Ghana: fisherman nets system
Lagos on the rise in Fact Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’ The cost of water in Zimbabwe
Local government: where do we stand?
Special focus: South Africa GGA’s national survey on quality of government Municipalities: our Government Performance Index
Issue 36 | March / April 2016 | www.gga.org 6 1 0 2 - 5 1 0 2
rri bia’s te - S i Nam ted Africa in Fact is published by o 43% of otec u pr O t is B n h y l Available now O to o s y 2 t u 3.5% of es A n Eg s r me ess f e yp w viv n sin r ti a e to ag u th i i an n e 65 b ou c n up mi a, t i w n S a 25% lita he lowest n ne i n f r i d 12 s o of y p n 4 re 0 2 ur f Afr er Africa te 2 n an 2 i o ic s 2 s n a c e
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Survey Edited by Richard Jurgens
Karen Ferguson, Researchers, 2015-2016 Jami Gavin, designers Stephen Johnson he Africa Survey 2015-2016 provides many new indicators in Kate van Niekerk T Leith Davis Designer Contributors to this issue Patience Akumu, Richard Chelin, Karen Ferguson, Paul Fish, Owen Businesses trading internationally, latest year Share of… - total exporting total total total Gagare, Frederico Links, Bheki total sales inputs Latest directly or sales sales inputs and/ inputs and trade exported of Country indirectly that are exported or supplies of foreign regulations year indirectly (at least 1% directly of foreign originb originb of sales)a originb constraint Algeria 2007 5.2% 98.5% 0.8% 0.7% 71.8% 53.3% 46.8% 36.1% Mashile, François Misser, Lukhona Angola 2010 5.8% 98.6% 0.4% 1.0% 60.7% 74.7% 25.3% 35.8% Benin 2009 12.8% 91.9% 2.7% 5.4% 55.8% 59.3% 40.7% 56.2% Botswana 2010 9.6% 96.6% 1.8% 1.6% 86.3% 38.4% 61.6% 15.8% Burkina Faso 2009 8.7% 97.2% 1.1% 1.6% 76.5% 48.0% 52.0% 42.6% Mnguni, Alfred Mthimkhulu, Collins Burundi 2006 2.1% 99.2% 0.6% 0.3% 78.5% 57.2% 42.8% 20.9% Cameroon 2009 9.3% 96.5% 1.8% 1.7% 63.2% 64.7% 35.3% 26.3% Cape Verde 2009 4.0% 97.0% 0.6% 2.4% 59.5% 53.1% 46.9% 27.2% Central African Republic 2011 15.1% 94.7% 3.0% 2.4% 85.1% 38.7% 61.3% 31.9% Chad 2009 11.8% 94.0% 3.0% 3.0% 67.6% 53.4% 46.6% 57.4% Mtika, Ray Ndlovu, Samuel Ntewusu, Comoros … … … … … … … … … Congo (DRC) 2013 9.0% 96.7% 1.7% 1.5% 48.6% 71.4% 28.6% 25.3% Congo (Rep.) 2009 9.0% 96.7% 1.3% 2.0% 60.9% 52.6% 47.4% 45.9% Côte d'Ivoire 2009 3.4% 98.7% 1.0% 0.3% 30.3% 80.7% 19.3% 19.4% Djibouti 2013 22.4% 87.6% 8.7% 3.7% 71.4% 36.7% 63.3% 21.8% Louise Redvers, Alain Tschudin, Egypt 2008 25.3% 89.9% 9.1% 1.0% 48.4% 75.2% 24.8% 22.5% Equatorial Guinea … … … … … … … … … Eritrea 2009 5.4% 96.9% 3.1% 0.0% 42.5% 76.0% 24.0% 2.0% Ethiopia 2011 6.5% 95.7% 2.4% 1.9% 54.9% 69.3% 30.7% 19.7% Eleanor Whitehead Gabon 2009 11.8% 95.1% 3.4% 1.6% 81.0% 41.3% 58.7% 35.1% Gambia 2006 8.6% 98.4% 1.0% 0.6% 63.2% 47.8% 52.2% 12.8% Ghana 2007 24.4% 91.8% 3.9% 4.3% 51.1% 73.4% 26.6% 9.8% Guinea 2006 14.7% 96.5% 2.1% 1.4% 66.1% 56.6% 43.4% 12.4% Guinea-Bissau 2006 6.4% 97.1% 2.2% 0.7% 68.4% 54.2% 45.8% 25.6% Kenya 2013 36.1% 77.7% 11.1% 11.3% 52.7% 73.4% 26.6% 22.1% Lesotho 2009 12.5% 93.0% 4.4% 2.6% 68.9% 41.5% 58.5% 21.7% Liberia 2009 1.0% 99.4% 0.0% 0.6% 56.8% 58.3% 41.7% 15.6% Libya … … … … … … … … … Madagascar 2009 15.6% 89.0% 8.1% 2.9% 67.0% 54.0% 46.0% 18.7% Malawi 2009 6.4% 97.3% 2.3% 0.4% 51.7% 66.9% 33.1% 11.0% About Good Governance Africa Mali 2010 10.5% 95.5% 1.6% 3.0% 59.0% 69.1% 30.9% 16.9% Mauritania 2006 8.8% 95.5% 3.5% 1.0% 66.8% 47.4% 52.6% 25.9% Mauritius 2009 14.6% 92.3% 4.1% 3.7% 56.0% 57.2% 42.8% 17.6% Morocco 2007 37.5% 72.9% 23.5% 3.6% 73.4% 48.3% 51.7% 14.3% Mozambique 2007 6.1% 97.8% 2.1% 0.0% 29.2% 80.5% 19.5% 12.2% Namibia 2006 9.2% 97.5% 1.7% 0.8% 83.0% 41.0% 59.0% 7.1% Niger 2009 10.6% 97.3% 1.1% 1.6% 96.4% 6.8% 93.2% 31.6% Nigeria 2007 2.0% 99.5% 0.4% 0.2% 28.1% 90.1% 9.9% 5.0% Rwanda 2011 6.0% 98.5% 1.4% 0.2% 74.6% 55.9% 44.1% 18.1% Founded in 2012, GGA is a registered São Tomé and Príncipe … … … … … … … … … Senegal 2007 13.4% 96.0% 3.4% 0.6% 45.8% 70.5% 29.5% 15.1% Seychelles … … … … … … … … … Sierra Leone 2009 3.2% 97.8% 0.2% 2.0% … … … 26.9% NPO with its SADC and Lusophone Somalia … … … … … … … … … South Africa 2007 18.4% 96.1% 2.5% 1.4% 37.8% 85.4% 14.6% 1.9% South Sudan … … … … … … … … … Africa Survey Sudan … … … … … … … … … Swaziland 2006 11.0% 94.1% 5.5% 0.4% 62.9% 56.7% 43.3% 16.5% Tanzania 2013 13.9% 93.2% 2.2% 4.6% 59.1% 69.2% 30.9% 38.3% Togo 2009 24.6% 84.2% 6.9% 8.9% 72.3% 39.6% 60.4% 27.5% Tunisia … … … … … … … … … Uganda 2013 14.3% 94.2% 0.9% 4.9% 40.6% 86.4% 13.6% 19.5% anyone researching or interested in Western Sahara … … … … … … … … … Zambia 2013 12.3% 94.4% 2.0% 3.6% 48.8% 73.4% 26.6% 8.6% Zimbabwe 2011 11.0% 97.7% 1.2% 1.1% 63.3% 67.3% 32.7% 7.1% Sub-Saharan Africa … 10.9 94.7% 2.6% 2.7% 62.1% 58.6% 41.4% 25.6% Source: World Bank, Enterprise Surveys, http://www.enterprisesurveys.org, accessed 02 July 2014 Business
a Indirect exports are products sold domestically to a third party that exports them. 204 // Africa Survey 2014 Good Governance Africa GGA aims to promote good governance in Africa through Africa in Child marriage, latest year (2005-2013) FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Africa’s biggest export and import in 2013 PROJECTS, APRIL 2015 crude petroleum petroleum products Fact, the Africa Survey and other 749 South Africa (238) Kenya (127) 43% Morocco (99) % Tun is ia 9 1. 6% local government, natural resources Egypt (98) 612 Morocco Ghana (95) Rest of 15.9% Nigeria (92) Africa of the value of all exports of the value of all imports Algeria 1.8% Libya Western Egypt Sahara 16.6% Share of total exports to China Sierra Leone 80% Mauritania 34.3% Congo (Rep.) 52% concerned with the promotion of Cabo Verde Mali Eritrea 18.0%Senegal 55.0% Niger Sudan 40.7% Angola 48% 32.9% 76.3% Chad 32.9% Gambia 68.1% Mauritania 44% 36.4% Burkina Faso 5.4% 51.6% 39% Guinea-Bissau Congo (DRC) 22.0% Nigeria Somalia education, innovation, leadership Guinea Ethiopia 45.3% 51.7% Côte 42.8% Gambia 34% d’Ivoire Ghana Central African South Sudan 41.0% Sierra Leone 33.2% 20.7% 51.5% 43.7% Republic Liberia 31% Liberia Togo Benin Cameroon 67.9% 37.9% 25.2%31.9% 38.4% Mozambique 29% Equatorial Guinea Congo Kenya 29.5% Uganda Central African Republic 29% Gabon (Rep.) 39.7% 26.4% 21.9% 32.6% Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe 8.1% Zimbabwe 27% 34.4% Seychelles Congo (DRC) Burundi 39.4% 20.4% Tanzania Share of women aged 20-24 married 36.9% AFRICA IN WORLD TRADE, 2013 INTRA-AFRICAN TRADE, 2013 before they were 18 >50% Comoros 31.6% 40-49.9% Angola Malawi 20-39.9% Zambia 49.6% <19.9% 41.6% 3.5% 3.3% 14.3% 14% of world of world exports of Africa’s imports of Africa’s exports Zimbabwe imports came went to Africa came from within went to other 30.5% Mozambique from Africa the continent African countries Namibia Botswana 48.2% Opinions expressed are those of 8.6% Madagascar 41.2%
Swaziland 6.5% Lesotho Sub-Saharan Africa’s exports and imports, 2013 18.8% the individual authors and not South Africa AGRICULTURAL ORES AND 5.6% FOOD FUEL MANUFACTURING RAW MATERIAL METALS 1.2% 11.1% 20.0% 65.5% 2.1% necessarily of Good Governance Imports Source: p. 620
Exports 3.4% 13.2% 41.4% 26.8% 14.9%
404 // Africa Survey 2015-2016 Good Governance Africa
Order your copy of the Africa Survey 2015-2016: Original cover photograph: E-mail: [email protected] or call +27 (11) 268 0479 © Richard Franzen/Impact Africa Contents 4 49 Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’ 7 by Patience Akumu the people 10 A ‘country of the future’ Uganda by Louise Redvers The MPLA has promised decentralisation 54 The cost of water by Owen Gagare 15 More haste, less speed oppose prepaid water meters by François Misser Decentralisation threatens to create more 58 Taking on the cities by Ray Ndlovu 20 Taking on the system by Samuel Ntewusu Special focus: South Africa Commission to court and won 63 Editorial: do the people 24 A clash of jurisdictions govern? by Collins Mtika A Malawian city’s lack of municipal 66 Grassroots grievances by Lukhona Mnguni 28 Gimme shelter Why the country’s municipalities are by Frederico Links Mismanagement, corruption and 73 What the people really think their national government 33 Unlikely lessons 91 Government Performance by Eleanor Whitehead Index 2016 How Nigeria’s commercial capital has Our survey of SA’s local municipalities reveals a pattern of extremes 36 Taxing property 97 by Paul Fish Sierra Leone’s property tax generates local GGA Government Performance Index government revenue 2016: analysis and interpretation 41 The curious case of Umjindi 110 ‘We will see them when it is by Bheki Mashile election time’ Citizens share their perceptions of local of gerrymandering in South Africa government representatives
March / April 2016 3 3 About our contributors
Patience akumu the Observer, an independent newspaper in Uganda, JournAfrica, African Business, Africa Times, the Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, The Times and New Internationalist
RichaRd chelin kaRen FeRguson of GGA’s Africa Survey
Paul Fish owen gagaRe is the news editor of Zimbabwe Independent previously worked for two national daily newspapers, NewsDay and the Chronicle
FRedeRico links Insight Namibia and a
Bheki mashile, a journalist and editor of a community newspaper, the Umjindi Guardian, Noseweek
FRançois misseR Afrique Asie magazine and Germany’s Die Tageszeitung lukhona mnguni alFRed mthimkhulu
4 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 About our contributors
collins mtika is a Malawian investigative journalist who has worked for Malawi News and the Weekend Times Africa’s Mail & Guardian
Ray ndlovu Business Day, the Mail & Guardian, Sunday Times and Africa Independent Financial Gazette samuel ntewusu holds a PhD in history from the University of Leiden, the Netherlands louise RedveRs is a freelance journalist who has reported from Angola, Swaziland and Mail & Guardian, the Africa Report alain tschudin is a registered psychologist with PhDs in Psychology and in Ethics from and Europe, with the European Commission, with local and international NGOs, as CEO of a leadership development agency, as lead consultant for Save the Children and UNICEF and as eleanoR whitehead is The Economist Forbes
March / April 2016 5 5 6 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Editorial By the people, for the people
his age-old rally cry of democracy is ringing out over the plains Targue that local government is the most fundamental level of is government in Africa and how does it promote good governance at the community level? The 36th issue of Africa in Fact explores the topic of local government - cans will take to the polls in their country’s 2016 local government elec- - Africa in Fact - - ing, and we hope that our critical analysis and our own GGA Government Elsewhere on the continent we consider a diversity of themes and re- that claims (cosmetically or otherwise) to want to stimulate community Ntewusu’s reporting on the curious case of Benjamin Eyi-Mensah, the from contesting local elections, took the Electoral Commission to court
March / April 2016 7 By the people, for the people
- - something rotten in the city of Mzuzu? promoting calls for land reform and servicing through the use of social also highlighted concerns that the state is centralising its control and un- The advantages of property taxation as a source revenue at the local level are also discussed in a Sierra Leonian context, with the roll-out of the - tle zeal can go a long way towards achieving municipal transformation, who are resisting the implementation of prepaid water meters, arguing - - - nomenon, almost as tricky in its practice as in its etymology, derives its - In this regard, the reader is directed to the case of the local municipality of Umjindi, in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa, and its incor-
8 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 By the people, for the people
Finally, Lukhona Mnguni’s penetrating analysis of the state of local governance in South Africa, which opens our special focus section on the country ahead of the local elections not only provides a diagnosis of grass-
Alain Tschudin Executive Director
March / April 2016 9 Angola: local elections The MPLA government has promised decentralisation many times, but is afraid of losing power
A ‘country of the future’
Louise Redvers
n April 2015 the Angolan capital Luanda hosted the inaugural Iprizes, named after Angola’s president of 36 years, were awarded - - Raul Danda, parliamentary leader of Angola’s main opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), told Af- rica in Fact Angola has held two general elections since its three-decade civil war - - Saharan Africa’s third-largest economy after Nigeria and South Africa, at
10 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 A ‘country of the future’
Average life expectancy “There is a need for a - ple don’t have an outlet for their grievances, processes are weak and service de- mands are ignored,” says analyst at the University © Creative Commons A street in Barra do Dande, a town in north-west Angola up a lot of dissatisfaction, particularly in the provinces, which feel very disconnected from Luanda, Angelo Kapwatcha, president of the Regional Forum for University De- - ing local elections, added: “Local elections would mean real participatory - hunters and nomadic cattle farmers, who are largely excluded from socie- to claim some of their fundamental rights, such as education, healthcare - gola (MPLA), which has governed the country since its independence from In the 2012 elections UNITA polled well in several of Luanda’s more
March / April 2016 11 A ‘country of the future’
