Independent oversight urged as corruption deepens in municipalities

Corruption casts a long shadow over South Africa’s municipal governance, undermining service delivery and leaving communities that rely on water, sanitation, and electricity to bear the brunt of misused funds. 

As watchdogs and analysts warn, the rot begins at the top and filters down to the street level, where residents seek basic essentials.

A string of reports over the past year has underscored the severity of the problem. 

In August last year, Duja Consulting released a report titled The Pressing Issue of Corruption in South African Municipalities. 

It argued that corrupt officials may demand kickbacks or artificially inflate contract prices to enrich themselves, driving up costs for municipalities and, by extension, taxpayers and ratepayers.

The report cautioned that a forensic approach to addressing corruption is essential. Such an approach, it said, is needed to uncover and rectify misuses of resources and ensure that money earmarked for essential services reaches the people who need it.

Corruption Watch (CW) has consistently highlighted the problem's local government dimension. 

A CW report for 2024 revealed that the organization received more than 2,000 corruption complaints in 2023. 

Earlier, a 2023 CW report identified local government as a key area where corruption was prevalent. 

Of the five municipalities with the highest corruption reports, three metropolitan municipalities, Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Cape Town - collectively accounted for 71% of all reported incidents.

The persistence of corruption at the local level has prompted calls for independent oversight. 

Speaking to IOL, Paul Maritz, director at FreeSA, argued that South Africa needs independent oversight in local government to curtail corruption. 

“South Africa’s bloated and often unaccountable municipal bureaucracies create fertile ground for corruption to thrive. Internal investigations rarely lead to consequences because they are conducted by systems that enable misconduct.

“To honour the Constitution’s promise of transparent and ethical governance, we need a leaner, cleaner state – even at the municipal level – where independent oversight and public accountability are the norm, not the exception,” Maritz stated.

Zakhele Ndlovu, a political analyst, contends that corruption has become entrenched in the country, especially in municipalities. 

“It appears that 96% of members of municipal councils are incorrigible. It’s not just a case of a few rotten apples. Corruption Watch has reported extensively on cases of corruption across municipalities.

“There is just no political will to deal with corruption. Whistle-blower complaints that deal with and detail corruption go unattended. We can't expect municipalities to investigate themselves because they are fundamentally compromised,” said Ndlovu.

He referenced KwaZulu-Natal police head Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's claims of police criminal syndicates that are alleged to have infiltrated the criminal justice system and extended to local, provincial, and national governments. 

“South Africa is a kakistocracy-cum-mafia state. Yes, while investigations into corruption are conducted, the findings are never implemented, just as is the case with the findings of commissions of inquiry.”

Ndlovu warned of broader political consequences if inaction continues. He suggested voter turnout could slump in next year’s local government elections as citizens lose faith in the political system. 

“Citizens have lost trust and confidence in the whole political system. Our electoral system exacerbates the problem, which makes so-called public representatives accountable to the party that deploys them instead of the voters. Local government is supposed to be the sphere of government closest to the people, but that is not the case.”

A lingering impression from academic and practitioner voices is that reform is overdue. 

A 2016 case study by Price Basopu, ‘Critical assessment of corruption in municipalities and its impact on service delivery: case study Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’, pointed to longstanding weaknesses in anti-corruption strategies. 

The study highlighted widespread non-compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), Treasury Regulations, and procurement policies, noting that despite more than two decades of democracy, political and administrative challenges persist at the municipal level.

thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za

IOL Politics