For far too long, politicians across all levels of government in SA have ventured beyond their mandates, commenting on matters outside their authority or interfering in administrative processes.
One area where such interference is clearly visible is in local government.
When politicians involve themselves in operational matters, the results are invariably negative and felt far and wide because local government is at the coalface of service delivery.
Overreach leads political leadership to undermine the very systems it is meant to protect.
It is in this context that recent remarks by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane that politicians refrain from meddling in administration in municipalities were refreshing.
Delivering his closing remarks at the ANC provincial executive committee lekgotla last week, Mabuyane reminded his comrades about the importance of politicians “staying in their lane”.
He was the first to admit that politicians are destabilising municipalities, citing tender awarding as an example.
Such statements are not new. We have heard many similar remarks before, not only from Mabuyane but even higher offices too.
A quick reminder would be that during the opening of parliament in July 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the seventh administration intended to “fix our struggling municipalities”.
To date, nothing much has been achieved. And we are almost sure we will hear the same sentiments regurgitated in this year’s state of the nation address on Thursday.
With all these statements having come from ANC leaders, the same organisation that has presided over the country’s many dysfunctional municipalities for close to three decades, we wonder what will make the leopard change its spots this time around.
It also begs the question whether Mabuyane’s strongly-worded statement was just part of electioneering talk, given that local government elections are due this year?
Or it’s just the same talk on repeat, with nothing changing?
In his speech, he cited the nefarious practice of some people getting employed before even being interviewed.
Surely this should not come as a surprise to anyone as it follows the line of ANC cadre deployment.
Through ANC cadre deployment people without proper qualifications have been appointed to senior administrative positions, with the results proving disastrous.
Worse still, through this system officials with their hands caught in the cookie jar have been transferred to other organs of state, thereby encouraging wrongdoing.
Until there is the political will to walk the talk, issues of accountability, separation of powers and consequence management will remain elusive.
Statements about politicians maintaining their lane will continue to sound hollow. And many municipalities will remain dysfunctional.
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