Category: MIL-OSI

The Public Protector of South Africa (PPSA) will investigate allegations of maladministration, improper conduct and prejudice against the City of Tshwane (CoT) in relation to the water crisis in Bronkhorstspruit.

This after 408 cases of gastrointestinal illness were reported in the area after citizens consumed contaminated water emanating from the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Works (BWTW).

The PPSA said it received a complaint from a Member of Parliament and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Treasurer-General, Omphile Maotwe, and Willie Spies, the regional leader of the Freedom Front Plus.

“In her complaint, Maotwe alleged that the City failed to chlorinate water supplied to residents by the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant between 24 September and 14 October 2026. 

“She also alleged that the City failed to warn residents that the water was unsafe for consumption during this period, resulting in 408 people, most of them children under the age of four, falling ill. Maotwe further alleged that the City ran out of chlorine due to difficulties experienced with its chlorine supplier. 

“Spies, in his complaint, called on the PPSA to investigate alleged maladministration and improper conduct by the City, including the alleged failure to escalate critical information to senior management, inadequate oversight at the water treatment plant and the failure to warn residents about the safety of the water,” a statement of the PPSA read.

Subsequently, investigators from the PPSA’s office visited the treatment plant to “verify the allegations and establish what interim measures had been put in place to protect residents from unsafe water”.

“The investigation team was informed that the plant had been decommissioned as an interim measure to facilitate the cleaning and disinfection of the entire water system. The team was also advised that water tankers would be deployed to supply water to the affected community.

“As an initial step, the PPSA will be approaching the Tshwane City Manager for a formal response to the allegations and further investigation. Meanwhile, the PPSA will work with the Bronkhorstspruit community to monitor the implementation of the City’s interim water provision measures,” the statement concluded. – SAnews.gov.za

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has unveiled far-reaching reforms to South Africa’s local government system, proposing a differentiated model of municipal powers and functions, stricter regulation of water and electricity services and stronger financial controls to address persistent service delivery failures. 

The Revised White Paper on Local Government was launched at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Ekurhuleni on Thursday and sets out a fundamental reassessment of how municipalities are structured, financed, managed and held accountable. 

The reforms seek to address systemic weaknesses that have left many municipalities struggling with deteriorating infrastructure, unsustainable finances, inadequate administrative capacity and unreliable basic services. 

“This revised White Paper lays the foundation for far-reaching legislative, institutional and financial reform of the entire local government system.

“It is not simply about changing legislation or rearranging institutions. It is about changing the lived experience of our people,” President Ramaphosa said.

The launch, held under the theme: “Every Municipality Must Work: From Policy to Collective Action”, marks a shift from reviewing local government policy towards implementing reforms intended to strengthen municipal performance and improve the daily lives of communities.

It builds on the 2022 Presidential Local Government Summit, stakeholder consultations and the government’s broader reform agenda, including Operation Vulindlela.

Differentiated approach to municipalities

A key proposal in the Revised White Paper is to move away from the current uniform approach to assigning powers and responsibilities to municipalities, recognising that they differ significantly in size, revenue, institutional capacity and ability to deliver services.

Under the proposed model, municipal responsibilities would be aligned with the capacity of individual municipalities to perform them effectively.

The White Paper also proposes that some functions could be assigned to other spheres of government or delivered at regional level, while partnerships and concession arrangements could be considered where appropriate.

“The White Paper outlines a clear path towards a differentiated model that would link powers and functions to a municipality’s size, capability and performance.

“It calls for constitutional and legislative amendments to be considered where necessary to implement this,” the President said.

He acknowledged that the proposals represent a fundamental change to the local government system but said government needed to confront the reforms required to address the service delivery crisis in many municipalities.

The differentiated approach is intended to recognise that metropolitan municipalities, secondary cities, rural municipalities and small towns face different circumstances and cannot necessarily be expected to perform the same functions in the same way.

The proposed changes would require careful consideration of the constitutional and legislative framework governing local government.

The President said national and provincial government also has a responsibility to support municipalities and intervene where necessary to ensure that essential services were delivered.

“Our Constitution envisages local government as a separate sphere with its own powers and responsibilities.

“At the same time, it enjoins the national government to both support and regulate the work of local government, and to ensure that municipalities are able to fulfil their responsibilities effectively,” he said.

Changes to water and electricity provision

The White Paper proposes reforms to the provision of water and electricity, including separating the role of service authority from that of service provider and introducing compulsory licensing requirements for all water and electricity providers.