Local administrations, made up of three strands: community, munici- the majority of leadership positions at community and municipality level Michelsen Institute, who has written several papers on local government, of the ruling party than to the welfare and service needs of the people in Angola’s 2010 constitution sets out the institutional framework for lo- cal elections, known as autarquia autarquia The government has indicated several times since 2010 that it planned - country needed the “right conditions” for local elections, listing the need -
12 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 A ‘country of the future’
- - - - to manage the elections and good transport networks, rather than those in opposition party says the government’s ministry of territorial administration is Angola's Human spearheading the preparation for the au- Development Index score tarquias, rather than the National Elec- Rank in Global toral Commission, which has cross-party Africa rank 1 63 2 64 3 Algeria 83 Analysts agree, however, that the 4 Libya 94 introduction of local elections will not 5 96 19 Angola 149 hope to improve the performance of local 49 Burundi 184 50 Chad 185 51 Eritrea 186 52 Central Afri- 187 - can Republic low of the Africa Programme at London’s 53 Niger 188 Chatham House who has studied decen- Index) “Angola is extremely top-down in the -
March / April 2016 13 A ‘country of the future’
- Angola passed the Local Administration Law, which led to the creation of Conselhos de Auscultação e Concertação Social (CAS), or citizen coun- It has since initiated the Municipal Programme for Rural Integration - projects in Angola do not often meet these criteria due to a mixture of poor - autarquias - Grassroots opinion of the Angolan elite and its way of holding onto - golan rapper MCK, in the lyrics of his song O país do Pai Banana (The you think?”
14 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 DRC: hasty electoral reforms Decentralisation threatens to create more instability in this central African country
More haste, less speed
François Misser
OFive provinces remain as they were: the capital Kinshasa and its constitutional deadline set for the creation of the new provinces expired could take several days, even during the dry season, owing to the poor state a postponement of the elections that would allow him to extend his term these critics argue that the creation of new provinces presents the country with a fait accompli and that the need for appropriate funding for the de-
March / April 2016 15 More haste, less speed
Old provinces
18 17 15 New provinces 20 1 Kinshasa (city-province) 19 14 2 Bas-Congo 16 Formerly Bandundu province 21 3 Kwango 4 Kwilu 5 Mai-Ndombe 22 13 Formerly Kasai-Occidental province 6 Kasaï 7 Kasai-Central 5 Formerly Kasai-Oriental province 10 12 8 Kasai-Oriental 11 9 Lomami 10 Sankuru 1 6 4 11 Maniema 2 12 South Kivu 13 North Kivu 8 9 7 23 3 Formerly Orientale province 14 Ituri 15 Haut-Uele 16 Tshopo 24 17 Bas-Uele Formerly Équateur province 25 18 Nord-Ubangi 26 19 Mongala 20 Sud-Ubangi 21 Équateur 22 Tshuapa Formerly Katanga province 23 Tanganyika 24 Haut-Lomami 25 Lualaba Source: GGA 26 Haut-Katanga
- ent National Electoral Commission (CENI) has estimated the cost of the Other factors indicate that the Congolese authorities may have put the -
16 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 More haste, less speed
In the richer provinces of Bas-Congo and Katanga, the engine of the - of total tax revenues, including all extractive industries revenues and roy- - tion collects the taxes and transfers the money to the central state, which - ince gets $600,000 per month from the central state, not the roughly $5m The sudden creation of new provinces appears to have weakened rather province with the skills, instruments and infrastructure needed to collect - - province, civil servants went on strike in August 2015, saying their salaries The governors and parliaments of all 21 new provinces should have
March / April 2016 17 More haste, less speed
committees whose task was to prepare the installation of the new prov- until the provincial elections, which were originally to have taken place in But the government then froze the power of the provincial parliaments Matata Ponyo, told the Constitutional Court the government did not have the money for governors’ elections or the ordered the government to take “ex- ceptional transitional measures” to en- sure order, security and the continuity until governors and provincial govern- - tional Court’s decision gave the govern- © Helene C. Stikkel - - ures” after the court estimated that “force majeure” and lack of funds prevented the CENI from organising the provincial and local elections as Uncertainty prevails on the duration of the mandate of these
18 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 More haste, less speed
Congo, says the appointment of special commissioners is “unconstitution- - decree after consultation with the government and the speakers of the na- - - ernment has created an odd situation with two systems: one in which the governors and provincial parliaments, and another in which the 21 new - ing to Le Soft International, - International donors in Kinshasa are concerned that, without the ap-
March / April 2016 19 Ghana: local elections were also forced to drop out of school, Mensah, had to take the Electoral Commission to court to win a term as father’s death, Benjamin found himself assemblyman However, their catch dwindled due Taking on For the family, matters were made the system Samuel Ntewusu popularly called “dance” or “spinning Commission (EC) announced I educational institutions, including Municipal District in Central Region calendar is dotted with events, kilometres west of Accra, the capital including prayer meetings, conventions and matriculation and graduation as a port town linking the then-Gold acting on them made him a popular convert this popularity into political nine children, he started elementary necessary funds for development, and drop out of school when he was just
20 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Taking on the system
Mr Eyi-Mensah worked as an organiser for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a young people like himself helped the NPP to win national elections twice, “When politicians go campaigning © Samuel Ntewesu Benjamin Eyi-Mensah Over the next two days, Mr Eyi- Mensah returned to the local electoral Mr Eyi-Mensah felt that “there had not or health facilities in the area, as well as a lack of educational infrastructure and was to contact his relative to tell him Democratic Congress (NDC), while he himself was a supporter of the eight years, he told him; he should step down and allow him, Benjamin turned down the proposal and Another more serious hurdle then Mensah went to the district electoral Mr Eyi-Mensah contacted the Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, a lawyer, who stations had the right to return the Mr Eyi-Mensah replied that the MP it in parliament, and was also a lawyer,
March / April 2016 21 21 Taking on the system
Mensah] had the courage to go to court The local elections were scheduled to take place nationwide on March The postponement of the elections had cost the nation “several millions of cedis”, Mavis Adongo, a resident of “When we heard over the radio and on television that the case had gone the time of the interview, told Africa in Fact friend of Mr Eyi-Mensah’s, Ramford individual sue the whole EC? But on Ghana’s local government system second thoughts, after listening to has its origins in a decentralisation his case, we also felt he was unfairly The case went to the Supreme summary, it is made up of a regional Court, where Mr Afenyo-Markin argued coordinating council, a four-tier that the EC’s decision to open and metropolitan structure and a three-tier Local elections are held every two years; Moreover, Mr Afenyo-Markin said, the EC had organised the nationwide local their involvement in local governance “immature constitutional instrument”, The Supreme Court ordered that argument and declared that the local elections planned for March 3rd were EC to start the nomination process for new local elections afresh, this time Mr Eyi-Mensah plans to focus on The case attracted widespread democracy in Africa,” says lawyer
22 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Taking on the system
in primary school make it through attending a university, teacher training Mr Eyi-Mensah wants to encourage Eyipey’s parents to support their sees children out on the streets, playing or idling, sometimes until midnight, © Samuel Ntewesu means that even the few who make it scatter the unwanted parts on the parents, teachers, and school children has asked parents of children of school- He has also had talks with other contacted the Ghana Education Fund, area and also encouraging weekly school supplies, transport services and Mr Eyi-Mensah’s term expires in two years, at which time he will face a Secondly, Mr Eyi-Mensah hopes hopes to have achieved enough in his sanitation” in his area, as he puts
March / April 2016 23 23 Malawi: cleaning up Mzuzu City’s lack of municipal services leads one enterprising businessman to manure,” says the company’s managing A clash of residents, according to the 2011 jurisdictions government-appointed chief executive Collins Mtika departments, heads the council’s r Clean”, a private company that collects of parliament (MP) for Mzuzu City “M Constituency, the mayor and 15 however, has only one truck, which has Improving service delivery in Malawi’s 35 local governments has, Mzuzu has no sewage system, so parliamentary and local government in local elections in 2000. However, following the elections, service delivery in Malawi’s 35 local governments Improving service delivery in Malawi’s 35 local governments on the country’s agenda since the May 2014 elections. which started operations in 2003, has their muscles,” political analyst Boniface now procured two more trucks from Dulani told the local Sunday Times the United Kingdom and plans to
24 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 A clash of jurisdictions
Social commentator Dan Msowoya, the courts side with local residents, meanwhile, thinks the clash is structural agreeing that councils are failing to and the result of a legal logjam created In 2013, for instance, the High Court in Mzuzu ordered the Mzuzu autonomy than their counterparts, sold illegally after the owner failed to pay city rates, saying the council had report to the executive, unlike the ward to the ministry of local government and government had already declined dramatically during the years when no and legislatures “thwarted” local elections, fearing they would produce “future challengers of parliamentary © Shack/Slumdwellers International Mzuzu City Council, the results are government authority after March 2005 and hence could not exercise any its residents over the last 10 years, for suspended local councils in 2005, after which local government toed the and our service delivery is proportionate the same time, there was a pile-up of administrative functions to the central the council’s head of administration, By law, the council is supposed The council has tried to use a variety to provide the following services: of legal methods, as well as more infrastructure development such as premises and auctioning properties in health services; premise inspections; vector control; emergency services; have always argued that they see no collecting refuse in its 15 townships 20 years ago, forcing residents to improvise
March / April 2016 25 25 A clash of jurisdictions
as vice chairperson of the city’s health to “poor planning and misallocations Malawi attained its independence Hastings Kamuzu Banda and his Malawi reign, Dr Banda did not allow general As in many newly independent African countries at the time, Dr that a heavily centralised mode of decision-making was key to rapid district councils were gradually eroded of their autonomy and progressively
© CIA divested of their powers, functions and It only collects refuse in the Central elections, when a new political party, Business District and at the industrial the United Democratic Front (UDF), emerged victorious under the leadership can stand for days and weeks without a new constitution, which included the devolution of administrative and governments’ service delivery in the areas of health, education, water and comprehensive review of the system of local government, leading to the
26 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 A clash of jurisdictions enactment of a new Local Government government system in Malawi is further and comprehensive decentralisation Malawi’s legal framework currently provides for the existence of functionally autonomous, democratic The result is a large and authoritative local governments, framework of the constitution government’s political commitment to and its implementation. In August, 2015, Kondwani Nankhumwa, the minister of local deals in great detail with functional government and rural development, insinuated that he would discipline the it does not spell out the institutional mayor of Mzuzu and other councillors ministries, line ministries and the William Mkandawire challenged Mr Nankhumwa, saying he had no legal the legal framework of the constitution and its implementation in the form of a or to institute disciplinary proceedings have spotted the gap and are jumping to people and does not have to wait for the ministry to summon him or discipline “We did not enter into any partnership with ‘Mr Clean’,” the Mzuzu secretary for local government and rural administrator, Mr Masina admitted to Africa in Fact. “He just saw an central government also appears to deputy for use on its own programmes Nyasa Times, Mr Dulani notes that the
March / April 2016 27 27 Namibia: land reform Mismanagement, corruption and politicking hold back promised allocations of land and houses
Gimme shelter
Frederico Links
