As the votes are being counted following the November 1 local government elections, many municipalities fall far short in delivering services to their residents, business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) Busi Mavuso says in her weekly newsletter.

“From rubbish collection to water delivery, and of course electricity, we often feel that our local services fall short of what we can reasonably expect.

“Service delivery failures also hit businesses hard. Municipalities are the weak link in our economic growth plans, making it expensive and difficult to do business. Interruptions to water or electricity supply due to failing municipal infrastructure can be an impossible burden for businesses,” she points out.

Mavuso says there have been several examples of high-profile businesses being forced to close or move their production owing to unreliable local services from municipalities..

One example of such failure is chicken producer Astral, which had to take court action against the Lekwa municipality to try to secure services at its Standerton plant, in Mpumalanga.

“It is the biggest employer in the town but service supply disruptions are costing it millions, a situation that is unsustainable,” Mavuso emphasises.

She says the other problem businesses face is the cost of substituting for failing municipal services.

“These can be to protect their operations, such as installing generators and water filtration and storage systems, but businesses also often step in to directly provide services to their communities.

“Some send their own engineers to fix municipal water treatment plants; others go out and repair potholes themselves. Many businesses do this as a contribution to supporting their communities, but it does come at a cost. Were we to have efficient and effective municipal service delivery, the cost of business would fall, enabling many more businesses to operate. That would help grow the economy and employ more people,” Mavuso says.

She highlights the auditor-general’s yearly report on the financial state of municipalities, with not even a quarter of municipalities having been able to provide performance reports that should show how they are progressing in meeting their strategic delivery objectives.

There was material non-compliance at 86% of municipalities, many failing because they were not compliant with supply chain legislation, Mavuso notes.

“This is an unacceptable record. It has a direct cost, in that scarce public funds are not being used to deliver the services that citizens should be receiving – there was irregular expenditure of over R26-billion last year, money that could have been spent on improved infrastructure and services. But it also has an immeasurable indirect cost as employers simply move elsewhere,” Mavuso says.

She says the country’s democratic system should be able to solve these problems.

“Many of those who voted yesterday spoke of their frustrations over service delivery. Of course, the Stage 4 load-shedding we experienced last week made this very clear and some politicians were eager to assure voters that their municipalities are investing in alternative energy providers that will improve energy security.

“These are the right things to say and, now that elections are done, I hope they are words that newly elected counsellors will put into action,” Mavuso notes.

She emphasises that political parties need to ensure they build capacity in local government, appointing people on merit, irrespective of their political stripes, who can ensure real delivery.

“New councillors with the sincere intention of turning things around face a daunting task. I empathise – in business there is no harder job than a turnaround. I do know, however, that they can draw on a deep well of good will.

“At BLSA, many of our members have gone to great lengths to support their municipalities and will continue to do so. There is much scope for partnerships and support and I will be working with organised business widely to join hands with local government officials who want to deliver to their communities. Together we can improve delivery and get our economy growing,” Mavuso says.