By Thokozani Mtshali
South Africa could face a mass revolt that might undo its democratic gains if municipalities' sloppy record of service delivery did not improve, president Thabo Mbeki warned on Friday.
Mbeki told the National Council of Provinces that the weaknesses in municipalities were a serious threat to the country's democracy and if left unattended would fuel disenchantment, creating a gulf between councillors and the masses.
He again pointed to the lack of proper coordination among government departments and skills shortages and highlighted these as some of the key factors hampering development in the country.
'it can undermine our efforts to deepen democracy at the local level' His remarks at the special sitting of the NCOP at Parys in the Free State come shortly after parliament's joint budget committee noted in its report on Tuesday that there was a need for government clusters to strengthen their co-ordination as this would improve delivery.
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The report added "that departments that provide the various basic services for the effective functioning of service delivery units, such as schools and clinics, were not effectively engaging with each other".
It said examples of schools without water and sanitation or clinics without electricity were a matter of concern and classical illustrations of the lack of co-ordination within departments.
Mbeki on Friday took on the same point, saying if government departments worked jointly as they should, "we will avoid the risk of schools being built without water provision and sanitation, without access roads or without electricity".
"Indeed, if we work as we should, jointly and in an integrated way, we will avoid clinics being built without medicines or health workers.
"We will ensure that communities that regain their ancestral lands through the restitution process receive the necessary support to engage in productive agricultural activities," he said.
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