- liamentary elections, three ruling party youth league activists illegally I - ma, all young professionals with steady incomes, were protesting against - - - There are indications that developers are given preference for the serviced - tions to the City of Windhoek (CoW), asking for 2,000 applicants to start -
28 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Gimme shelter
- erative episode”, the AR activists also set the government an ultimatum, at National and local politicians of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) Party accused the activists of trying to undermine activists to a meeting at State House, in Windhoek, at which some sort of - - - will see a few hundred plots serviced at Windhoek, Walvis Bay on the coast - - year, following the “agreement” reached with AR, the government an-
March / April 2016 29 Gimme shelter
- cording to the CoW, it took on average two years to deliver a serviced plot - - - - The same severe underperformance characterised the government’s Employment and Economic Growth (TIPEEG), a three-year initiative that - - ever, it was suspended over alleged mismanagement and corrupt contract- of plots had stalled, and the money had dried up as the cost of the scheme
30 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Gimme shelter
- areas were introduced in par- concluded that foreign own- ership of land and real estate - properties has raised alarm Restrictive property legisla- tion such as proposed might © Insight Namibia discourage foreign investors Some 32 amendments and changes to the Local Authorities Act were - - legally “ghettoize” poorer areas of cities and condemn them to perpetu- Other critics, including some in national government, had similar mis- - -
March / April 2016 31 Gimme shelter
- minister Calle Schlettwein announced deep cuts across government ex- - - ia recorded the second highest house price increase internationally after - -
32 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Nigeria: managing a megacity Nigeria’s commercial capital is much whose residents eke out a living as of Africa governors since the end of military Unlikely we took over, was a slum,” he recalled lessons Eleanor Whitehead There was no control of revenue, no pproached at night, Lagos A Major improvements were air stewardess says looking out of the former lawyer who served eight Lagos, which calls itself a “Centre of Excellence”, is a megacity with unknown; Nigeria’s headcounts have markets cleared from roads to reduce congestion and levels of serious crimes Nigeria’s commercial capital is almost certainly the largest metropolis in class than most of the rest of the and more likely to attend school, than those in any other Nigerian state, appalling, crime rates are high, and road
March / April 2016 33 33 Unlikely lessons
Nigerian states: internally generated revenue 2014 Sokoto Katsina Kano N 5.6bn N 6.2bn N 3.7bn Yobe Borno Zamfara N 3.0bn N 5.31bn Jigawa N 2.7bn N 6.3bn Kebbi N 3.8bn
Kaduna N 12.7bn Niger
N 5.7bn Gombe Kwara N 5.2bn N 12.5bn Bauche Oyo N 4.8bn N 16.3bn Adamawa Federal N14.9bn Capital Plateau State N 8.2bn Nasarawa N 4.0bn Taraba N 3.8bn Benue N 8.2bn Ogun Kogi N 17.4bn Osun N 6.5bn Lagos N 8.5bn Cross River N 276.1bn Ekiti N 15.7bn N 3.4bn Enugu Ebonyi Edo N 19.2bn N 11bn N 17.0bn Abia N 12.4bn Delta N 42.8bn Rivers Akwa Ibom Bayelsa N 89.1bn N 15.6bn N 10.9bn
hospitals, court rooms, social services, skill centres, street lights,” Mr Fashola, now a minister in the new government of Muhammadu Buhari, said in an gather tax revenues from companies targeting Nigeria’s huge oil wealth generated revenue exceeded that of These advances were achieved 31 other Nigerian states put together, despite often frustrating relations according to the National Bureau of democratic transfer of power in 16 income shielded Lagos from an economic downturn linked to lower oil former governors say their reform from local taxes and is therefore less we wanted done that we couldn’t dependent on statutory transfers from get done,” Mr Fashola said, citing the cash-strapped federal government than most Nigerian states,” explained maintenance of federal roads and failure Malte Liewerscheidt, senior Africa
34 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Unlikely lessons
This means that, unlike other states, enough,” says BudgIT’s co-founder, it has not had to turn to the federal migrants ready to hustle day and night does not apply to contracts worth less “Lagos is a model in terms of what investment can do,” says Ifeanyi state’s internal revenue and improve Peters, programme manager on the UK Department for International the new governor has launched a Development-State Partnership for single treasury account for government the federation in terms of running an also thinks they can capture tax from millions of Nigerians who currently do worsened during his early months in power as a result of his reducing respected successor was put under the spotlight when BudgIT, an caused complaints from traders with groups have asked the Economic and to create a civil society where things are done professionally,” he stated in the former governor, who is now a claim that he is still “learning” how to
March / April 2016 35 35 Sierra Leone: local governments, addresses the high costs government revenue The introduction of a property tax in technology and developing a recording this west African country sees local governments gaining discretionary revenue process, employing computer-aided enforcement of tax laws and collection Taxing The REMOP system is currently operating in seven councils in Sierra Leone, while implementation has property a comprehensive annual cycle that Paul Fish includes the following of stages of implementation: formation of a tax is rarely seen as a source of I programme, development of payments systems and a payments compliance study of property tax in eastern and southern Africa, property taxation is tapped sources of revenue to support Begun in 2006 with the registering One reason often cited for the lack of properties, the remaining parts of of such taxes in low-income countries in the years following and revenues commentator on tax reform stated: “In Unfortunately, the changes administration of the tax [in low-income introduced to the property tax system from the tax rolls, or are inaccurately valued, and collection is extremely local administration with entrenched In 2006, in my capacity as advisor to the Revenue Development Foundation, unwilling to enforce compliance given involved in implementing a Revenue an opportunity to develop and test a
36 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Taxing property
reportedly led to “interference” in to revive the property tax system in some areas, with local leaders actively initial success in Makeni, the ministry district council will also face challenges in expanding revenue collection from the service to Bo City Council, the second largest city in Sierra Leone, to more remote rural areas with lower concentrations of high-value housing the introduction of the REMOP city’s popular mayor, Wusu Sannoh Bo District revenue year of the REMOP yielded strong 25,000 results and it is still operational today, 20,000 15,000 As with Bo City, the key to the 10,000 success of the introduction of the 5,000 programme in Bo District Council was the strong support of the head - 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 $ : economies resulted in a shutdown of local administrations, especially in the from over 6,000 property owners, up However, the introduction of the the International Fund for Agricultural property tax system faced several Development to restart the process of introducing property tax in selected For example, Bo District includes the periphery of the Bo City area, In 2011 the author was awarded Development Foundation, then newly formed, to undertake a REMOP in and local chiefdoms regarding who their remoteness, these areas, known
March / April 2016 37 37 Taxing property
poor country such as Sierra Leone are Sierra Leone: number of days to more likely to maintain the smaller administrative costs of an automated 250 225 Secondly, the comprehensive 200 175 support for the programme as the 150 125 100 is critical to gain the total commitment 75
50 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 programme, in particular the more collectively as KKKK, proved a good of the tax cycle, 2013, exceeded Thirdly, the comprehensive nature of the system allows councils to levy municipalities is the political strength property tax only from those citizens of their councils and in particular the those people who own the larger and initial acceptance of the programme, in taxed, since they do not usually own The introduction of a property tax can help to develop citizen engagement and participation in council affairs. Leone lacks a formal register of property There are several advantages of this method of introducing and comprehensive property tax system can community needs and the initiation of comprehensive method of determining and collecting own-source revenues, Sixth, the introduction of a property tax can help to develop citizen technical and complex form of valuation engagement and participation in council
38 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Taxing property
to initiate if citizens have a low opinion 150,000 is very important to its successful 100,000 50,000 Seventh, REMOP is a comprehensive - 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 single administration, and at the same $ dedicated software tool such as that programmes of implementation are now contingent on an agreement that A tendency to outsource the property tax system to contractors was challenges to the introduction and implementation of a property tax City and Kailahun tried this approach after the implementation of a REMOP the performance failure are not clear, opposition to property tax declines can only succeed if the development and implementation comprehensive programme it takes two annual cycles for these council administration and are the development of toilets at the markets in Koidu and Bo City and in the The early stage of the implementation is the most sensitive summonses to defaulters encouraged
March / April 2016 39 39 Taxing property
Leone, local councils had traditionally used revenue collectors to coerce cash successfully implemented a pilot in This method focused on the poor and the Malawian City of Mzuzu with good marginalised, who were often fearful opportunities for corruption and which However, interest groups’ initial resistance to a new collection method REMOP process, payments are made handled in a transparent manner and ensures that recording of payments is the council fails to employ an assistant plays an important role in the training can only succeed if the comprehensive council administration and supported clear and the challenges, though
40 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 South Africa: consultation meetings with residents municipal of the smaller municipality “ended demarcations let representatives of local government Government plans to redraw a and the Municipal Demarcation Board municipal boundary raise questions of (MDB) speak, the local newspaper, the gerrymandering Barberton Times The curious from an angry crowd at another case of told Africa in Fact called the meeting, nor had he presided Umjindi over it, and that the protestors should Bheki Mashile In the middle of April, the Sowetan reported that an MDB consultative the South African high court W the Umjindi Community Forum, which managed municipality with its much “another Malamulele, Khutsong and many in the community greeted the judgment with derision, saying that it The two local municipalities, of the group said the municipalities as White River and Hazyview after the An MDB representative present at the meeting, Sharon Wiggins, told the meeting that the merger had “not province’s capital, formerly Nelspruit, which is Mpumalanga’s administrative Umjindi residents opposed the proposed merger with their larger cooperative governance and traditional
March / April 2016 41 41 The curious case of Umjindi
as part of a plan to “amalgamate said all three political parties in the dysfunctional communities with Barberton Times Meanwhile, the chairperson of the South African Municipal Worker’s to Africa in Fact opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), support the claim that the Economic Freedom Fighters and challenged the decision of the MDB across the country, including those of © Richard Nkosi (Barberton Times) rights lawyer Richard Spoor argued that Union (SAMWU) in Umjindi said the for the re-determination of Umjindi’s municipality’s employees had only heard of the proposed merger via the motivation upon which the merger had mockery and shouting”, the local paper in yellow African National Congress around the country, including Umjindi (ANC) T-shirts, shouted down anyone who presented arguments against the High Court, arguing that the MDB had for the mergers, had not considered failed to arrive at a meeting at the town’s community hall to address conducted proper consultations with the Angered, on May 5th, residents of the township in protest, saying the attorney, was involved in the litigation attack was that the MDB’s process was
42 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 The curious case of Umjindi
