This, as the MEC for the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Mothibedi Kegakilwe, requests municipalities under administration to all submit a progress report. His request comes exactly a week after he called on all organs of state, traditional leaders and municipalities to join hands to ensure that services are delivered to communities throughout the province.

In a meeting he held last week with mayors, municipal managers and other senior municipal managers in the province, Kegakilwe said the time had come for turnaround strategies to be fast-tracked and the state of municipalities to be improved. Addressing senior management from eight of these municipalities earlier today, Kegakilwe has reiterated that it remains of great concern that more than half of municipalities in the province are dysfunctional, unable to generate income and provide basic necessities to communities.

The province currently has 15 municipalities under administration due to their financial distress, instability, and collapse of service delivery. Couple with this, four have made national headlines over their investment in the now liquidated VBS Bank. The Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality, the Mahikeng Local Municipality, Madibeng Local Municipality, and Moretele Local Municipality are amongst some of the municipalities that have been under fire for investing over R300 million in the bank.

Kegakilwe said the state of municipalities in the province calls for all spheres of government to cooperate and that it is imperative that all municipalities under section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution and 137 of the MFMA must come to the table with their progress reports since the intervention was effected.

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