Good party writes to Dlamini Zuma over City of Cape Town’s lack of replies

Cape Town – The Good party has written to Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma for clarification on whether municipalities are legally accountable to the provincial government.

The City of Cape Town’s refusing to answer questions from members of the provincial legislature through the provincial department of local government was raised in the legislature last week by members.

During a silent protest by party supporters outside the Civic Centre on Monday, Good party secretary general Brett Herron said they thought Local Government MEC Anton Bredell had misinterpreted the Constitution and the Municipal Systems Act when he told the legislature that municipalities were autonomous and accountable only to the municipal council.

“Can you imagine a country where there is so much malfeasance and maladministration in local government, yet none of those municipalities are accountable to anyone but themselves? I don’t believe it was ever the intention of the law to say that.

“I am asking Cogta Minister Dlamini-Zuma to clarify whether that is the law. Every other entity of state has parliamentary oversight and MPs can ask questions, so I don’t see why municipalities are an exception. If it is the law, then it should be amended to provide parliamentary oversight of an entity of state.”

Last week, Bredell told the legislature that section 151(2) of the Constitution, read with section 11(1) of the Municipal Systems Act, renders municipalities autonomous and makes them accountable primarily to the municipal council.

Referring to Herron’s particular query he said: “The question he posed speaks to an internal procurement undertaken by a municipality, and the municipality feels that it is not legally bound to provide the information required.”

Mayor Dan Plato said: “The administration of municipalities is accountable to the city council and not to another sphere of government, in the same way that the provincial government is accountable to the provincial legislature and the national government is accountable to Parliament.

“Section 151(4) of the Constitution provides that the powers of national and provincial governments must be exercised in a manner that does not compromise or impede a municipality’s ability or right to exercise its powers or perform its functions.

“The Good party is ignoring this principle and insisting that a provincial legislature has a right to challenge how a municipality performs its functions.”

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Cape Argus