Municipalities in SouthAfrica are given a standardised mandate of how best to fulfil their roles and responsibilities. Standardised solutions to challenges facing municipalities were discussed at a local government indaba hosted by the Department of Cooperative Governance and TraditionalAffairs in October 2009. But such solutions are unlikely to work, given the enormous differences among municipalities.

The poverty rates in municipalities range from as low as 23% for the West Coast District Municipality (DM) in the Western Cape to as high as 76% for the Alfred Nzo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape. In line with these poverty rates, other indicators for these two municipalities are almost always at opposite ends of the spectrum. The level of service delivery inAlfred Nzo is extremely low compared to that of the West Coast DM. More than half the households in Alfred Nzo do not have access to clean water, electricity, adequate sanitation facilities, and refuse disposal. Less than 10% of households in theWest Coast DM do not have such access. When it comes to access to communication and other amenities, the picture is even bleaker forAlfred Nzo. More than 70% of households there lack refrigerators, 68% have no television television, and 32% are without a radio.

Less than 20%of households have access to a refrigerator, television, and radio. Taking these indicators, and others that have previously been published by the Institute, into account, it is clear that the worst municipality in the country is the Alfred Nzo District Municipality while the best is the West Coast District Municipality. Other indicators can be found in the supplement to the Institute’s South Africa Survey entitled Local Government and the Poverty Challenge. Not all differences between municipalities are as vast as those just described.

But it is clear that a uniform approach to resolving issues of service delivery inadequacies and poverty will not yield the best results for both municipalities or for all 283 municipalities in the country. The first step to solving local government problems would be to employ suitable people to key positions within municipalities — people who can draw up plans based on each municipality’s specific strengths and weaknesses. There should be an end to corrupt hiring practices (as detailed in the review of municipalities published by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs).

— Nthamaga Kgafela