Mabuza: Political uncertainty in metros affecting service delivery

Mabuza answered questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, and was asked about the dysfunctional Kopanong municipality in the  Free State.

Mabuza acknowledged that various municipalities are dysfunctional due to political interference, irregular appointments, and poor service delivery to residents.

He said while the Department of Cooperative Governance has identified municipalities which need assistance, party politics need to take its share of the blame for the dysfunction.

"As parties, we can't govern together, all the coalitions that were set up are not working, today there is one mayor here, tomorrow the mayor is not there. It is not stable and that affects the people that we lead. We are all here as parties, why can't we govern together? I just want to understand what makes us fight there if it's not the people or the service we must render to the people.

“So it is not a question of the governing party, because in instances where we are governing together we are failing also. So it is a political problem that we must resolve amongst ourselves, because at any given time there will be a leader and there will be parties that must lead and those that must be in opposition benches, must be in opposition benches because the people have decided so," said Mabuza.

He added: "I welcome an idea that is going to be debated, but it looks like our people are not getting the necessary services that they need, because of us fighting every day. There is no certainty in these metros and our people are suffering.

“If you go around Tshwane, Joburg and Ekurhuleni sewage is spilling over into the streets and people are fighting, unacceptable. I don't want to say who is governing those municipalities, because I am not here to apportion blame. I am saying local government is an area that we must collectively fix.”

ALSO READ