The DA in Thaba Chweu has voted against the merging of the municipality with two other municipalities Bushbuckridge Local Municipality and Emakhazeni Local Municipality. This District Development Model (DDM) was tabled in a council meeting yesterday.
The DA in Thaba Chweu rejected this proposal on the basis that it is not in line with the constitution of South Africa which mandates distinct interdependence of government tiers.
After collapsing municipalities under its stewardship and bringing some to the brink of bankruptcy, the ANC government has now come up with this idea to centralize the governance of Thaba Chweu through this ill-advised model.
In trying to reduce the autonomy of municipalities to set their own development priorities and allocate resources according to local needs, the DDM regulations could be in violation of the Constitution as Section 151(4) specifically provides that: “The national or a provincial government may not compromise or impede a municipality’s ability or right to exercise its powers or perform its functions.”
The DA rejects the ANC’s notion that the model seeks to combat challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality particularly amongst women, youth and people living with disabilities. Instead, this model will allow the ANC to directly interfere in the affairs of our municipality.
We would like to reiterate that carrying out this model will place the municipality under risk. Noteworthy, Thaba Chweu will still be obliged to fulfill its legislated functions as per Chapter 7 of the Constitution and adhere to policies of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Ultimately, piloting this model is likely to slow down the wheels of service delivery, which is already a challenge in Thaba Chweu. The ANC’s practices of cadre deployment, financial misconduct and continuous transgression of the Municipal Systems Act has caused great turmoil.