The proposals seek to strengthen the regulation of these essential services while expanding support to municipalities to improve their institutional capability and performance.

The President said the combination of stronger regulation and support would help transform the delivery of basic services.

The proposals come amid persistent problems with water supply, electricity infrastructure and municipal maintenance, which affect households, businesses and the broader economy.

President Ramaphosa said national and provincial government could not distance themselves from municipal failures, particularly when overlapping responsibilities, poorly coordinated investment and delayed support contributed to service delivery breakdowns.

“When mandates overlap, when investment is poorly coordinated or when support arrives only after a crisis, the entire system has failed the community,” he said.

The White Paper therefore calls for clearer responsibilities, recognition of the different circumstances of municipalities and earlier intervention when performance deteriorates.

Municipal finances under scrutiny

The financial sustainability of municipalities is another central pillar of the proposed reforms.

Municipalities owe Eskom more than R120 billion, while many are also in arrears to water boards, highlighting the financial pressures affecting the local government system.

The White Paper proposes stronger financial management, improved revenue collection, reduced losses and more effective spending to ensure that available resources translate into better services. 

President Ramaphosa said municipalities need credible and sustainable financial arrangements that reflect their different economic circumstances and revenue-generating capabilities. 

“A metro, a growing secondary city and a rural municipality with a limited revenue base do not face the same conditions.

“We must therefore organise responsibilities, resources and support more intelligently, so that every municipality has a credible path to success,” he said.

Another major proposal is to ring-fence revenue generated from the sale of water and electricity to ensure that the money is prioritised for maintaining the infrastructure needed to provide these services. 

“Going forward, revenues from the sale of electricity and water will be ring-fenced and used to maintain infrastructure before anything else,” the President said. 

He said this would help restore municipal infrastructure to an acceptable standard and ensure that it remained functional for future generations.

The President warned that municipalities could not continue investing in new infrastructure while neglecting existing assets.

“We cannot build our way out of failure if we do not maintain what we have already built,” he said.

He said maintenance needed to become a planned, funded and monitored obligation rather than an afterthought once infrastructure had broken down.

Additionally, a reliable water network, electricity system, road network and wastewater treatment plant are economic assets and instruments of social justice.

The President also emphasised that residents who could afford to pay for services should contribute towards their provision, while municipalities needed to earn public confidence through reliable services, transparent decisions and responsible management of public funds.

Coordinated implementation across government

The Revised White Paper also proposes treating local government as an integrated system, requiring national departments, provincial administrations, municipalities and state-owned entities to coordinate their planning, budgets and investment around shared priorities.

The District Development Model, which seeks to bring government and its partners together around priorities in districts and metropolitan areas, is expected to play a role in strengthening this coordination.

President Ramaphosa said the constitutional principles that define the three spheres of government as distinctive, interdependent and interrelated needed to be reflected in the way government plans, budgets and builds.

To drive implementation, Cabinet has endorsed a phased approach supported by a time-bound Local Government Transition Management Body, with coordinated leadership from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, The Presidency and National Treasury.

The body will be responsible for ensuring that reforms are coordinated, difficult decisions are taken and commitments are implemented.

It will not take over the lawful responsibilities of Ministers, provincial governments, municipal councils or municipal administrations.

A single Local Government Transition Plan will set out the reforms, identify the institutions responsible for implementing them, establish the sequence of actions and provide a framework for monitoring progress.

Some measures will require legislation, new financing arrangements, additional institutional capacity and potentially constitutional amendments.

The President said these processes would require careful consultation and disciplined implementation but stressed that work needed to begin immediately.

Local government reform and economic growth

The White Paper places the relationship between functioning municipalities and economic growth at the centre of the reform agenda.

The President highlighted that municipalities need to create an environment in which businesses can operate, investment can take place and where communities can access economic opportunities. 

“A growing economy needs towns and cities that work.

“Investors need certainty. Entrepreneurs need predictable municipal decisions. Workers need reliable and affordable access to opportunity,” he noted. 

President Ramaphosa explained that effective water and electricity provision, transport, land-use planning and local regulation are essential to attracting investment and supporting economic activity.

“When they fail, they deepen poverty and exclusion,” the President said. 

The White Paper also calls for municipalities to strengthen their ability to plan for disasters, as floods, droughts and fires place increasing pressure on communities and infrastructure.

Rebuilding local government

The revised policy follows nearly three decades of democratic local government, established through the 1998 White Paper, which sought to dismantle the racially fragmented municipal system inherited from apartheid.