Africa in split into two of what was traditionally Fact a DA dominated area in Umjindi, ward The ruling party denies information in the notices for the accusations of under-handed motives for the merger. unimpressed with [the] argument that reports of the investigations into the pros and cons of the merger were not The split could see the DA left without a The court concluded that it could The ruling party denies accusations of under-handed motives for the reporter, and the Africa in Fact editor searching to locate all the circulars and of wards and the addition of new wards notices relevant to the Umjindi case in In a press release shortly after the court ruling, the MDB stated that it had developments or informal settlements 13 cases around the country in which At two consultation meetings it had made a decision to re-demarcate that the aspersions cast upon the municipalities to operate as one for But critics continue to argue that the the sake of access to more government demarcation is politically motivated, to change the landscape in favour of the ANC in next year’s upcoming local “The majority of our municipalities elections,” the DA’s Mr Minnaar told in Mpumalanga are grant-dependent Africa in Fact due to low revenue collection,”
March / April 2016 43 43 The curious case of Umjindi
GGA Name of Municipality Party Name of Municipality Party Ranking* Ranking* Eastern Cape KwaZulu-Natal (cont.) Nkonkobe 125 ANC Big Five False Bay 169 IFP Nxuba 73 ANC Hlabisa 208 IFP Gariep 47 ANC Vulamehlo (disestablished) 230 ANC Maletswai 77 ANC eThekwini 70 ANC Inkwanca 120 ANC Umdoni 106 ANC Lukhanji 105 ANC Ezinqoleni (disestablished) 165 ANC Tsolwana 134 ANC Hibiscus Coast 115 ANC Baviaans (disestablished) 30 DA Kwa Sani 28 ANC Camdeboo 33 ANC Ingwe 159 ANC Camdeboo 33 ANC Limpopo Ikwezi (disestablished) 109 ANC Aganang (disestablished) 189 ANC Free State Molemole 181 ANC Naledi (disestablished) 68 ANC Polokwane 119 ANC Mangaung 27 ANC Fetakgomo 168 ANC Gauteng Greater Tubatse 229 ANC Randfontein 68 ANC Mutale (disestablished) 156 ANC Westonaria 153 ANC Musina 139 ANC KwaZulu-Natal Modimolle 59 ANC uMtshezi 146 ANC Mookgophong 83 ANC Provincial Mpumalanga Imbabazane 212 Admin (P/A) Umjindi 94 ANC Ntambanana (disestab- 232 ANC Mbombela 118 ANC lished) North West uMlalazi 198 ANC Tlokwe City Council 113 ANC Mthonjaneni 149 ANC-NFP Ventersdorp 173 ANC ANC-NFP Indaka 201 Northern Cape (P/A) Mier 21 ANC Emnambithi/Ladysmith 99 ANC //Khara Hais 128 ANC
Africa in Fact services, leaving our municipalities with Instead, it paints a picture of a municipality that was nearly put under
44 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 The curious case of Umjindi provincial administration around Under Richard Lukhele, who served municipality recorded a surplus of as mayor from 2000 until 2011, the The municipality won several COGTA awards, recognising local government rates and taxes, which had put a strain worse, with consistently negative AG mayor in 2011, Umjindi was virtually dump trucks and water tanks were held up at the depot due to lack of was failing to meet payments to suppliers and creditors, according to municipality owed payments to local example, districts such as Lehawu in KaNyamazane, one of the municipality’s said that in 2013 it was “forced to hold for only one or two days a week and residents are forced to depend on water Independent organisations concur in However, Umjindi achieved a The South African Institute of report for 2011/2012 said that the Local Government the Enhlanzeni district municipality, under which Umjindi falls] that Meanwhile the local government
March / April 2016 45 45 The curious case of Umjindi
the merger was later reformulated as issue of Africa in Fact) also shows that to Umjindi, even given a larger range of The minister and the MDB appear to have initially claimed that Umjindi was MDB appear to have known that a “dysfunctional community” and that this was the reason for its incorporation
payroll systems
Indirect Indirect
46 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 The curious case of Umjindi
appear to have done so in relation to the reporters at the time of residents’ Interestingly, the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), in its George Mthethwa, communications 2015/16 argues explicitly against of cooperative governance and municipal demarcations that are not Africa in Fact and distract from a municipality’s to a corporate merger, apparently forgetting that such a process could not take place without extensive The FFC, whose role it is to advise due diligence studies, including an government on its expenditure of entity, and within that a strategy will the restructuring” in the form of a grant Africa in Fact Residents of Umjindi’s Emjindini capacity for change management and he agrees that his administration In its study the FFC notes that “the us access to more money and other at its 53rd national conference in 2012, “The fact of the matter is in the long resolved that “the MDB should take into term, Umjindi, standing alone, is not The minister’s rationale in recom- mending this particular demarcation
March / April 2016 47 47 The curious case of Umjindi
including access to and control of surprisingly, a source within the ANC’s provincial structures in Mpumalanga police departments, as well as the agrees that Umjindi’s merger with - “Metros [are] mini-governments within the province whose leaders wield an - enormous amount of power,” the source According to the MDB, metros conglomerations, often covering metropolitan governments operate one institution to govern the metro (formerly Pretoria) in the province of Gauteng, and the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipality in the The new municipality merging suggestion that the municipality would in ANC’s provincial structures, who “Metro status is the intended goal,” the source told Africa in Fact, adding that plans were in place to incorporate the new municipality, which has yet to The source added that the merger would result in political and economic
48 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Uganda: transforming the capital Jennifer Musisi’s strong city government attracts praise and criticism
Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’
Patience Akumu
Sshe represents an authoritarian regime that has ridden roughshod - Mr Museveni reportedly plucked Ms Musisi out of her early retirement - - ing for Red Pepper - - Ms Musisi was appointed in 2011, shortly after Mr Museveni, who had Mr Museveni and his party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), - dan politics that year when the ruling party, having taken the presidency,
March / April 2016 49 Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’
known as much for his penchant for dining with market vendors as for - dio presenter who the NRM hoped would - ward, Ms Musisi swooped in, taking the newly created position of executive di- that she was the centre of power and the opposition, in spite of their victory, would not have much say in how the city would © Kampala Capital City Authority - lowing numerous allegations of incompe- the law were strengthened when they ignored a court order to reinstate Mr - president likes to cite Ms Musisi’s personal loyalty to him as an example To those who grew up in the capital at a time when truck-size green traditionally controlled most open spaces in the city, including Constitu-
50 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’
government revenue than do other local authorities, in proportion to their and health sectors, for instance, has either dwindled or increased only - - president’s creation of a system of governance that nurtures and rewards - mugisha, Executive Director of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance, Part and parcel of Ms Musisi’s legacy is the fear that she has sown
March / April 2016 51 Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’
- The KCCA insists that it always gives traders 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 2018
2017 this is not always the - 2016 programme forms allegedly physically Economic growth programme assault roadside hawk- Health and social development 2015 City resilience and drainage City transport infrastructure 2014 Neighbourhood planning - - lighted when a council vehicle ran over and killed a two-year-old child, Ryan Ssemaganda, while his mother was in “[Her arrest] was really a violation of her right [to earn a living],” says hu- Many of Mr Lukwago’s supporters are informal traders who feel their - -
52 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Kampala’s ‘Iron Lady’
- er amendments were also on the cards, including one that would see the 16th last year he marched with dozens of his supporters to the electoral day later, the government made a U-turn, withdrawing amendments and - -
March / April 2016 53 Zimbabwe: local services Residents of the country’s two major cities oppose the introduction of prepaid water meters
The cost of water
Owen Gagare
second largest city, Bulawayo, are moving to install prepaid Mwater meters despite resistance from residents associations and civil society organisations, which argue that prepaid meters deny extension an improvement in service delivery, as well as reducing wastage The move has proved unpopular, particularly in Bulawayo, where resi- - - - Southern Eye Local authorities say residents’ unwillingness to pay for services has - tricity Supply Authority (ZESA), which introduced prepaid meters in 2012 As of August 31st last year, residents, government and commercial
54 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 The cost of water as refuse collection and water and sewer reticulation, according to council - to municipalities ahead of the 2013 general elections, in what
100 the ruling ZANU-PF party to 90 - 80 ties around the country lost a 70 60 The HCC is currently install- 50 Urban ing prepaid meters in the central Rural 40 - 30 ing this, the council aims to roll 20 out the project citywide over a 10 period of seven to ten years, ac- 0 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 cording to HCC spokesperson - - access water, which would deny them a constitutional right that they enjoy The prepaid water meter system will also force poor families to use un- In Bulawayo, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) - cluded door-to-door campaigns, road shows, dialogue meetings and
March / April 2016 55 The cost of water demonstrations aimed at informing residents of the implications of the clerk, Middleton Nyoni, and copied to Mr Moyo, the Right to Water cam- - nomic situation, most of the city’s residents were unemployed, it argued, - increasingly there is a shift in economic activity to the informal sector,” the Industries announced that capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sec- - ing companies to retrench workers without severance packages resulted in The Right to Water Campaign says research on the use of prepaid wa- ter meters in southern Africa shows that the system tends to fail in poor communities, often resulting in poor people using unsafe sources of water, - Harare City spokesperson Michael Chideme told Africa in Fact that the allow us to see how the meters work and help us to decide which type of -
56 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 The cost of water
Mr Moyo told Africa in Fact that Bulawayo had resolved to introduce - But Bulawayo residents and civil society organisations are convinced - The local authorities’ resistance to pressure from residents and civil so- - Local government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, then environment, - - ter meters [are] really meant to support councils and service providers to - - ed the move, though he urged local authorities to consult residents and
March / April 2016 57 Zimbabwe: going local Now the ruling party hopes to gain entry to this southern African country’s urban areas
Taking on the cities
Ray Ndlovu
election since it attained independence from colonial Britain in April I - (ZANU-PF) is already sending signals that it wants to gain control over elect their representatives for local government and parliament, as well as the main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led - careful exploitation of the country’s ongoing economic crisis, which it has -
58 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Taking on the cities
which include land reform and indigenisation, have carried a strong un- The key tenet of the land reform programme was to transfer agricultur- population lives in the rural areas, with only - - 90 80 70 60 Agency’s 2012 popula- 50 40 30 20 However, the ruling 10 0 party is now changing 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2014 its tack, and actively seeking support in places it on a collision - ticular, the MDC controls the local councils in the capital, Harare, as well - - who is also the ZANU-PF national commissar, to plot a ruthless ZANU-PF too long the MDC has taken the people for a ride, and as a result service
March / April 2016 59 Taking on the cities
delivery has collapsed,” Mr Kasukuwere told Africa in Fact In his mission “to improve service delivery” at local councils, Mr Kas- - that ZANU-PF has tried to win the A few days after Mr Kasuku- were’s condemnation of the vending activities in Harare’s But Dewa Mavhinga, a senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch in Harare says Mr Kasukuwere’s “clean-up campaign” has only resulted in Meanwhile, the MDC remains unconvinced that Mr Kasukuwere has -
60 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Taking on the cities
- currying favour seems to fall short, ZANU-PF is not shy to use its political capital of the Midlands prov- According to section 278 of the chairpersons and councillors Gweru local council are mem- - picions that the decision was - limited set of reasons, including mental or physical incapacity, gross in- - - ernment minister and national commissar of ZANU-PF is at the centre grassroots support and set up party structures throughout the country, -
March / April 2016 61 Taking on the cities
“When the opposition talks of electoral reforms, they must realise that, [to] give them[selves] an advantage, and no reforms of the Electoral Act - local governance in the country’s major cities, will likely fall on deaf ears, -
62 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Editorial: Special focus—South Africa Do the people govern?
