Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Tim Cohen
Published on 2024-04-02 20:57:45
Good Governance Africa, a research organization, has recently released its analysis of the best and worst-performing municipalities for the year 2024. Surprisingly, their findings reveal that coalitions in municipalities do not always result in catastrophic outcomes. In fact, in 10 out of the top 20 best-performing municipalities, no single party had an outright majority.
According to Pranish Desai, a senior data analyst on the project, the rise in coalition municipalities is partly due to the overall increase in hung municipalities. The number of successful coalition administrations has more than doubled in the top 10% category since the previous report in 2021, indicating the significant growth of hung municipalities. Despite challenges faced by Gauteng municipalities in coalition governance, the results show some coalition administrations have been successful.
The analysis conducted by Good Governance Africa is not based on surveys but instead draws from various factual sources to generate a Governance Performance Index for each municipality. These sources include assessments by the Auditor-General, National Treasury, the Department of Water and Sanitation, and research on residents’ satisfaction.
Unsurprisingly, the top-performing municipalities are located in the Western Cape, with Swartland Local Municipality ranking as the best-performing municipality in the country, followed by Drakenstein and Saldanha Bay. However, the report notes improvements in regions that were part of apartheid-era homeland systems, such as the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipality.
The analysis highlights that the Western Cape faces challenges too, with some municipalities dropping in rankings. Problematic areas in South Africa are primarily located in North West and Free State. Dissatisfaction levels with municipal authorities, as measured by the HSRC, remain consistently low across all regions.
While there have been improvements in areas such as rubbish removal rates and water quality, the analysis points out that planning and leadership levels have not seen significant progress. Particularly concerning are the findings regarding the state of metros, with Cape Town ranking the highest and Mangaung the lowest.
Notably, the performance of metros does not definitively indicate the effectiveness of coalition administrations. The Gauteng metros, Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni, have shown varying performance levels based on the presence or absence of formal coalition arrangements in recent years.
Overall, the analysis suggests that coalitions are not necessarily detrimental to service delivery and governance improvement. However, having a formal and published agreement appears to be an essential factor in ensuring successful coalition governance. It is hoped that national politicians take note of these findings for future governance decisions.
Read the original article on Daily Maverick
