Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Thembi Nkadimeng called for a reduction of municipal councillors’ power in order to achieve good governance. The Minister was making a keynote address at Rhodes University during first day of week-long Student Representative Councilor’s (SRC) Leadership Week series.
The minister spoke under the theme of ‘promoting good governance’ and came down hard on municipal councillors, saying they fail to even produce a Local Economic Development Plan (LED). “When you assess our councillors and you ask them about their LED units and strategy, they show you one or two people sitting behind an old building which is not even well taken care of and there is no LED strategy,” said Nkadimeng.
She outlined good governance as “the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realisation of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for the rule of law”. Minister Nkadimeng said good governance means that the government’s decision-making needs to be prompt, on time and all processes must be aligned. S
Minister Nkadimeng said in order to achieve good governance, there is a need to define a clear line between political and administrative roles. “At local government, one of the challenges we have is that these two lines are very blurred. In fact, I am arguing that in the review of local government we have to reduce the power of councillors if we want to do something about how we manage the affairs of the public, house rules and the citizens. You can’t be a player and a referee at the same time. In council, a person today is a councillor, tomorrow an acting mayor reporting to himself on what he did today. The system has never been designed properly,” added Minister Nkadimeng.
She lambasted Makana Local Municipality for spending 58% of its budget and not delivering services. She told the audience that she took a drive around Makhanda and saw the degenerating state of infrastructure around the City. Minister Nkadimeng also said that political interference is meddling with good governance. She said the municipalities sometimes hire competent people with proper skills and education, but politicians instruct them to do something else and when they defy them, they get suspended. “To take decisions is not an issue, but to take a wrong decision knowing that it is wrong; I have a problem with that. Council in some instances openly and deliberately do this. They hire qualified people who will tell them this needs to be done this way and the Councillor will say we must do to the other way. When you don’t do it, quickly tomorrow they call a special council, you are charged with insubordination, suspended for 90 days. They come with a further charge on the 90th day, you go to labour court and win, and they defy a court order. You can’t sit with so much power today,” she said.
Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sizwe Mabizela said politicians need to reach a level of maturity so that they serve the electorate with distinction. “There is just too much ego, pride and opportunism so I really don’t have much hope,” said Professor Mabizela.
The Minister called on Rhodes University students to be part of problem-solving. She said: “It is our belief that student leaders should not be confined to just their campuses; they should also be forerunners of change within their communities and beyond and this is predicated on the overriding perspective that ‘you are members of the community before you are students’. Through your actions, you must demonstrate that leadership is not about a title or position, but about the courage to take action, the willingness to step forward, and the determination to inspire others. In the Makhanda area, perhaps it would be important for students and their leaders to work with government and other stakeholders to resolve the water crisis that has hit the area.”
The SRC Leadership Week will continue today with the Deputy Speaker of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, Mlibo Qoboshiyane as the guest speaker. On Wednesday, the former Miss Universe, Zozibini Tunzi and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng will be speaking.