President Ramaphosa acknowledged the progress made in expanding access to basic services since 1994, but said persistent inequalities and municipal dysfunction required a fundamental reassessment of the system. 

More than 90% of households have access to electricity, while more than 87% have access to piped water.

The number of households with municipal piped water increased from 9.2 million in 2004 to just under 16 million in 2025 while two-thirds of households have access to flush toilets and the free basic services programme continues to assist millions of indigent households.

However, the President said these gains exist alongside communities without adequate basic amenities, households experiencing unreliable services and municipalities unable to finance essential infrastructure repairs.

He added that the challenge is to ensure that local government fulfils its developmental mandate and improves the quality of life of all South Africans.

“The 1998 White Paper helped us establish democratic local government. The task before us now is to make developmental local government work as it was intended,” he said.

The reforms are intended to outlast individual administrations and electoral cycles, with the President calling for collective commitment from all spheres of government and society.

“This is a national undertaking that must outlast any election cycle, municipal term or administration,” he said. 

The launch comes ahead of the Local Government Elections scheduled for 4 November, with the President urging registered voters to participate and political leaders to prioritise the functioning of municipalities once elected.

“A disagreement in council must never become an excuse for an unapproved budget, an abandoned project or the collapse of an essential service. Our people must never be held hostage by political instability,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for an end to politically motivated appointments, weak accountability and factional battles in municipalities, warning that South Africans can no longer be expected to endure failing services because of dysfunctional local administrations and political instability.

Addressing the launch of the Revised White Paper on Local Government in Ekurhuleni on Thursday, the President said municipalities needed competent administrators, ethical political leadership and effective oversight to restore public confidence in the local government system.

The revised policy proposes sweeping changes to how municipalities are managed, financed and held accountable, with professionalisation, stronger financial controls and improved community participation among its key priorities.

“We need councils that lead with integrity, provide effective oversight and put residents ahead of factional or personal interests.

“We need administrations led and staffed by people appointed for their competence and commitment to public service,” President Ramaphosa said. 

The President said the reforms were necessary because too many municipalities were failing to meet the needs and expectations of the communities they were established to serve.

“Too many communities have grown accustomed to services that are unreliable, infrastructure that is deteriorating and municipal administrations that are unresponsive. This cannot continue,” he said. 

Political interference and weak accountability

President Ramaphosa acknowledged that some of the problems confronting municipalities could be traced to weaknesses in the original design of the democratic local government system, including insufficient attention to institutional capacity and the risks associated with politicised appointments.

When the democratic government established the new local government system, it sought to integrate communities that had been deliberately divided by apartheid spatial planning and unequal access to resources.

However, the President said government had underestimated the importance of developing a new generation of engineers, town planners and municipal managers to support the system.

“We underestimated how politicised appointments would open the door to corruption, malfeasance and a lack of accountability,” he said.

The revised policy seeks to address these weaknesses by strengthening municipal administrations and clarifying the respective responsibilities of political leaders and professional officials.

President Ramaphosa said political leaders need to respect the lawful responsibilities of administrators, while municipal officials must be held accountable for their performance and conduct.

Public resources must be managed responsibly, procurement processes must be protected from manipulation and officials must face consequences when they neglect their duties.

“There must be consequences when public resources are stolen, procurement is manipulated or public duties are neglected,” he said.

The President emphasised that accountability needs to be applied fairly and consistently, regardless of an individual’s political standing or personal connections.

“The exercise of accountability must be fair, lawful and consistent, regardless of status, political affiliation or personal connections,” he said. 

The proposed reforms are intended to strengthen the administrative foundations of municipalities, while ensuring that elected representatives fulfil their oversight responsibilities.

Restoring public trust through service delivery 

The President said the relationship between municipalities and residents is ultimately shaped by the quality of services people receive in their daily lives.

For many South Africans, the performance of government is measured by whether water flows from their taps, streetlights work, roads are safe and refuse is collected.

When municipalities fail to provide these services, the President said the consequences extend beyond inconvenience.

“When these services work, people experience the promise of democracy. When they fail, it is not merely an inconvenience. It affects people’s health, their livelihoods, their safety and their dignity,” the President said. 

He said persistent service delivery failures also undermine confidence in government and weakened public faith in democratic institutions. 

The revised policy, therefore, seeks to make municipal administrations more responsive to residents and ensure that complaints result in action.

“Participation cannot be reduced to meetings where people speak but nothing changes. Trust will not be restored by speeches.

