Johannesburg - A lack of proper public participation and procurement challenges and a leadership deficit are some of the main issues said to be hampering on the performance of Gauteng municipalities.
These were some of the findings contained in a committee report commissioned by Gauteng Cogta MEC Lebogang Maile.
The investigation by Maile’s office found that a number of Gauteng municipalities were plagued by issues of administrative, procurement and a leadership deficit.
Maile said there was a lack of vision in a number of municipalities and this hampered a dedicated approach to challenges facing the regions.
Maile said the provincial government was on track to solving this issue especially with a focus on human settlement projects adding that another concern for the committee was the glaring leadership deficit at some of the province's key municipalities.
"The committee also says that accountability and oversight were found to be lacking in areas such as municipal operations which includes legislative and oversight issues and the none submission of reports," Maile said.
Another highlighted concern was political instability which often hampered the performance of municipalities.
The committee found the performance of municipalities sharply declined when there was political instability in various areas.
Maile said the issue raised on transparency on procurement and tender issues were also of concern.
He said that the process of procurement should be changed to take into account an open tender process.
"We want to introduce an open tender system.
“We cannot understand why we cannot have an open tender system because that will help us address issues such as irregular expenditure, corruption," Maile said.
The committee had also highlighted the need for support for municipalities in areas such as infrastructure development and issues of financial stability – especially linked to issues of revenue collection.
Prof Fowler said in his assessment some of the best performing municipalities in Gauteng were Ekurhuleni and the Midvaal municipalities.
The worst was the Rand West Municipality – which was facing financial challenges.
Salga president Thembi Nkadimeng said the report feeds into many of the issues affecting a number municipalities around the country and not just in Gauteng.
Nkadimeng said some of her concerns lied in how some civil servants were found to be serving as political figures which often hampered their administrative role.
She maintained that changes to legislation would be made to ensure that such civil servants may be forced to choose which role they choose to serve to better account for service delivery.
Political Bureau