G country, we commissioned research company Markdata to include a administration, as well as economic and social development and service Popular dissatisfaction with local government is growing, with social - - to law and order, education and health services, and sceptical regarding In short, the majority of people interviewed have lost hope in the capac- Our in-house study has provided us with rich data for analysis, on the
March / April 2016 63 Do the people govern?
Out of the top 20 municipalities, 15 are located in the Western Cape, - - The GGA report isolates some of the factors at play in determining the positioning of the various municipalities and makes certain key recom- vast majority of people neither know their ward councillor, nor how to ac- cess them, and that they have not experienced any gains from the work of This leaves us with a conundrum: if governance in a democratic sense then how can we reconcile this with a situation in which the people largely - province or socio-economic group? Tragically, it is the poorest people, that is those in the lowest Living Standards Measure, who show the least satisfaction with the local gover- nors, while simultaneously demonstrating a profound dependency on so- At Good Governance Africa we strive precisely to promote what our
64 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Do the people govern?
Lukhona Mnguni opens our dialogue on South Africa with insightful anal- ysis that not only diagnoses the ills plaguing the nation’s local governance, - - own democratic mantra, Amandla awethu, the power is ours!
Alain Tschudin Executive Director
March / April 2016 65 SA: local government violence on the part of participants or Why the country’s municipalities are Moreover, “issues relating to municipal services and the administration of municipalities were cited more often as cause of protests than all other Grassroots Interestingly, the report concludes that the rise in civic protests does grievances Lukhona Mnguni political statements and even academic ocal government is a constitutional imperative in L 25 percent of households, counting municipalities where protests took place “We need to look for other explanations of Cooperative Governance and for the extensive involvement of the local government as “a key part of the reconstruction and development in protests is strongly associated with into the democratic dispensation, local According to the University of Cape One measure of this is growing main reason why local government is failing is due to a lack of capacity, Government Initiative (MLGI), the City Press, a national The level of violence associated weekly newspaper, revealed that only
66 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Grassroots grievances document, “Guidelines for Municipal minister of COGTA noted that out of 11% Non-municipal services 12% 45% Municipal governance 7% Socio-economic
16% 9% Municipal services As part of its study, City Press cited the example of then municipal manager the same year, the auditor-general (AG) municipalities to deliver services, the crippling lack of capacity in local even with these improvements some reports as follows: to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), except for a few areas; have the power to “take appropriate performance fairly and there is lack of conformity with GAAP; where the AG elects not to issue It is up to them to act on the audit Some improvements in municipalities; and
March / April 2016 67 67 Grassroots grievances
for the AG to receive and carry out latter, citizens cast a vote for a political party and it is a party that decides who These municipalities collectively occupies (in proportion to its gains) the council seat(s) reserved for proportional of money in a country facing serious However, once elected, councillors can recall a councillor if it is displeased losses from municipal mismanagement Internal party politics therefore exert staggering estimates of the cost of corruption and fruitless expenditure In the Eastern Cape province, for for the Advancement of the South instance, the African National Congress African Constitution estimated that (ANC) provincial leadership listed several municipalities as “hot spots” of 2013 article in the Daily Dispatch, an the Institute for Internal Auditors treasurer, Thandiswa Marawu, overlaps with GGA’s rankings of the councillors were expelled from the party Thirdly, it is evident that the ruling however, this same government has not elite has political interests as regards Secondly, a legislative defect The “political-administrative interface”, a phrase of Professor Christopher Thornhill’s, professor emeritus of the University of Pretoria, is mired in system at the local government level overlaps, and a complete separation of constituency-related activities as ward directly elect the individual they More often than not, the mayor and the
68 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Grassroots grievances
are dependent on consultancies for a range of services, including information political considerations with regard to control mechanisms and project As a result, the Municipal Systems involved in formulating and writing an The purpose of the Act was to minimise and terminate the practice of “cadre
100% 90% Limpopo 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% currently in local government, even 30% 20% 10% 0% 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 and CFOs who are employed in local government positions do allow a partial Hollands, a development consultant, priorities for a particular municipality, posits that this is a strategy that allows “the ruling party to supplement its control of most councils with pliant and IDPs are linked to the municipalities’ often weak administrators, only too within their jurisdiction, including contractors, suppliers and local are indeed poor levels of appropriate knowledge and skills sets in local Over the last two decades, local government has consistently shown are not usually full custodians of their which has resulted in a reliance on Lastly, citizens are disengaged least partly a result of the minimal involvement in planning on the part of of the lack of skills and knowledge they are not committed to their IDPs,
March / April 2016 69 69 Grassroots grievances
they discourage interactions with the aspects of municipal governance, such that are inappropriate to their roles as Authority to act on his or her South African Trade Unions secretary- recommendations regarding poor general, calls “a growing social distance empowered to institute sanctions, In 2012, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, including the prosecution of local as having participated in corruption the country needed an active citizenry legislative instruments are already in place, including the Municipal In reality, where they have no further recourse, citizens in poor or marginal Management Finance Act and Treasury This list of challenges might Often, this stimulates intra-political party tensions in a local community, to 2013, this was evident in Tlokwe local municipality (formerly Potchefstroom) also cost the ruling party in the North West province, when ANC its hold on some wards. councillors acted in concert with the opposition to remove a mayor alleged to party, which sparked intra-political party tensions that weakened the party’s to the issue also detracted from the reports depend on organisations and Business stakes are involved, the AG’s reports Day, reported that the ANC had are likely to face inaction, even where suspended 16 of its councillors in March they address technical and professional
70 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 Grassroots grievances
Eastern Cape for their role in ousting South Africa: annual number of protests 250 200 150 Protests two wards out of the 12 it had held in 10
50 0 candidate and the other to the United 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Democratic Movement according to news and opinion outlet, the Daily Maverick a greater receptiveness to the need municipal councils in the province have for institutional reforms such as the electorates must more actively ensure Executive Council for local government moral standing to local government Political parties that wish to recall a to the electoral court, with supporting In fact, the ruling party was facing mounting discontent over many failures in local Presently, indeed, the opposite governance in the municipality. often happens: councillors who have laws relating to local governance are In mid-2015, a former municipal employee, the city manager of the their suspensions, according to the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan afore-mentioned Business Day municipality, Lindiwe Msengana- It is also evident that the Ndlela, went to court to argue that Ben Fihla, an ANC-appointed mayor of the positions need to demonstrate greater municipality, had interfered with her responsiveness to people’s needs and work and prevented her from making
March / April 2016 71 71 Grassroots grievances
senior appointments that would have helped to guard the municipality against Moreover, to maximise citizens’ support of their municipal structures, the election of ward committees should occur simultaneously with that of By then the ANC had appointed a new
and trained on relevant government legislation and good governance practices.
