Ramaphosa moves to strip politicians out of municipal hiring as R120 billion Eskom bill mounts

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for an end to politically motivated appointments, weak accountability and factional battles in municipalities, saying South Africans can no longer be expected to carry failing services because of dysfunctional local administrations and political instability.

Speaking at the launch of the Revised White Paper on Local Government in Ekurhuleni on Thursday, the President said municipalities needed competent administrators, ethical political leadership and effective oversight to restore public confidence in the local government system. The launch comes less than two weeks before the Local Government Elections scheduled for 4 November.

The revised policy proposes sweeping changes to how municipalities are managed, financed and held accountable, with professionalisation, stronger financial controls and improved community participation among its key priorities.

“We need councils that lead with integrity, provide effective oversight and put residents ahead of factional or personal interests,” Ramaphosa said. “We need administrations led and staffed by people appointed for their competence and commitment to public service.”

He said the reforms were necessary because too many municipalities were failing to meet the needs and expectations of the communities they were established to serve.

“Too many communities have grown accustomed to services that are unreliable, infrastructure that is deteriorating and municipal administrations that are unresponsive. This cannot continue,” he said.

The President acknowledged that some of the problems confronting municipalities could be traced to weaknesses in the original design of the democratic local government system, including insufficient attention to institutional capacity and the risks associated with politicised appointments.

When the democratic government established the new local government system, he said, it sought to integrate communities that had been deliberately divided by apartheid spatial planning and unequal access to resources. But government had underestimated the importance of developing a new generation of engineers, town planners and municipal managers to support the system.

“We underestimated how politicised appointments would open the door to corruption, malfeasance and a lack of accountability,” Ramaphosa said.

The revised policy seeks to address these weaknesses by strengthening municipal administrations and clarifying the respective responsibilities of political leaders and professional officials. Political leaders need to respect the lawful responsibilities of administrators, while municipal officials must be held accountable for their performance and conduct.

Public resources must be managed responsibly, procurement processes must be protected from manipulation and officials must face consequences when they neglect their duties.

“There must be consequences when public resources are stolen, procurement is manipulated or public duties are neglected,” he said. “The exercise of accountability must be fair, lawful and consistent, regardless of status, political affiliation or personal connections.”

On the money, Ramaphosa said unsustainable finances and poor infrastructure maintenance are undermining municipalities’ ability to deliver essential services. Municipalities owe Eskom more than R120 billion, while many are also in arrears to water boards.

The revised policy proposes stronger financial management, improved revenue collection, reduced losses and spending that delivers value to communities. Revenue from the sale of electricity and water will be ring-fenced and used to maintain infrastructure before anything else, he said.

“We cannot build our way out of failure if we do not maintain what we have already built,” the President said.

He said residents who can afford to pay for municipal services should contribute, but municipalities have a responsibility to demonstrate that public money is being used properly. “Government, in turn, must earn that contribution through reliable services, transparent decisions and responsible stewardship of public funds.”

Ramaphosa said municipal dysfunction cannot be addressed by focusing exclusively on individual municipalities, as their performance is also shaped by the laws governing them, the responsibilities assigned to them and the support they receive from other spheres of government. He called for stronger coordination between national government, provincial administrations, municipalities and State-owned entities.

The Revised White Paper proposes a differentiated approach to municipal powers and functions, recognising that municipalities have different levels of institutional capacity, financial resources and ability to deliver services. Under the proposed model, responsibilities would be aligned with municipal capability, with some functions potentially delivered at regional level or assigned elsewhere where a municipality could not perform them effectively.

The policy also proposes stronger regulation of water and electricity services, including compulsory licensing for providers and a separation between the authority responsible for a service and the entity providing it.

Cabinet has endorsed a phased implementation approach supported by a time-bound Local Government Transition Management Body, with coordinated leadership from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, The Presidency and National Treasury. A single Local Government Transition Plan will identify the changes required, the institutions responsible for implementing them, the sequence of actions and how progress will be measured. The transition management body will coordinate the reform process without taking over the lawful responsibilities of Ministers, provinces, municipal councils and administrations.

Some proposals will require legislative changes, new financing arrangements, additional institutional capabilities and potentially constitutional amendments. The President said the reforms will require consultation and disciplined implementation, but that government needs to begin the work without delay.

The revised policy follows a review of nearly three decades of democratic local government, established through the 1998 White Paper to address the fragmented and unequal municipal system inherited from apartheid. While government has made significant progress in expanding access to basic services, Ramaphosa said persistent infrastructure problems, financial distress and institutional weaknesses demonstrate the need for a new approach.

He urged registered voters to take part in the 4 November elections, while reminding political parties and candidates that their responsibility to communities must take precedence over political competition once they assume office. Local government reform, he said, needs to extend beyond electoral cycles, municipal terms and individual administrations.

He thanked Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa and the institutions, researchers, practitioners and citizens who contributed to the policy review.

“A capable State must deliver where people live, work and raise their children. A developmental State must improve their quality of life. A democratic State must earn and keep the trust of its people,” Ramaphosa said.

“We must implement the reforms that are needed to fix local government, even when they are difficult. Let us build municipalities that work for every South African.”

This report is drawn from the SAnews (South African Government News Agency) account of the launch, which summarises the President’s remarks and the policy rather than reproducing the White Paper itself. The full text of the Revised White Paper and the Local Government Transition Plan are the record against which the proposals above should be read. SAnews: https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/president-ramaphosa-calls-end-political-interference-municipalities