City managers cashing in - DA

2006-01-04 15:03

Cape Town - More than two-thirds of the 138 municipal managers of dysfunctional municipalities being bailed out by the central government have been awarded performance bonuses, said the Democratic Alliance on Wednesday.

These managers were in charge of municipalities with severe service-delivery backlogs, which could not collect sufficient revenue and were known to be in financial distress, said Wilhelm le Roux, DA member of the select committee on local government.

"Merit and skills have taken a backseat to race and political connections when appointing municipal managers," he said.

Information contained in a reply to a DA parliamentary question confirmed that merit was also not a concern when handing out "massive" performance bonuses, he said.

The municipal manager of Emfuleni, in Gauteng, received a R150 000 bonus last year - despite the municipality's failure to collect R1.3bn in outstanding rates and taxes.

In Bophirima municipality, North West - where 73% of residents had no access to basic sanitation - the municipal manager was awarded a performance bonus of R377 665.

'Rewarded for failing to perform'

"It is not hard to see why ANC municipalities are in the mess that they are in," said Le Roux.

"Municipal managers who are rewarded handsomely for failing to perform have no incentive to ensure that delivery happens."

Le Roux said protests about poor delivery around the country last year had demonstrated that people were losing patience with African National Congress elitism and cronyism.

"The local government election promises to be a very rude awakening for the ANC," he predicted.

- SAPA