By Luvuyo Mjekula
Pressure continues to mount on the under-fire Makana Municipality, with the Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape throwing the latest salvo.
The party has called on the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to dissolve the current council immediately, citing “persistent financial failure and a complete inability to provide basic services”.
It is not the first time demands have been made for the incumbent leadership to vacate office.
Two attempts to dissolve the Makana Council through the courts stalled on appeal, including the Eastern Cape High Court’s 2020 ruling ordering dissolution, and a subsequent Section 18 enforcement bid dismissed after the Supreme Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal, leaving the order unenforced and delayed for over five years.
The municipality is under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) after whistle-blowers and ordinary residents reported corruption and other wrongdoing. The leadership has been hauled over the coals by the SA Human Rights Commission twice, and has appeared before the Public Protector as well as a parliamentary delegation led by former Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize, in KZN recently.
Last week, MPs in the Eastern Cape Legislature debated a motion tabled in July by DA MPL Jane Cowley to dissolve the municipality.
In the motion, Cowley, the DA leader for Frontier Constituency, had highlighted the following:
- The municipality has received a disclaimer from the Auditor-General for the past five consecutive years.
- In the past five years alone, accumulated irregular expenditure, unauthorised expenditure, and fruitless and wasteful expenditure have topped R5,25 billion.
- The James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works upgrade, intended to double Makhanda’s water capacity, has ballooned by R160 million to over R600 million, yet the facility remains only partially functional with no confirmed completion date.
- Two attempts to dissolve the municipality have stalled on appeal, and multiple petitions and protests by civic society, faith leaders, political organisations and residents have been ignored by the ANC leadership.
Cowley had called on the Legislature to immediately invoke Section 139(1)(c) of the Constitution and dissolve the Makana Local Municipal Council on the basis of sustained service delivery failure and financial mismanagement. She proposed an independent administrator be appointed to assume full legislative and executive powers for the duration of the dissolution period, with a mandate to:
- Stabilise municipal finances and enforce full Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) compliance
- Ensure the completion and operationalisation of the James Kleynhans Water Treatment Works
- Restore reliable water, sanitation, electricity and refuse services
- Table a revised and funded Financial Recovery Plan within 60 days
- Refer this resolution to the National Council of Provinces and the Minister of Cooperative Governance, in accordance with Section 139(3)(a), to ensure national oversight and support for immediate remedial action.
However, the ANC in the Legislature rejected the motion, arguing that the municipality is improving, and that dissolving the council now would be tantamount to performing an abortion on all the good work done. “They therefore rejected the motion ‘with the contempt it deserves’,” Cowley said.
She noted that all other opposition parties supported the motion.
Cowley has urgently requested that the matter be taken up at the National Council of Provinces and in the national ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), to ensure national oversight and immediate intervention.
In a letter to Igor Scheurkogel MP, the DA’s spokesperson for Cogta at NCOP, Cowley said the ANC’s response was farcical as municipal services have entirely collapsed in Makana.
“The reality is that [the ANC]rejected the people of Makana with contempt. Residents are left with sewage in their gardens. Businesses are forced to buy water just to stay afloat. Women and children are vulnerable to attacks in dark streets.
“Schools, universities, hospitals, and prisons struggle to access basic necessities like water. The people of Makana deserve better. They deserve a DA government with a proven track record of fiscal discipline, excellent service delivery, and capable, competent administrators.”
Henni Britz MP, a DA member in the NCOP will table a motion in the House to demand that the municipality be dissolved, said Cowley. This will ensure that the matter is placed on record at national level.
“Makana meets the threshold for mandatory intervention under Section 139 (5) of the Constitution and Section 136 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, having demonstrated persistent financial failure and a complete inability to provide basic services as required under Section 152 of the Constitution.”
According to Cowley, the ANC is out of touch with reality in Makana. “Infrastructure sabotage is a daily occurrence, and basic services have ground to a halt.”
Citing the Auditor General’s report, Cowley said the municipality is dysfunctional and interventions by the provincial government have failed.
“The people of Makana deserve nothing less than functional service delivery that improves lives, creates jobs and brings hope for a better future.”
Makana Municipality had not responded to questions by the time of publishing.
