Municipalities are the intimate face of government - IOL

South Africa’s municipalities need capable, accountable councillors who can deliver services and manage public finances ahead of the 2026 local government elections, says the writer.

South Africa's November municipal election needs to deliver municipalities led by the most competent candidates. They must be led by mayors and councillors with strong educational and life competencies. They must understand the Constitution and municipal laws, especially the Municipal Finance Management Act. Municipalities are the face of government and South Africa can no longer allow that face to be marred by sheer incompetence.

Steve Biko died on 12 September 1977. This week is the 49th commemoration of his brutal death. In his book “I write What I like” Biko stated, “In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift - a more human face.” A Municipality is the most intimate engagement of government with its people. It’s the face of government. It’s the midwife of government services.

Why then do political parties believe that public popularity is sufficient qualification for governing a municipality? Unskilled, unkind and incompetent people should not be leading such critical parts of government. Councillors must be able to read and understand reports of several hundred pages. They must be competent to analyse budgets and review financial reports.

A municipality is not a mass meeting. It is an arm of government that is designed to deliver quality services to individuals and their communities. It sets developmental priorities and funds improvements to people's lives.

It doesn't exist only to improve conditions for the winning party's members. It serves all citizens and improves all lives. It's not an institution to settle political scores. It's a hallowed hall in which to build better lives and better futures. And above all, it is supposed to do so speedily. The delays in municipal services are inhumane and oppressive.

On 8 November 2016, the Japanese city of Fukuoka had a 30-meter-wide sinkhole open on a major road. The massive hole cut off power, gas, water supplies, and phone signals for the surrounding area.

The main damage was repaired within 48 hours, and the entire repair work was completed and the road fully reopened to traffic within 7 days. The Lilian Ngoyi Street explosion in Johannesburg which occurred in July 2023 is still incomplete, three years later. That is what incompetence looks like.  

While parties parade candidates for election, they stay silent on their candidates' competencies and education. They seem totally happy to inflict candidates on communities that, by all accounts, lack the competencies or experience to build liveable, sustainable, and prosperous communities. People watching the clownish performance of candidates on social media should shudder to think what awaits them post November 4th.

If 2021 is anything to go by, 2026 will deliver a nightmare. Research done by Dr Nonhlanhla Ngcobo from the Faculty of Law at North-West University found that “the overwhelming majority of our councillors lack basic literacy skills. This is publicly confirmed by the minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, who revealed that over 300 councillors in KwaZulu-Natal alone are illiterate.”

South Africa’s 257 municipalities have 10 526 municipal council seats up for grabs in the 2026 local government elections. How many of those seats will be filled by illiterate and incompetent individuals? How many will be filled by literate individuals who are lazy readers and who do not understand the workings of municipal finances?

Lorenzo Davids, CEO, Development Impact Fund.

How many of those seats will be filled by incompetent people who will sit on committees that decide on electricity, water, roads, sanitation and land-use issues? This defies everything Steve Biko lived and died for.

Our Africanist identity does not call on us to bestow jobs on people who do not understand the workings of government. We perpetuate the oppression, marginalisation and dehumanisation of people and their communities when we inflict on them people who, as their public representatives, have no understanding or competencies to make their lives better. 

The result of all this is that our democracy has shifted from an intellectually competent system in 1994 to a clownish, insult-based series of social media fights in 2026. We seek to out-insult each other in the hope that our ability to win an insult contest will be the reason people vote us into office.

The tragedy is that municipal governance has not improved over the last 15 years, and the prospects are dim that it will improve on what it is today. Incompetent councillors are known for disappearing from public service once elected, surfacing only to cut ribbons and cast votes they are told to cast.

The community does not benefit from having elected them. These are stories on record from across the country. Steve Biko called on our then future post-apartheid democracy to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift: a more human face. It's time to replace the clowns and the insulters with people who are “the more human face” of our democracy.

* Davids is CEO, Development Impact Fund.