municipal collapse is to replace their functions with institutions that are directly incentivised to do a good job . The private sector only succeeds if it performs its duties . And if it is deemed inadequate by consumers , it is replaced . Its disconnect from the inevitable corrupting processes of government and politics also shields it from becoming corrupt . And if a private company does become corrupt , it ’ s much easier to replace with a competitor . While not all functions of a municipality can be privatised , an intense investigation should be performed to identify which functions can be tendered out or replaced by a free market process .
Communities and neighbourhoods should be allowed to use their rate money to elect a company to fix potholes and decaying infrastructure . And the onus should be taken away from navigating a labyrinth of bureaucracy , to simply electing a fixer from a pool of private competitors – chosen by the community itself . Imagine if a neighbourhood association , free of the bulk of their rates obligations , could use their money to hire an electrician directly to fix a streetlamp , rather than have to wait for years for the municipality to read through their many grievances .
We need to start a proper discussion on the mass privatisation and opening up of private competition in as many aspects of our lives as possible . That is the way we solve service delivery . And that is how we grow and prosper as a country . www . abrbuzz . co . za 37 JANUARY • FEBRUARY • MARCH 2025