In fact, the ruling party was facing mounting discontent over many failures In April 2015, the National Union of Metalworkers said that the city was “at risk of falling to the opposition prospect of a democratic challenge to The timing of local government They should take place six months would allow for a period during which on relevant government legislation and good governance practices, such as those outlined in the King reports on corporate governance, as well as leadership practices of transparency,
72 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 South Africa: quality of government
The country’s citizens are seriously concerned about the state of their national government
What the people really think
n most surveys of African governance South Africa appears as one I Broadcasting Corporation; of the National Prosecuting Authority; of the - tions in parliament, a student incursion into the parliamentary precinct, a -
March / April 2016 73 What the people really think
Many of Markdata’s interviewers were threatened while attempting - Everywhere, interviewers reported that there was greater sensitivity - - Indeed, the responses were in some cases so extreme that the company that its large following among the coloured population of the Western Cape will gradually seep over into the coloured population of the Northern to the people do you think the government is?” Surveys often lead with a -
74 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
- - - the current government, according to the Independent Electoral Commis- sion, and that ideally one would want everyone in a democracy to see the
6 Government only rerepresentspresents the 5 4 9 4 2 thanpeople the than old theapartheid old aparthei governmentd was 4 5 2 8
4 a 9
20 9 North West 4
8 8 2 4 Natal 6 Free State 11
5 4 4 9
5
© GGA
March / April 2016 75 What the people really think
- - - - - pose that many of the older generation are long-time ANC supporters and have strong emotional reasons for supporting the present government, - - - -
76 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
than the old apartheid government respondents fell into the radically were, the more they felt Turning to the minorities, we found that whites were actually less disillusioned than either coloured or - - ANC-ruled provinces would show higher levels of satisfaction with govern- - -
March / April 2016 77 What the people really think
However, the lowest percentage of people who felt that the government - - Beliefs on government accountability by these groups have long - speakers fell into the radi- - disillusioned that we found among speakers of Seso- tho-Setswana languages (such as Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Sepedi
income level and disillu- © GGA income the more the disil-
78 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
as ownership of cars and major appliances, we again noticed this strong
Handling the economy explanation that “the people in government are generally competent and with their longer attachment to the ANC and experience of the struggle,
© GGA
March / April 2016 79 What the people really think
- - By far the most critical group were Afrikaans-speakers (of all races), - - - terestingly, those apparently least in agreement with the statement earned - - As we had expected, respondents in the (DA-ruled) Western Cape were respondents in the Northern Cape, where we saw the extraordinary distri-
Service delivery - -
80 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
said that “service deliv- ery was worse under this government than it had Thus the electorate falls into two almost exactly -
service delivery and those who are radically disillu- - © GGA - - rikaans-speakers thought that service delivery was now worse than under -
March / April 2016 81 What the people really think
Government performance a) Employment Next we asked respondents to rate government performance on a series - 76.1% % 68.9% 71.9 70.3% 66.4% e formance on rnment per employment: Negativ ve Go
16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ © GGA
- - - that on this cardinal issue, the fact that unemployment is much higher in, for example, the Eastern Cape than in the Western Cape, trumps partisan
82 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think b) Pensions - ents thought the government had done well on this issue as compared to - - Black voters gave government performance on this issue a positive Although half of all white, pensions and social grants” Asian and coloured vot- ers gave the government a negative rating on this issue, nearly a third gave it a posi- c) Social grants Much the same situation - spondents to rate the gov- ernment’s performance on © GGA -
March / April 2016 83 What the people really think
- - - The Western Cape was, indeed, the only province where more respond- d) Education and health - very similar, with around one third of all respondents giving the govern- the receiving end of the government’s poor performance as regards town- -
84 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
Opinion among the three minority groups was massively negative on -
HEALTH 31.4% 45.9% POSITIVE NEGATIVE
EDUCATION 36.1% 43.6% POSITIVE NEGATIVE © GGA
The most striking results elsewhere were in the Northern Cape, where Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the North West respondents gave a predomi- e) Law and order and equality for women We then asked respondents to rate the government’s performance on -
March / April 2016 85 What the people really think
most voters and that very few respondents had strong feelings one way or
LAW & ORDER 16.5% 56.7% POSITIVE NEGATIVE © GGA
- - Limpopo, Free State and the North West were far less negative than oth- - - that the people will surrender power to the state on the understanding that
A law-abiding government?
86 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
- - - it would appear that the groups upon which the government depends for
The five freedoms We then asked respondents whether they felt that the government en-
© GGA
March / April 2016 87 What the people really think
- Again we found that respondents in the Western Cape were the most - -
Are the people heard? Finally, we reminded respondents that the ANC’s slogan was “The Peo- ple Shall Govern” and asked them how that tallied with the fact that fewer - ents agreed with the statement that “people are giving up hope that the - even larger majorities with the same view were found in the Northern Cape -
88 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 What the people really think
- Do you think people are giving up hope that The results of this survey sug- gest that South Africa is expe- with government is very wide - races were willing to compare the present government unfavour- - - © GGA - - On many issues respondents expressed an overwhelming cynicism sug- - the three racial minorities have lost almost all faith in the government to - Second, South Africa is entering a period of economic hard times, of
March / April 2016 89 What the people really think
the governing institutions are to come through such a testing period, it is - It is a dangerous situation in any - society where a majority does even at the outset of this recession, It is already the case that the over- where it feels that the taxes it whelming majority of respondents incompetence for these economic woes and that they reject its argu- -
90 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 SA local government: rankings GGA Government Performance Index 2016© Our survey of the country’s 234 local municipalities reveals a pattern of extremes
Governing Provincial Governing Municipality Province Municipality rank party rank party 1 Swellendam WC DA-ACDP Eastern Cape 2 Hessequa WC DA 1 Kouga ANC 3 Bergrivier WC DA 2 Baviaans DA 4 Swartland WC DA 3 Camdeboo ANC 5 Mossel Bay WC DA 4 Inxuba Yethemba ANC 6 Langeberg WC DA 5 Gariep ANC 7 Overstrand WC DA 6 Kou-Kamma ANC 8 Saldanha WC DA 7 Nxuba ANC 9 Emthanjeni NC ANC 8 Maletswai ANC DA-COPE- 10 Witzenberg WC 9 Ndlambe ANC DCP-IND 11 Cape Agulhas WC ANC 10 Nelson Mandela Bay ANC 12 Beaufort West WC ANC 11 Blue Crane Route ANC 13 Prince Albert WC ANC 12 Makana ANC* 14 Hantam NC DA-COPE 13 Lukhanji ANC 15 Matzikama WC ANC 14 Ikwezi ANC 16 Drakenstein WC DA 15 Inkwanca ANC 17 Richtersveld NC ANC 16 Buffalo City ANC 18 George WC DA 17 Nkonkobe ANC 19 Metsimaholo FS ANC 18 Tsolwana ANC 20 Dihlabeng FS ANC 19 Amahlathi ANC 21 //Khara Hais NC ANC 20 Senqu ANC 22 Lesedi GP ANC 21 Sundays River Valley ANC 23 Ngwathe FS ANC 22 Sakhisizwe ANC 24 Kopanong FS ANC 23 Elundini ANC 25 City of Cape Town WC DA 24 Ngqushwa ANC 26 Kouga EC ANC 25 Emalahleni ANC 27 Mangaung FS ANC 26 Great Kei ANC 28 Kwa Sani KZN ANC 27 Matatiele ANC 29 Cederberg WC ANC 28 King Sabata Dalindyebo ANC 30 Baviaans EC DA 29 Umzimvubu ANC 31 Stellenbosch WC DA 30 Mnquma ANC 32 Bitou WC DA 31 Nyandeni ANC 33 Camdeboo EC ANC 32 Port St Johns ANC 34 Govan Mbeki MP ANC 33 Intsika Yethu ANC 35 Breede Valley WC DA 34 Mhlontlo ANC 36 Umsobomvu NC ANC 35 Engcobo ANC 37 Tswelopele FS ANC 36 Mbhashe ANC 38 Khâi-Ma NC ANC 37 Ingquza Hill ANC 39 Mantsopa FS ANC 38 Ntabankulu ANC
March / April 2016 91 GGA Government Performance Index 2016©
Governing Provincial Governing Municipality Province Municipality rank party rank party 40 Lekwa MP ANC 39 Mbizana ANC 41 Moqhaka FS ANC Free State 42 City of Johannesburg GP ANC 1 Metsimaholo ANC 43 Laingsburg WC DA-COPE 2 Dihlabeng ANC 44 Inxuba Yethemba EC ANC 3 Ngwathe ANC 45 Nama Khoi NC ANC 4 Kopanong ANC 46 uMngeni KZN ANC 5 Mangaung ANC 47 Gariep EC ANC 6 Tswelopele ANC 48 Knysna WC DA 7 Mantsopa ANC 49 City of Matlosana NW ANC* 8 Moqhaka ANC 50 Steve Tshwete MP ANC 9 Nketoana ANC 51 Gamagara NC ANC 10 Mafube ANC 52 Mogale City GP ANC 11 Letsemeng ANC 53 Theewaterskloof WC DA 12 Tokologo ANC 54 Thaba Chweu MP ANC 13 Naledi ANC 55 Greater Kokstad KZN ANC 14 Setsoto ANC 56 Nketoana FS ANC 15 Matjhabeng ANC 57 uMhlathuze KZN ANC 16 Masilonyana ANC 58 Kgatelopele NC ANC 17 Mohokare ANC 59 Modimolle LP ANC 18 Nala ANC 60 Bela-Bela LP ANC 19 Phumelela ANC 61 Mafube FS ANC 20 Maluti-A-Phofung ANC 62 Letsemeng FS ANC Gauteng 63 Lephalale LP ANC 1 Lesedi ANC 64 Moses Kotane NW ANC 2 City of Johannesburg ANC 65 City of Tshwane GP ANC 3 Mogale City ANC 66 Tokologo FS ANC 4 City of Tshwane ANC 67 Midvaal GP DA 5 Midvaal DA 68 Naledi FS ANC 6 Merafong City ANC 69 Kou-Kamma EC ANC 7 Emfuleni ANC 70 eThekwini KZN ANC 8 Ekurhuleni ANC 71 Merafong City GP ANC 9 Randfontein ANC 72 Setsoto FS ANC 10 Westonaria ANC 73 Nxuba EC ANC KwaZulu-Natal 74 Oudtshoorn WC ANC* 1 Kwa Sani ANC 75 Naledi NW ANC 2 uMngeni ANC 76 Emfuleni GP ANC 3 Greater Kokstad ANC 77 Maletswai EC ANC 4 uMhlathuze ANC 78 Ndlambe EC ANC 5 eThekwini ANC 79 Siyathemba NC ANC 6 Endumeni ANC 80 Endumeni KZN ANC 7 Emnambithi-Ladysmith ANC 81 Karoo Hoogland NC DA-COPE 8 Newcastle ANC
