Poor-performing municipalities will be dissolved and put up for re-election, warns Hlabisa

JOHANNESBURG - The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) says poor-performing municipalities will be dissolved and put up for re-election.

The stern warning comes from newly appointed department minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to municipalities not providing services to residents.

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Hlabisa was on Saturday speaking on the sidelines of the Cabinet lekgotla taking place at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria.

The common denominator amongst the worst-performing municipalities in the country is that they are under the African National Congress (ANC) government.

Hlabisa said municipalities will be assessed on performance and not the political leadership they are under.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president said the resolution to intervene in underperforming municipalities was taken by all parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU).

“The first thing you do in a dysfunctional municipality is to intervene with support, but it cannot go [on] indefinitely - a line must be drawn somewhere. If you realise, we are trying to intervene, we are trying to support, [but] the cooperation is bad, the last option is to dissolve.”

Hlabisa said in cases of dysfunctional municipalities, government and residents cannot afford to wait until 2026 for the election of new political leadership.