President Cyril Ramaphosa, introduces a new action plan, to address service delivery failures in municipalities across the country.
ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa announced the party’s Action Plan to improve local government for the people on Monday, ahead of a roll call of more than 6,000 ANC mayors and council members scheduled to convene in Johannesburg. Finding answers to the pervasive service delivery shortcomings in municipalities nationwide was a major emphasis of the two-days meeting of the
ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in Boksburg, which was held to evaluate the state of local government.
On Saturday, Ramaphosa urged municipalities to take decisive actions against corruption, adding that even though corruption is most prevalent within municipalities, there is often a lack of political will to hold officials accountable for maladministration.
According to the President, the meeting will culminate in a Roll Call meeting of the parties’ over 6,000 councilors and mayors at the FNB stadium, who are set to account to the ANC NEC on the work they have done since taking office after the 2021 local polls.
The plan aims to strengthen local government. The NEC needs to
approve the draft Action Plan that the ANC has created. “This plan will ensure decisive progress in implementing our commitments in ANC-led municipalities by consolidating existing strategies,” Ramaphosa said. Council members will have to present their own turnaround strategies for their municipalities, according to ANC spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri. The party warned that there will be severe consequences for those who fail to provide services to the public.
After it is approved, the Action Plan, which outlines specific, quantifiable duties for the ANC and government, will be distributed to deployees, according to Ramaphosa. Sandile Swana, a political analyst, bemoaned the appointment of council members who are technically and morally unfit leading to poor municipal service performance.
“Over the years, we have found that councilors lack the general abilities, computer literacy, and numeracy necessary to read and comprehend business plans, proposals, reports, and budgets in order to contribute intelligently. Our leaders are also ethically inept. “This moral and technical incompetence, as well as the criminality of the appointed councilors, have devastated the Free State, as you have witnessed,” he remarked. Swana expressed his expectation that the meeting and Ramaphosa’s action plan would address some of these issues, given the persistence of corruption in local government.
It is necessary to discuss the performance issues in the meeting. Additionally, the next election will not address the issue of incompetence. Reaching the proper levels of competency could take ten years. “The ANC has to remove those who are technically and morally unfit, as well as those who are high risks in terms of criminality, bribery, and corruption,” he stated.
Sub Editor: Thibela Thandeka
