The African National Congress (ANC) will set up a “war room”, headed by secretary general Fikile Mbalula, to respond to challenges faced by municipalities. However, many are doubtful about the prospects of the latest initiative.
“Our focus is on fixing local government,” declared Paul Mashatile, deputy president of the ANC, as he revealed the plan for a war room at a party meeting in Boksburg, Gauteng, over the weekend. “This is the year of decisive action to fix local government and ensure a viable economy.”
The ANC, which runs the majority of South Africa’s 257 municipalities, is no stranger to criticism for service delivery lapses and governance failures. Data from the Auditor-General indicates that only 16 % of municipalities are in good shape.
With local government elections being mere months away, the party is on a mission to regain the confidence of voters.
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Sandile Swana, a political analyst and consultant at the Centre for Strategic Leadership, has reservations about the move to establish a war room. He said this was the latest in a series of unmet promises to fix local government.
“Out of that, we have not seen any dismissals. We have not seen any significant improvement. We have not seen tangible progress,” he stated. It would take immense “political good will” to purge “rotten elements out of the municipalities and getting people back into the routine of doing those things that need to be done,” he added.
Image via SA People.
