Cape Town - The Department of Local Government said it would steer clear of the ongoing municipal government coalition talks between the various political parties on hung councils throughout the Western Cape.
During a meeting to discuss the department’s 2020/21 annual report, committee member Danville Smith (ANC) asked whether there were any mechanisms in place to manage situations with regards to coalitions and other governance options in the hung municipalities.
Local Government MEC Anton Bredell said political negotiations were not part of the department’s mandate.
“The coalition negotiations are out of our domain as they are a political thing. Our advice is on legal matters in legally constituted councils.
“We will be there to advise the municipal manager because there’s a lot of pressure on them as the presiding officers who have to oversee the first item, which is the election of a speaker.
“Political parties must not try to bully municipal staff into giving them what they want.
“The department will offer the same service to all municipalities. We need to be there for all municipalities irrespective of the political dispensation or the politics of the day,” said Bredell.
He said he was concerned with maintaining financial discipline in the various municipalities.
Department head Graham Paulse said: “Increasingly, municipalities are struggling in relation to finances and we need to review the existing financial model for municipalities.”
He said that in the financial year under review, the department had established the Municipal Forensic Unit to strengthen the internal capacity of municipalities to conduct investigations.
Committee chairperson Derrick America (DA) said: “The department played a very strategic role in ensuring that municipalities were sufficiently capacitated to carry out their mandates.
“We will continue to monitor the department's work in the remainder of the 2021/22 financial year and how it will contribute towards facilitating recovery in the months to come,” America said.
