The Emfuleni local municipality’s descent into financial ruin and administrative dysfunction is one of the most tragic case studies in Gauteng’s history of municipal mismanagement.
Despite multiple interventions under section 139 of the constitution by the Gauteng government, the situation remains dire, raising a critical question: Is the province truly equipped to assist municipalities in distress, or is Emfuleni merely another casualty of political posturing and bureaucratic inertia?
The Gauteng government’s attempts to “save” Emfuleni are nothing short of abysmal. Since the first intervention in 2018, the municipality has seen a series of section 139 interventions, ranging from administration to financial recovery plans, yet there has been no meaningful change.
Instead, the municipality’s woes have only deepened, marked by poor service delivery, dilapidated infrastructure and most significantly, a complete collapse in financial management.
Emfuleni was placed under administration for the first time in June 2018. At the time, the Gauteng government took over the administration, citing widespread corruption, financial mismanagement and a growing debt crisis.
The intervention was presented as a means to restore stability, and with it came promises of a new dawn for the residents of Emfuleni. Service delivery did not improve, the financial crisis worsened and residents continued to suffer from intermittent water and electricity supplies, pothole-riddled roads and non-existent waste collection services.
Following the first intervention’s failure to yield results, the Gauteng provincial government renewed its intervention under a different guise in 2020, expanding its oversight with a financial recovery plan. However, this second intervention followed the same trajectory as the first. Instead of rescuing the municipality, the province merely oversaw a deepening crisis. Creditors were left unpaid and the municipality continued to haemorrhage funds, bringing it to the brink of bankruptcy.
Despite these glaring failures, a third intervention was initiated in 2022, this time with a focus on addressing administrative inefficiencies. Yet, once again, the Gauteng government’s response was inadequate.
Under its watch, Emfuleni’s financial position deteriorated further, resulting in it being unable to pay Eskom and Rand Water, leading to frequent power and water cuts in the area. Clearly, the intervention mechanisms in place lacked not only the capacity but also the political will to enforce any substantive change.
Instead of addressing the root causes of mismanagement – corruption, lack of financial oversight and political interference – each intervention has allowed these issues to fester. Administrators appointed by the province often lack the independence and authority to enforce tough decisions.
Worse still, the Gauteng government has been reluctant to hold its own officials accountable for these repeated failures, shifting the blame onto local councils while continuing to allocate funds into a black hole of inefficiency and maladministration.
The residents of Emfuleni are the ultimate victims of the Gauteng government’s incompetence. They endure daily hardships, from unreliable electricity and water supply to a lack of basic services like waste collection and road maintenance. Businesses are closing shop and unemployment is rising as the local economy suffers under the weight of governmental failure.
With Emfuleni now on the brink of total collapse, it is clear that the Gauteng government’s repeated section 139 interventions were not designed to genuinely address the crisis but rather to give an illusion of action. This lack of genuine commitment is costing the residents dearly and they deserve better.
It is time for the Gauteng government to be held accountable for its role in the continued decline of Emfuleni. The provincial government must take ownership of its failures and acknowledge that its interventions have done more harm than good.
The solution lies not in further interventions but in rethinking the entire provincial oversight framework. This means empowering municipalities with the skills and resources needed to manage their own affairs, establishing strict oversight mechanisms that prevent financial mismanagement, and – most importantly– ensuring that those who fail are held accountable.
The Gauteng government’s repeated, yet ineffective, interventions have only exacerbated Emfuleni’s problems. In fact, Gauteng province have allowed the financial situation to deteriorate substantially while they have supposedly been responsible for its control. While being directly responsible for the procurement system, several dodgy transactions were allowed, including egregious transactions involving Emfuleni and Gauteng’s human settlements department.
It is high time for a different approach, one that prioritises effective governance and genuine support over empty promises and political expediency. Section 139. 7. of the constitution allows national government to intervene directly “if a provincial executive cannot or does not adequately exercise the powers” given to it.
The national government needs to intervene directly and get effective treasury management over the debacle that is Emfuleni. The first step must be an audit of the current expenditure in order to unmask the many milking schemes currently operating in the municipality.
Until this is done, the residents of Emfuleni will remain trapped in a cycle of despair, victims of a province that has failed them time and again.
Dennis Ryder
www.sowetanlive.co.za
