South Africa: Union Marches Over Failing Municipalities

"When municipalities collapse, communities suffer" says SAMWU

South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) members marched through Pretoria on Thursday, warning that failing municipalities, worsening water shortages and poor governance are undermining service delivery across the country.

The march came a day after National Treasury announced it would temporarily withhold R13.5-billion in equitable share transfers to 69 municipalities. Treasury cited "persistent and serious non-compliance" with the Municipal Finance Management Act and its supporting regulations as the main reason.

On Thursday, more than 300 protesters marched from the old Putco bus depot in Marabastad to Church Square, where they delivered memorandums to the departments of water and sanitation (DWS), cooperative governance and traditional affairs (COGTA), National Treasury and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

The union said municipal workers were paying the price for collapsing infrastructure, corruption, outsourcing, privatisation, chronic underfunding, and the non-payment of salaries and benefits.

Addressing the crowd, SAMWU general secretary Dumisane Magagula said workers were at the frontline of delivering services but continued to be undermined by poor political leadership and austerity measures.

"When municipalities collapse, communities suffer. When water boards are weakened, the right to water and sanitation is threatened. When workers are underpaid, under-resourced, attacked, outsourced, intimidated, dismissed and denied their benefits, service delivery collapses with them," he said.

Magagula also criticised what he called "continued interference" by National Treasury in municipal governance and collective bargaining. He said SAMWU wants an urgent review of the Local Government Equitable Share formula to ensure that municipalities receive funding that reflects the real cost of providing basic services.

Among its demands, the union called for a larger share of nationally raised revenue to be allocated to local government, a funding model that prioritises service delivery over profit, adequate funding for free basic services, and stronger protection for workers and whistleblowers.

Representatives from Treasury, the Department of Water and Sanitation, COGTA and SALGA accepted memorandums.

Read the original article on GroundUp.