Unpacking the 2024 Governance Performance Index: Challenges and Triumphs in South African Municipalities

Explore the findings from Good Governance Africa's 2024 Governance Performance Index, examining local governance across South Africa's 257 municipalities.

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Overview:

This episode will help you understand the challenges and disparities in governance across different provinces and municipalities, dive into the factors contributing to varying levels of citizen satisfaction, and explore potential strategies for improving local governance structures.

Episode Summary:

• 00:00:00 In this section, the discussion revolves around the findings from Good Governance Africa's 2024 Governance Performance Index, focusing on local governance across South Africa's 257 municipalities. Pranish Desai, a senior data analyst at Good Governance Africa, elaborates on the impact of political instability, particularly in hung councils, on service delivery in South Africa's local governments. Desai explains that coalitions or hung councils have become more prominent in South African politics since the 2016 local government elections due to the proportional representation system. This system results in coalitions where no single political party can command an outright majority. However, the increasing prominence of coalitions has led to growing instability in municipalities, with cities like Johannesburg,Tshwane, and Nelson Mandela Bay being notable cases. The political instability in hung councils has resulted in uncertainty for municipal officials regarding decision-making, making it harder to pass critical budgets and address infrastructure concerns. This instability has had a ripple effect, with citizens experiencing decreasing satisfaction levels, particularly in economically disadvantaged provinces like Gauteng. The report highlights a significant disparity in citizen satisfaction levels across provinces, with the Western Cape exhibiting notably higher satisfaction rates compared to others.
• 00:05:00 In this section Pranish discusses the correlation between citizen satisfaction with municipal governance and the quality of governance performance indicators across South African provinces. The Western Cape province has the highest average municipal satisfaction, with around 43% of citizens satisfied, while the national average is 30%. He notes that there is a relationship between municipal satisfaction levels and the quality of governance, using the Western Cape and Northwest provinces as examples. The Western Cape tends to score highest on average in fulfilling constitutional mandates, especially in administration, planning, monitoring, and evaluation, leadership, and service delivery. In contrast, the Northwest municipality scores the weakest on average, with only 19% of citizens satisfied with municipal performance. Pranish attributes these discrepancies to historical factors, such as the legacy of South Africa's past, and political geography, with urban centers generally performing better than rural areas due to incentives and infrastructure maintenance. He also mentions the impact of metropolitan municipalities, particularly those with hung councils, on suboptimal scores in key areas.
• 00:10:00 In this section Pranish Desai discusses the challenges faced by South African municipalities, particularly in the context of coalition governments. He explains that instability in larger cities, where media coverage is more prevalent, leads to greater attention and narrative building around those municipalities. One of the main challenges is the uncertainty and turbulence caused by political parties not utilizing the best mechanisms for ensuring stability. Pranish provides a case study of three major metros with similar populations. While Johannesburg and Tshwane opted for an informal arrangement called conference supply,Ekurhuleni established a formal Coalition Agreement. He argues that the formal Coalition Agreement led to greater clarity and accountability, resulting in Ekurhuleni's improved performance in various indicators, such as overall service delivery, water systems, and wastewater systems. Despite the benefits of formal coalitions, Ekurhuleni did not renew its agreement after the 2021 local elections, and the speaker notes that this decision has led to slight regressions in performance. To address these challenges, the South African Local Government Association has commissioned a framework to help stabilize municipal councils where no party holds a majority. Some recommendations include professionalizing the public service to ensure effective governance, regardless of political instability.
• 00:15:00 In this section Pranish discusses the importance of formalizing coalition arrangements and making them publicly available to hold political parties accountable. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs aims to implement a new system before the 2026 local elections. Citizens also play a role in ensuring stability and predictability in governance by applying political pressure on their ward councilors. Pranish highlights the complexity of South Africa's local government system, with three main categories: metros, district municipalities, and local municipalities. Metros have the most authority and are home to 60% of the population, while local municipalities are the closest structures to everyday citizens. The GPI rankings reveal disparities across provinces and municipality types, and the speaker invites insights into the systemic issues contributing to these disparities and success stories from top-performing municipalities.
• 00:20:00 In this section Mr Desai explains the classification system used by the South African government to categorize municipalities based on their size and infrastructure resources. The classification includes secondary cities, large towns, small towns, and mostly rural municipalities (B4) in provinces like the Eastern Cape. He highlights the historical and recent challenges faced by these municipalities and the importance of effective leadership in overcoming these barriers. One example of a successful municipality is the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, which faced major financial administration problems a decade ago but has since improved due to effective leadership. Another example is the Western Cape municipalities like Drakenstein and Stellenbosch, which leverage technology to improve policymaking and better identify and serve indigent households. The distinction between Water Services Authority and non-Water Services Authority districts sheds light on differing governance dynamics, with implications for governance effectiveness and service delivery outcomes, particularly in areas with significant populations dependent on these services. Pranish suggests that municipalities and data resource areas can start to look more to technology to improve lives for citizens in their areas. Policy recommendations include enhancing governance in both types of districts by improving transparency, accountability, and capacity building.
• 00:25:00 In this section Pranish discusses the importance of the Blue Drop and GRE reports in assessing the water and sanitation quality in South African municipalities. He highlights the two-tier system of local government in South Africa, where districts are primarily responsible for water services in some provinces, while in others, provinces hold this responsibility. Pranish emphasizes the need for good access to safe drinking water and sanitation in these areas to prevent fatal diseases. He then discusses the challenges faced by districts in provinces with acute water service problems, such as the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where a significant portion of the budget goes to less responsible districts in more affluent provinces. Pranish suggests that the national government's District Development Model may lead to improvements by giving districts more defined roles in coordination. Pranish also recommends giving more authority and capacity to local municipalities in rural provinces and adequately addressing the lack of basic water and sanitation infrastructure. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of organizations like GGA in encouraging governments and citizens to create a virtuous cycle of good governance and accountability to promote economic development in South Africa.
• 00:30:00 In this section Pranish leads an insightful conversation on the developmental ambitions of future cities in Africa. The discussion highlights the 2024 Governance Performance Index and its significance in assessing the challenges and triumphs of municipalities in South Africa. Desai emphasizes the importance of good governance in driving sustainable urban development and improving the quality of life for residents. The conversation also touches upon the unique challenges faced by African cities in their quest for progress, such as inadequate infrastructure, limited resources, and political instability. Despite these hurdles, Desai remains optimistic about the potential for transformation and growth in African municipalities, emphasizing the need for continued investment, innovation, and collaboration.

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