The maintenance of infrastructure by local municipalities is critical to ensuring lasting, quality and sustainable essential services for future generations, says industry body South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) president Professor Marianne Vanderschuren.

“The majority of grants and funding tend to focus on new infrastructure as opposed to maintenance. In some cases, municipalities reduce their maintenance budget, and even use maintenance budget for capital projects, as it is part of their allocated budgets.

“While new civil projects are necessary for growing and sustaining the economy, efforts are wasted if long-term planning does not include a  maintenance plan to support this new, as well as existing, infrastructure.”

She advocates that it is pivotal that maintenance plans are conceptualised and budgeted for prior to the start of new projects.

Vanderschuren explains that through SAICE’s Infrastructure Report Card of 2017 ­– and the soon-to-be-published 2022 edition – SAICE can support municipalities in assessing the state of infrastructure to determine the best course of action. 

The Challenges

The challenges faced by municipalities in not being able to address infrastructural shortcomings and maintenance, include, in Vanderschuren’s estimation, limited skills and implementation capacity, partly owing to understaffing.

“Other challenges include maladministration, corruption and a lack of accountability – which are evident in the recent Auditor General’s report. Political instability also impacts negatively on the effective functioning of the administration.”

Further, she adds, municipalities, supported by law enforcement agencies and communities, also have to manage vandalism and theft of infrastructure, along with increasing debts to State-owned utility Eskom and water boards – all of which threaten the continuation of essential services, and in many municipalities, has already resulted in non-functional wastewater treatment works and sanitation systems.

“This is exacerbated by many municipalities not having operation and maintenance plans or water conservation and demand management strategies.”

The Way Forward

Vanderschuren states that the focus needs to be on regional infrastructure maintenance; the backlog of the supply of services; fostering the growth of skilled professionals within municipalities; and enforcing performance and accountability through the active implementation of the areas stipulated in the Professionalisation of the Public Service Plan.

She explains that municipalities need to raise awareness on the role that communities can play in protecting municipal infrastructure, as well as in consumption management. “There should also be collaboration with government, communities, the private sector, universities and voluntary associations to address challenges within the municipal infrastructure sector. Collaboration is important because infrastructure belongs to everyone in this country, and we should all play our part in taking responsible action to develop and sustain it.”

Further, it is integral that we work towards aiding local governments with adequate skills to support municipalities. For example, she refers to the appointment of competent, registered civil engineering professionals in the technical departments.

“The appointment of technical directors who are registered with industry council Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) will assist in professionalising municipalities and in ensuring that work is implemented.

“ECSA-registered professionals working within municipalities are held accountable to the council’s rules, code of conduct, ethical regulations and laws governing the profession, which will assist in growing ethical leadership in municipalities.”

It is vital for municipalities across South Africa to have efficient plans developed and implemented to maintain the country’s infrastructure, she says. “The performance of a municipality should then be measured against these plans, with consequences in place for underperformance and to ensure continued adherence.”

Key indicators used for performance assessment, she concludes, should be civil infrastructure-related, rather than whether the budget has been spent.