92 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 GGA Government Performance Index 2016©
Governing Provincial Governing Municipality Province Municipality rank party rank party 82 Sol Plaatje NC ANC 9 Umdoni ANC 83 Mookgophong LP ANC 10 Mandeni ANC 84 Kamiesberg NC ANC 11 KwaDukuza ANC 85 Nelson Mandela Bay EC ANC 12 Mpofana ANC 86 Kannaland WC ICOSA -ANC 13 Hibiscus Coast ANC 87 Matjhabeng FS ANC 14 Msunduzi ANC 88 Kareeberg NC ANC 15 AbaQulusi ANC 89 Blue Crane Route EC ANC 16 Richmond ANC 90 Masilonyana FS ANC 17 Ulundi IFP 91 Emakhazeni MP ANC 18 Dannhauser ANC 92 Pixley ka Isaka Seme MP ANC 19 uMtshezi ANC 93 Thembelihle NC ANC 20 Mthonjaneni ANC-NFP 94 Umjindi MP ANC 21 uMshwathi ANC 95 Renosterberg NC ANC 22 Ingwe ANC 96 Victor Khanye MP ANC 23 Impendle ANC 97 Ekurhuleni GP ANC 24 Ezinqoleni ANC 98 Mohokare FS ANC 25 eDumbe NFP Emnambithi- 99 KZN ANC 26 eMadlangeni ANC Ladysmith 100 Kai !Garib NC ANC 27 Big Five False Bay IFP 101 Nala FS ANC 28 Mkhambathini ANC 102 Makana EC ANC* 29 Nkandla IFP 103 Randfontein GP ANC 30 uPhongolo ANC 104 Newcastle KZN ANC 31 Okhahlamba ANC 105 Lukhanji EC ANC 32 uMfolozi ANC 106 Umdoni KZN ANC 33 Umvoti ANC 107 Mandeni KZN ANC 34 uMuziwabantu ANC 108 KwaDukuza KZN ANC 35 Nquthu ANC-NFP 109 Ikwezi EC ANC 36 uMzimkhulu ANC 110 Ubuntu NC ANC 37 Mtubatuba ANC 111 Mogalakwena LP ANC 38 uMlalazi ANC 112 Dipaleseng MP ANC 39 Indaka ANC-NFP* 113 Tlokwe NW ANC 40 Nongoma NFP 114 Mpofana KZN ANC 41 Ubuhlebezwe ANC 115 Hibiscus Coast KZN ANC 42 Hlabisa IFP 116 Msukaligwa MP ANC 43 Jozini ANC 117 Msunduzi KZN ANC 44 Imbabazane ANC* 118 Mbombela MP ANC 45 Msinga IFP 119 Polokwane LP ANC 46 Umzumbe ANC 120 Inkwanca EC ANC 47 uMhlabuyalingana ANC 121 Tsantsabane NC ANC 48 Ndwedwe ANC 122 Buffalo City EC ANC 49 Maphumulo ANC 123 Phumelela FS ANC 50 Vulamehlo ANC
March / April 2016 93 GGA Government Performance Index 2016©
Governing Provincial Governing Municipality Province Municipality rank party rank party 124 Lepelle-Nkumpi LP ANC 51 Ntambanana ANC 125 Nkonkobe EC ANC Limpopo 126 Makhado LP ANC 1 Modimolle ANC 127 Chief Albert Luthuli MP ANC 2 Bela-Bela ANC 128 Mier NC ANC 3 Lephalale ANC 129 Lekwa-Teemane NW ANC 4 Mookgophong ANC 130 Maluti-A-Phofung FS ANC 5 Mogalakwena ANC 131 AbaQulusi KZN ANC 6 Polokwane ANC 132 Richmond KZN ANC 7 Lepelle-Nkumpi ANC 133 Emalahleni MP ANC 8 Makhado ANC 134 Tsolwana EC ANC 9 Musina ANC 135 Ulundi KZN IFP 10 Thabazimbi ANC 136 Dannhauser KZN ANC 11 Ba-Phalaborwa ANC 137 Magareng NC ANC 12 Mutale ANC 138 Amahlathi EC ANC 13 Blouberg ANC 139 Musina LP ANC 14 Greater Tzaneen ANC 140 Senqu EC ANC 15 Greater Letaba ANC 141 Thabazimbi LP ANC 16 Fetakgomo ANC 142 Dr JS Moroka MP ANC 17 Elias Motsoaledi ANC 143 Ga-Segonyana NC ANC 18 Maruleng ANC 144 Mahikeng NW ANC 19 Molemole ANC 145 Joe Morolong NC ANC 20 Aganang ANC 146 uMtshezi KZN ANC 21 Thulamela ANC 147 Ramotshere Moiloa NW ANC 22 Ephraim Mogale ANC 148 Siyancuma NC ANC 23 Greater Giyani ANC 149 Mthonjaneni KZN ANC-NFP 24 Makhuduthamaga ANC 150 Dikgatlong NC ANC 25 Greater Tubatse ANC 151 Thembisile Hani MP ANC Mpumalanga 152 Ba-Phalaborwa LP ANC 1 Govan Mbeki ANC 153 Westonaria GP ANC 2 Lekwa ANC 154 Sundays River Valley EC ANC 3 Steve Tshwete ANC 155 Moretele NW ANC 4 Thaba Chweu ANC 156 Mutale LP ANC 5 Emakhazeni ANC 157 Blouberg LP ANC 6 Pixley ka Isaka Seme ANC 158 uMshwathi KZN ANC 7 Umjindi ANC 159 Ingwe KZN ANC 8 Victor Khanye ANC 160 Phokwane NC ANC 9 Dipaleseng ANC 161 Greater Tzaneen LP ANC 10 Msukaligwa ANC 162 Rustenburg NW ANC 11 Mbombela ANC 163 Impendle KZN ANC 12 Chief Albert Luthuli ANC 164 Greater Letaba LP ANC 13 Emalahleni ANC 165 Ezinqoleni KZN ANC 14 Dr JS Moroka ANC
94 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 GGA Government Performance Index 2016©
Governing Provincial Governing Municipality Province Municipality rank party rank party 166 eDumbe KZN NFP 15 Thembisile Hani ANC 167 eMadlangeni KZN ANC 16 Bushbuckridge ANC 168 Fetakgomo LP ANC 17 Mkhondo ANC 169 Big Five False Bay KZN IFP 18 Nkomazi ANC 170 Mkhambathini KZN ANC Northern Cape 171 Nkandla KZN IFP 1 Emthanjeni ANC 172 Elias Motsoaledi LP ANC 2 Hantam DA-COPE 173 Ventersdorp NW ANC* 3 Richtersveld ANC 174 Madibeng NW ANC* 4 //Khara Hais ANC 175 uPhongolo KZN ANC 5 Umsobomvu ANC 176 Ratlou NW ANC 6 Khâi-Ma ANC 177 Okhahlamba KZN ANC 7 Nama Khoi ANC 178 Maquassi Hills NW ANC 8 Gamagara ANC 179 Maruleng LP ANC 9 Kgatelopele ANC 180 Mamusa NW ANC 10 Siyathemba ANC 181 Molemole LP ANC 11 Karoo Hoogland DA-COPE 182 uMfolozi KZN ANC 12 Sol Plaatje ANC 183 Umvoti KZN ANC 13 Kamiesberg ANC 184 Sakhisizwe EC ANC 14 Kareeberg ANC 185 Kgetlengrivier NW ANC 15 Thembelihle ANC 186 uMuziwabantu KZN ANC 16 Renosterberg ANC 187 Elundini EC ANC 17 Kai !Garib ANC 188 Ditsobotla NW ANC 18 Ubuntu ANC 189 Aganang LP ANC 19 Tsantsabane ANC 190 Bushbuckridge MP ANC 20 Mier ANC 191 Ngqushwa EC ANC 21 Magareng ANC 192 Nquthu KZN ANC-NFP 22 Ga-Segonyana ANC 193 Tswaing NW ANC* 23 Joe Morolong ANC 194 Emalahleni EC ANC 24 Siyancuma ANC 195 !Kheis NC ANC 25 Dikgatlong ANC 196 uMzimkhulu KZN ANC 26 Phokwane ANC 197 Mtubatuba KZN ANC 27 !Kheis ANC 198 uMlalazi KZN ANC North West Province 199 Mkhondo MP ANC 1 City of Matlosana ANC* 200 Great Kei EC ANC 2 Moses Kotane ANC 201 Indaka KZN ANC-NFP* 3 Naledi ANC 202 Thulamela LP ANC 4 Tlokwe ANC 203 Kagisano-Molopo NW ANC 5 Lekwa-Teemane ANC 204 Matatiele EC ANC 6 Mahikeng ANC 205 Nongoma KZN NFP 7 Ramotshere Moiloa ANC 206 Ephraim Mogale LP ANC 8 Moretele ANC 207 Ubuhlebezwe KZN ANC 9 Rustenburg ANC
March / April 2016 95 GGA Government Performance Index 2016©
Governing Provincial Governing Municipality Province Municipality rank party rank party 208 Hlabisa KZN IFP 10 Ventersdorp ANC* 209 Greater Giyani LP ANC 11 Madibeng ANC* 210 Jozini KZN ANC 12 Ratlou ANC 211 Nkomazi MP ANC 13 Maquassi Hills ANC 212 Imbabazane KZN ANC* 14 Mamusa ANC 213 Makhuduthamaga LP ANC 15 Kgetlengrivier ANC 214 Msinga KZN IFP 16 Ditsobotla ANC* King Sabata Dalindye- 215 EC ANC 17 Tswaing ANC* bo 216 Greater Taung NW ANC 18 Kagisano-Molopo ANC 217 Umzimvubu EC ANC 19 Greater Taung ANC 218 Mnquma EC ANC Western Cape 219 Umzumbe KZN ANC 1 Swellendam DA-ACDP 220 uMhlabuyalingana KZN ANC 2 Hessequa DA 221 Nyandeni EC ANC 3 Bergrivier DA 222 Ndwedwe KZN ANC 4 Swartland DA 223 Port St Johns EC ANC 5 Mossel Bay DA 224 Intsika Yethu EC ANC 6 Langeberg DA 225 Mhlontlo EC ANC 7 Overstrand DA 226 Engcobo EC ANC 8 Saldanha DA DA-COPE- 227 Maphumulo KZN ANC 9 Witzenberg DCP-IND 228 Mbhashe EC ANC 10 Cape Agulhas ANC 229 Greater Tubatse LP ANC 11 Beaufort West ANC 230 Vulamehlo KZN ANC 12 Prince Albert ANC 231 Ingquza Hill EC ANC 13 Matzikama ANC 232 Ntambanana KZN ANC 14 Drakenstein DA 233 Ntabankulu EC ANC 15 George DA 234 Mbizana EC ANC 16 City of Cape Town DA 17 Cederberg ANC 18 Stellenbosch DA 19 Bitou DA 20 Breede Valley DA ACDP African Christian Democratic Party 21 Laingsburg DA-COPE ANC African National Congress 22 Knysna DA COPE Congress of the People 23 Theewaterskloof DA DA Democratic Alliance 24 Oudtshoorn ANC* DCP Democratic Christian Party ICOSA- 25 Kannaland ICOSA Independent Civic Organisation of South Africa ANC IFP Inkatha Freedom Party IND Independent KGP Karoo Gemeenskap Party NFP National Freedom Party * Indicates the municipality is currently under provincial administration
96 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 South Africa local government: where do we stand? Observations GGA Government Performance Index GGA’s national ranking of South 2016: analysis and interpretation Africa’s municipalities shows that the top three performing municipalities are The good, the top 20 municipalities, 15 are in the Christian Democratic Party coalition and municipalities ranked second to Data and methodology GGA’s Government Performance The Northern Cape Province has three municipalities in the top 20; these municipalities were excluded on account other province with municipalities in the top 20 is the Free State, represented In determining the rankings, GGA gathered data on 15 indicators across three clusters: administration, economic The top three municipalities performed particularly well with Data for the GPI was sourced from regard to the economic development indicators of unemployment and poverty, with all three municipalities 2015), the Auditor General’s Reports, in the top 10 of each of these individual service delivery indicator, electricity, are eight service delivery indicators, with all three featuring in the top 20 conveying the service delivery in each of the individual indicators’ performance of municipalities with the municipalities did not do well on the In addition to these eight, there are four economic development indicators
March / April 2016 97 97
T Indicator : 1 2 Financial 4 Poverty per month 5 6 Unemployment rate to the interview” 8 Water access to piped water 9 10 11 Electricity electricity 12 14 15 Police coverage
Eastern Cape accounts for 12 out of the South Africa’s worst-performing 20 worst performing municipalities in and Greater Taung in the North West
98 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36
Contrasting the top 20 and the The top 20 municipalities performed infer which of the indicators make the particularly well as regards two administration indicators, municipal 10 continuous indicators that were used in the rankings, excluding health and to the third, the reporting compliance indicator, with some of the lowly ranked education, electricity, weekly refuse removal, poverty rates, individual With regard to electricity, on average this indicator, while still remaining in
ANC 1 - 59 Coalition 1 - 59 Municipal rankings by party ANC 60 - 117 Coalition 60 - 117 ANC 118 - 176 Coalition 118 - 176 ANC 177 - 234 Coalition top 177 - 234 DA 1 - 59 Provincial administration DA 60 - 117 Top 20 municipalities IFP 118 - 176 ! Bottom 20 municipalities IFP 177 - 234 !