“It will be restored when a reported fault is fixed promptly; when a resident receives an honest response to a complaint, and when municipal leaders account openly for their decisions,” he said. 

The President said communities need to be active partners in governance, with access to information about municipal commitments, available resources and progress in delivering services.

This would require municipal leaders to account openly for their decisions and demonstrate that public participation can influence the way municipalities operate.

Municipal finances must serve communities

The President also raised concerns about the financial position of municipalities, saying unsustainable finances and poor infrastructure maintenance are undermining their ability to deliver essential services.

Municipalities owe Eskom more than R120 billion, while many are also in arrears to water boards.

The revised policy proposes stronger financial management, improved revenue collection, reduced losses and spending that delivers value to communities.

The President said municipalities need to use revenue from essential services responsibly, particularly as ageing infrastructure continues to deteriorate.

“Revenues from the sale of electricity and water will be ring-fenced and used to maintain infrastructure before anything else,” he said.

The proposed measure is intended to ensure that money generated through water and electricity services is prioritised for maintaining the infrastructure required to sustain those services.

The President warned that municipalities cannot continue neglecting existing infrastructure while investing in new projects.

“We cannot build our way out of failure if we do not maintain what we have already built,” he said. 

He also said residents who can afford to pay for municipal services should contribute, but municipalities have a responsibility to demonstrate that public money is being used properly.

“Government, in turn, must earn that contribution through reliable services, transparent decisions and responsible stewardship of public funds.”

The approach seeks to strengthen the link between financial accountability and service delivery, ensuring that municipal resources are directed towards the needs of communities.

Municipalities must work together

President Ramaphosa said municipal dysfunction cannot be addressed by focusing exclusively on individual municipalities, as their performance is also influenced by the laws governing them, the responsibilities assigned to them and the support they receive from other spheres of government. 

He called for stronger coordination between national government, provincial administrations, municipalities and State-owned entities to ensure that investment and service delivery priorities are aligned.

The Revised White Paper proposes a differentiated approach to municipal powers and functions, recognising that municipalities have different levels of institutional capacity, financial resources and ability to deliver services. 

Under the proposed model, responsibilities would be aligned with municipal capability, with some functions potentially delivered at regional level or assigned elsewhere where a municipality could not perform them effectively.

The policy also proposes stronger regulation of water and electricity services, including compulsory licensing for providers and a separation between the authority responsible for a service and the entity providing it.

The President said the reforms would combine greater support for municipalities with stronger regulation and intervention, where necessary. 

National and provincial government, he said, cannot stand apart from municipal failures when problems are rooted in the wider system.

Implementation must go beyond policy

The launch of the Revised White Paper marks a shift towards implementing reforms intended to address the structural weaknesses of local government.

Cabinet has endorsed a phased implementation approach supported by a time-bound Local Government Transition Management Body, with coordinated leadership from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, The Presidency and National Treasury.

A single Local Government Transition Plan will identify the changes required, the institutions responsible for implementing them, the sequence of actions and how progress will be measured. 

The transition management body will coordinate the reform process without taking over the lawful responsibilities of Ministers, provinces, municipal councils and administrations.

Some proposals will require legislative changes, new financing arrangements, additional institutional capabilities and potentially constitutional amendments.

The President said the reforms will require consultation and disciplined implementation, but that government needs to begin the work without delay.

The revised policy follows a review of nearly three decades of democratic local government, established through the 1998 White Paper to address the fragmented and unequal municipal system inherited from apartheid.

While government has made significant progress in expanding access to basic services, President Ramaphosa said persistent infrastructure problems, financial distress and institutional weaknesses demonstrate the need for a new approach.

Elections must not come at the expense of services

The President’s call for greater accountability comes less than two weeks before the Local Government Elections scheduled for 4 November.

He urged registered voters to participate in the elections, while reminding political parties and candidates that their responsibility to communities must take precedence over political competition once they assume office.

The President said local government reform needs to extend beyond electoral cycles, municipal terms and individual administrations.

He thanked Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa and the institutions, researchers, practitioners and citizens who contributed to the policy review.

President Ramaphosa said the priority now is to translate the revised policy into practical changes that will improve municipal performance and strengthen public confidence in government. 

“A capable State must deliver where people live, work and raise their children. A developmental State must improve their quality of life. A democratic State must earn and keep the trust of its people,” he said. 

He called on government and its partners to unite behind the implementation of the reforms.

“We must implement the reforms that are needed to fix local government, even when they are difficult. Let us build municipalities that work for every South African,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za

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