BREAKING NEWS: Madibeng – Place of Turbulence?

The act that protects citizens against the violation of their human rights is the Bill of Rights – Chapter 2 section 7 – 39. The Bill of Rights states that the state must respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of citizens. This Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa. It enshrines the rights of all people in our country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.

From a local perspective, Municipalities are responsible for services that aim to make our cities, towns and rural areas prosperous and healthy places to live and work in. What we have seen in the recent years are people from the local communities from all over South Africa, jumping in and trying to fix potholes, cleaning litter, making sidewalks walkable again and many other examples, trying desperately to improve their living conditions. Is it fair for citizens having to do work that they already paid taxes for? It is a beautiful thing to see, how people stand together, form groups and try to solve their own grievances. Should it become a norm for community members and organisations to take hands and have to complete or fix service delivery issues not solved quicker by the municipality themselves? And work being done at their own expense, should they be supplied with tools, work clothing, equipment or even funding from the Municipality?

The Municipal Systems Act, No 32 of 2000 and Regulations clearly states the legal responsibilities of a municipality towards the community, and clarifies the executive and legislative powers of municipalities. The act seeks to boost effective local government by establishing a framework for municipal planning, performance management and use of resources. In doing so, organizations and community members can see what the responsibilities of the municipality is and what their rights are for basic needs from the municipality. The people in power should note that it was the people from the communities that voted for them that gave them the opportunity to be there and should be grateful to be in those positions, and show their gratitude by taking care of the communities’ human rights.

“We the Madibeng Local Municipality, are committed to strive to remain accountable in rendering affordable qualitative and sustainable services to our community in line with our constitutional obligations” – these are the words pledged by the municipality on their website – www.madibeng.gov.za.

In reality, the values that must be uphold by the Madibeng Municipality – transparency (openness, honesty, information sharing, and availability, clarity), discipline (legal, moral and ethical self-control, accountability for responsibilities), integrity (commitment, respect, true to self and even in absence of others), accessibility (to councillors, managers, facilities, services and information), accountability (responsibility) and communication (quality information, timeously and in the right way) – should reflect in the everyday life of the community.

The lack of responsibility to proper service delivery is evident in the whole of Madibeng. The Madibeng Municipality was again notified in March 2022 that the North West Government is invoking a intervention under Section 139 (5) due to the municipalities serious financial troubles, and was introduced end of April.

There have been more than one intervention by Government, but the same interventions and investigations that took place to uplift the works of the municipality is again repeating itself. Countless memorandums have been delivered by angry protestors, feeling that their rights are not being taken into account.

On May 5th the Municipality was opposed by members of the public and council members, during a Public Participation Budget Meeting, after the Municipality failed to include funding for service delivery, infrastructure and maintenance for some wards in Madibeng. Budgets that are available should be spent properly on obvious necessary projects and services.

On May 10th protesters caused chaos at the Madibeng Municipality head office in Brits due to grievances about the proposed budget that had no finances allocated to some of the communities and wards in Madibeng. Protesters blocked off all entrances to the Municipality with some laying in front of the doors blocking anyone from entering or exiting the building. Police and security services were called to intervene and form a passage for the trapped employees to be escorted outside of the building later that afternoon. The following day a strong police presence was observed in front of the Municipality to safeguard the building from any persons trying to disrupt operations. Angry protestors sometimes revert to destruction of property and disrupt business trading hours, because they feel that their voices are not being heard.

The majority of Municipalities in South Africa currently are dysfunctional and according to other media sources includes poor internal management of finances, corruption, lack of accountability and transparency, poor monitoring and evaluation, political manipulation, incompetent leadership, poor planning and communication. Below is the contact numbers provided by the government where complaints can be made. The Presidential Hotline can be used when all attempts to get help from a Government Department or Municipality have failed with service delivery problems.

Presidential Hotline

Tel: 17737

Fax: 086 681 0987 / 012 323 8246

E-mail: President@presidency.gov.za

Fraud Hotline

Tel: 0800 601 011

E-mail: gatewaycc@sita.co.za