NFP 118 - 176 NFP 177 - 234
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© GGA
99 99
VS EASTERN WESTERN CAPE CAPE consist of formal houses, a massive 1.44 3.21 Another service delivery indicator that © GGA to have no access to sanitation facilities refuse removal emerged as another important distinguishing indicator, The average proportion of people pass in the top 20 municipalities is of households with this service in the only slightly higher than the national Similarly, the share of households without access to piped water averaged Moving on to the indicators on economic opportunity, the proportion of individuals with a monthly income is of residents have no access to piped water, a marked contrast to Swellendam the midst of high unemployment rates
© GGA
100 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36
grants, which are included in the Unemployment rates, on the other Similarly, poverty levels are much lower in the top 20 performing of households earn less than R2,300 © GGA Municipalities’ administrative that province, the only two exceptions the highest rating for this indicator, With regard to compliance in annual These perform well in poverty rates, electricity and all the administration were deemed compliant, 11 of them in Midvaal in Gauteng is the lowest- ranking DA municipality, though it with reporting standards, followed Its performance was negatively Northern Cape with 13 municipalities Turning to where the political parties second-worst performing muncipality led municipalities are in the Western
Households living in poverty*
WESTERN CAPE VS
EASTERN 5 in ten households 7 in ten households CAPE h © GGA
101 101
In the discussion that follows, municipalites generally performed well we will make repeated references to As regards service delivery, the
© GGA
DA’s highlights include refuse removal, default, we have already discussed the water, sanitation and provision of highlights are municipal capacity and the Western Cape, most municipalities are ANC-led such that the discussion development, the DA did well as from this stage implicitly reports on the regards the poverty and unemployment We mentioned earlier that most of the worst performing municipalities It reports the national averages and poverty rates, unemployment and poor these indicators the Western Cape has superior averages which relate to the regard to the poverty indicator for instance, the worst performing eight ANC’s average for the health facilities municipalities nationally on poverty indicator is the only one that out- parties and coalitions in KZN, Northern ranked provincial municipality on that clearly showing the poor performance of have relatively weak averages for the service delivery indicators, especially It is also important to report refuse removal, sanitation, water and that even though Eastern
102 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 average NW 4 MP LP Provinces 2 KZN 2 GP FS Other* DA Variable GGA Municipal capacity Financial soundness Financial Poverty Monthly income Monthly Unemployment Water Electricity Housing Refuse Police coverage Police Table 2: Average municipal indicators by party and province by municipal indicators 2: Average Table ©
103 103
© GGA
Cape municipalities generally underperformed, we noticed strengths for instance, eight of the KZN municipalities are among the worst performing 10 municipalities in the and Nyandeni which all had the top scores in the administration indicators While the underperformance of the ANC-led municipalities on service delivery and economic development municipalities in KZN were similar emerging pattern, we noted some earlier, 25 of the 51 municipalities in the is on education, where the results province had top scores in municipal show a rather strong performance in capacity and nine had top scores on It would seem that the ANC-led municipalities tend to perform well top 10 national municipalities for that well on poverty rates and is ranked delivery indicators and on economic
WESTERN CAPE O
TW FOUR VS
EASTERN 10 CAPE © GGA
104 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36
more than the economic development Limpopo and the Free State municipalities performed well on The Gauteng municipalities, where municipalities in Limpopo, 16 had the performed well on education and top scores on the housing indicator while only three of the 20 municipalities in the Free State did not get the top income and all the administration Matlosana is the top municipality with the worst average on police coverage Another North West municipality
© GGA that performed well on sanitation is to evaluate the performance of all However, North West has the worst Relations (IRR) selected 10 of its a pattern in the performance of the country’s municipalities a “service municipalities in Northern Cape, except perhaps to reiterate that the province however, that their score also included had three spots in the top 20 national ranked their scores and compared them other municipalities were service delivery and administration indicators
105 105 their top rank, as it did on our overall Municipalities with higher age rankings (although it only ranked 13th dependency ratios are more likely to Whereas the IRR score has two indicators each for sanitation and water, ours had one indicator each for for every 100 people in the working- municipalities in the top 20 have an we included poverty and unemployment average dependency ratio of 50, much indicators, which in our ranking fall under economic development, municipalities tend to have larger working-age populations relative to important to note that other important municipalities are more likely to have One of these is the demographic spread and a larger household size than their Figure 2 suggests that the higher Trends in population growth are the population density the higher the municipalities experience a population ranked poorly with regard to these 1 20 WESTERN 100 100 CAPE VS
EASTERN FOUR TWO CAPE in in FIVE FIVE © GGA
106 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 the historicity involved in the current Taken as a whole, our GGA rankings communicate the urgency with coincidence that the lowest ranked municipalities in our rankings are also service delivery in the lower ranked or homeland, namely the Transkei nationally representative governance protectorate and which was annexed to and economic development are fast- tracked, particularly in impoverished Former homeland governments Finally, municipal administrators under-development and endemic initiative that would promote improved history, however, it remains somewhat clearly, GGA has created three accessi-
1-78 79 -156 156 - 234
© GGA
107 107
Economic development rankings by municipality
1 -78 79 - 156 156 - 234
© GGA
Service delivery rankings by municipality
1 -78 79 - 156 156 - 234
© GGA
108 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36
ANC 1 - 59 Coalition 1 - 59 Municipal rankings by party ANC 60 - 117 Coalition 60 - 117 with former homelands ANC 118 - 176 Coalition 118 - 176 ANC 177 - 234 Coalition top 177 - 234 DA 1 - 59 Provincial administration DA 60 - 117 Top 20 municipalities IFP 118 - 176 ! Bottom 20 municipalities
IFP 177 - 234 Former homelands ! NFP 118 - 176 NFP 177 - 234
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109 109 SA local government: ward councillors survey Citizens share their perceptions of local government representations with Markdata
‘We will see them when it is election time’
M In the light of the upcoming local elections in May of this year, Markda- - had access to, or knew how to get access to their councillors if needed and whether they knew if these councillors had done anything in the past year They were then asked to rate the statement “How well does the council- lor look after your interests in the ward” on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 was “Does not look after my interests at all” and 10 was “Looks after my inter- ests very well”) and provide their reasons for the rating in an open-ended -
110 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 36 ‘We will see them when it is election time’
When asked whether they knew if their councillor had done anything in For the rating of the councillors the overall Living Standards Measur- -
categories mainly translate into a lack of contact with, and low or non- On the other hand the positive ratings, even though they were in the and improved service delivery in terms of roads and water and sanitation So what makes a good councillor? Someone who is in touch with the To conclude, the results do not indicate that local councillors do not
March / April 2016 111 ‘We will see them when it is election time’
- gard! And ironically, those in lower LSMs are still not seeing any progress
112 AFRICA IN FACT | ISSUE 35 World Human Development Index
Rank Rank Rank Rank Norway 1 Kuwait 48 Libya 94 Bangladesh 142 Australia 2 Montenegro 49 Tunisia 96 Cambodia 143 Sao Tome and Switzerland 3 Belarus 50 Colombia 97 143 Principe Saint Vincent and Denmark 4 Russian Federation 50 97 Kenya 145 the Grenadines Netherlands 5 Oman 52 Jamaica 99 Nepal 145 Germany 6 Romania 52 Tonga 100 Pakistan 147 Ireland 6 Uruguay 52 Belize 101 Myanmar 148 United States 8 Bahamas 55 Dominican Republic 101 Angola 149 Canada 9 Kazakhstan 56 Suriname 103 Swaziland 150 New Zealand 9 Barbados 57 Maldives 104 Tanzania 151 Antigua and Bar- Singapore 11 58 Samoa 105 Nigeria 152 buda Hong Kong, China 12 Bulgaria 59 Botswana 106 Cameroon 153 Liechtenstein 13 Palau 60 Moldova 107 Madagascar 154 Sweden 14 Panama 60 Egypt 108 Zimbabwe 155 United Kingdom 14 Malaysia 62 Turkmenistan 109 Mauritania 156 Iceland 16 Mauritius 63 Gabon 110 Solomon Islands 156 Korea (Republic of) 17 Seychelles 64 Indonesia 110 Papua New Guinea 158 Trinidad and Israel 18 64 Paraguay 112 Comoros 159 Tobago Luxembourg 19 Serbia 66 Palestine 113 Yemen 160 Japan 20 Cuba 67 Uzbekistan 114 Lesotho 161 Belgium 21 Lebanon 67 Philippines 115 Togo 162 France 22 Costa Rica 69 El Salvador 116 Haiti 163 Austria 23 Iran 69 South Africa 116 Rwanda 163 Finland 24 Venezuela 71 Viet Nam 116 Uganda 163 Slovenia 25 Turkey 72 Bolivia 119 Benin 166 Spain 26 Sri Lanka 73 Kyrgyzstan 120 Sudan 167 Italy 27 Mexico 74 Iraq 121 Djibouti 168 Czech Republic 28 Brazil 75 Cabo Verde 122 South Sudan 169 Greece 29 Georgia 76 Micronesia 123 Senegal 170 Estonia 30 St Kitts and Nevis 77 Guyana 124 Afghanistan 171 Brunei Darussalam 31 Azerbaijan 78 Nicaragua 125 Côte d'Ivoire 172 Cyprus 32 Grenada 79 Morocco 126 Malawi 173 Qatar 32 Jordan 80 Namibia 126 Ethiopia 174 Andorra 34 Macedonia 81 Guatemala 128 Gambia 175 Slovakia 35 Ukraine 81 Tajikistan 129 Congo (DRC) 176 Poland 36 Algeria 83 India 130 Liberia 177 Lithuania 37 Peru 84 Honduras 131 Guinea-Bissau 178 Malta 37 Albania 85 Bhutan 132 Mali 179 Saudi Arabia 39 Armenia 85 Timor-Leste 133 Mozambique 180 Bosnia and Herze- Argentina 40 85 Syria 134 Sierra Leone 181 govina United Arab Emirates 41 Ecuador 88 Vanuatu 134 Guinea 182 Chile 42 Saint Lucia 89 Congo 136 Burkina Faso 183 Portugal 43 China 90 Kiribati 137 Burundi 184 Hungary 44 Fiji 90 Equatorial Guinea 138 Chad 185 Bahrain 45 Mongolia 90 Zambia 139 Eritrea 186 Central African Latvia 46 Thailand 93 Ghana 140 187 Republic Croatia 47 Dominica 94 Laos 141 Niger 188 Tunisia 96
Morocco126 Algeria Western 83 Libya Sahara 94 Egypt 108
Cabo VerdeMauritania 122 156 Eritrea Mali Niger 186 Senegal 179 188 Sudan Gambia 170 Chad 167 175 185 Guinea Burkina183 Faso 168 Guinea-Bissau 182 Benin 178 166 Nigeria 152 Ethiopia Côte Ghana Central African 174 Sierra Leone d’Ivoire 140 South Sudan 181 172 Republic 169 Liberia Togo Cameroon 187 177 162 153 Equatorial Guinea Somalia 138 Rwanda Gabon Uganda163 Kenya 110 136 163 145 São Tomé and Príncipe Congo (Rep.) 143 Congo (DRC) Burundi 176 184 Seychelles Tanzania 64 151
Comoros Angola Malawi 159 149 Zambia 173 139 Human Development Index 180
ranking, 2015 (out of 188) Mozambique Zimbabwe 60-125 155 63 Namibia Botswana 154 126-150 126 106 Madagascar 151-175 Swaziland >176 150 South Africa 116 Lesotho 161
Africa’s Human Development Index Source: UN Development Programme
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