Lorato Tshenkeng
Pretoria - Last week, the City of Tshwane finally saw its senior officials, the acting city manager and mayor, getting off their backsides to do work they are contracted to do – work for their salaries for which the taxpayer forks out.
In what looked like a brilliant initiative, it launched a campaign, #TshwaneYaTima, to disconnect debtors with accounts excessively in arrears.
Recently, Tshwane reported that it was owed more than R17 billion for municipal services. Government departments, embassies, and businesses owed R9bn of that.
Since the theatrical campaign kicked off on February 8, public sentiment has shown approval, with many applauding the city for disconnecting defaulters, among them Denel, the state arms company; the Department of Water and Sanitation; the State Theatre – the largest theatre complex in Africa – and the Sheraton Hotel.
While the decision to disconnect non-payers is laudable, it is either ignorant of South Africans to see the municipality’s action as heroic, or we are just not bothered that the accountability bar is far too low in our country.
The R17bn is not a problem of yesterday, last month or even last year. The city is owed billions due to far-reaching lapses in the implementation of the collection policy, as well as poor revenue and debt and risk management strategies over time.
In compliance with the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), the mayoral committee has to sit at least once a month, where the finance head and the municipal manager present progress on financial performance.
For example, according to the aged debtors report from the January 2022 mayoral committee meeting, the year-on-year growth in the debtor’s book is 36.52%. This is the highest year-on-year increase in the past five years.
With regard to debt impairment, the repayment probabilities for the various risk categories were adjusted based on the most recent payment behaviours. It resulted in an increase of R3.324bn.
Crucially, the mayoral committee reports must be tabled at council where politicians are mandated to make resolutions on how to remedy problems.
Furthermore, the Office of the Auditor-General has reported that the city’s internal control system for consumer debtors and revenue was not effective, as required by the MFMA.
These observations demonstrate how deep the problems of Tshwane are, and how easy it for the city officials and politicians to shift the accountability goalposts after they allowed the debt to rise to R17bn.
Who should take responsibility for putting the financial sustainability of the city in tatters while constraining service delivery? The answer is simple: the senior officials, the city manager, the mayor and the entire council.
By its own admission, Tshwane has been lenient on government departments and businesses. This put the city in a challenging financial position, which led to a failure to honour its commitments to creditors such as Eskom, owed R600 million by the city. Whoever was responsible for this decision should not get a free pass – the city must demonstrate that consequence management is not just a phrase for speeches, but is actioned against the transgressing technocrats.
As citizens, we must recognise that when we applaud the fish for swimming, we are part of the problem. Our country is where it is today because of impunity – too many government officials and politicians get away with doing the bare minimum yet drawing full salaries and benefits, and dodging accountability while they are at it.
Let’s not applaud the obvious because of diminished standards of accountability in local government. If we intend to rebuild our country, we must raise the bar by demanding accountability from local government leaders. We should ask critical questions.
An engaged citizenry applauds action while boldly demanding improved governance through accountability to increase municipalities’ ability to attract investment and skills.
Pretoria News