South African Municipalities at the Brink of Total Collapse

A gloomy forecast looms over South Africa’s local government structures as former President Kgalema Motlanthe warns that 90%, representing a staggering majority of the country’s municipalities, are on the verge of collapse. Of the distress-ridden municipalities, 66 are utterly dysfunctional, and 163 are wallowing in serious distress, according to data from the Ministry in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation.

The former President raised these concerns at the recently held Annual Drakensberg Inclusive Growth Forum orchestrated by his foundation. He emphasised his foundation's commitment towards unearthing challenges plaguing local governments since 2019 as most of the service delivery shortcomings happen at that level of government proving its inefficiency.

Motlanthe drew attention to the Auditor-General's data that displayed a dismal performance by municipalities, with only 38, and a bare two out of 8 metropolitan areas, achieving clean audits for the past financial year. Additionally, he highlighted the stark underspending of allocated infrastructure grants by several municipalities, despite their heavily deteriorating infrastructure.

The impending collapse of municipal infrastructure, compounded with persistent service delivery failures, paints an alarming picture of South Africa's looming water crisis. Though the country possesses an adequate supply of water, bottlenecks in supply management and municipal mismanagement have resulted in shortages across several parts.

Taking a closer look at the water crisis, an estimated 50% of the water supply does not reach the consumers due to failing infrastructures, leakages, and theft. This issue is reflective not of scarcity but a colossal institution failure at the municipal level. This looming water crisis accompanied by rapid municipal degradation calls for immediate government intervention and increased efficiency in local government establishments.

In wake of these imminent challenges, potential solutions lie with the private sector stepping in to fund infrastructural projects and expertise, in addition to government resorting to short-term “water shifting” interventions to momentarily avert system collapse.