Former President Motlanthe Sounds Alarm Over South African Municipalities Crisis

Speaking at the Annual Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum yesterday, former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe warned of a looming crisis in the country's municipalities. Highlighting that almost 90 percent of these governmental regions are in distress, the ex-president urged for immediate intervention and reform in local governance to prevent total collapse.

According to Motlanthe, out of the 257 municipalities in South Africa, 163 are distressed and 66 are totally dysfunctional, illustrating a grave scenario for the country's local sectors. The former president pointed to the inefficient infrastructure spend of these municipalities, as a principle reason for their current distressed state.

One of the prime agendas of the Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum was to deliberate on potential strategies to improve the efficiency and capacity of the local government sectors. "A case should be made therefore on how to improve efficiency and capacity of local government and local economies through the informal sector and tourism," the former president said.

As various sector leaders engage in critical discussions to address these systemic problems, the urgent need for government intervention becomes increasingly evident. The state of the nation's municipal finances is expected to be a major focus in the weeks to come.