“No More Excuses,” Lesufi Warns Municipalities

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has issued a stern warning to municipalities across the province, saying delays and poor service delivery will no longer be tolerated.

Speaking at the municipal Councillors’ Imbizo on Friday, in partnership with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lesufi urged local governments to take immediate action, improve efficiency, and be fully accountable to the communities they serve.

“It is important to have measurable progress and collaborative implementation. We cannot afford to go back to communities with excuses. What communities want and deserve is delivery,” warned the premier. The imbizo was aimed at bringing political and administrative leadership across Gauteng into implementing the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS).

Lesufi, together with the Deputy Minister of COGTA, Dr Dickson Masemola, added that the imbizo was held in honour of the Landmark Turnaround Summit held a year ago, targeting municipal interventions and systemic reforms. Spokesperson of the department, Theo Nkonki, mentioned that the event addressed and highlighted work that has been done over the past year in addressing 13 challenges faced within the province.

“The Turnaround Strategy is a core component of the Smart Cities Strategy adopted by CoGTA, Department of Infrastructure Development (DID), and the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency (GIFA), a forward-looking framework to tackle the province’s G13 challenges and build modern, responsive, and integrated municipalities,” mentioned Nkonki.

The premier highlighted that such initiatives, such as the Imbizo, show gradual changes within the LGTAS, focusing on implementing real solutions to change lives. “The Imbizo served as a vital platform for the nine work streams established under the LGTAS to present their progress reports and outline practical interventions being implemented to stabilise municipalities and enhance service delivery across the Gauteng City Region,” said Lesufi.

And although it was notably evident that there were some delays with the works stream, the department insisted that reports reflect progressive change, tangible, quick wins and renewed momentum across priority areas. Significant efforts were made to improve overall financial governance, audit outcomes, and consequence management.

Overall, Institutional capacity is being strengthened through the filling of senior posts, ongoing skills development, and alignment with legislative frameworks. The premier mentioned that one of the most important factors is finding a long-term and sustainable solution to prevent persistent water losses, contributing to the endangerment of water in 11 municipalities.

“The Service Delivery and Infrastructure work stream has been working closely with Rand Water every week to monitor usage patterns and proactively intervene to avert the risk of shortages.” MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo, proposed that the following year’s Imbizo should constitute a Councillors’ Awards Ceremony to recognise municipalities that have demonstrated excellence in priority focus areas.

“Let us institutionalise a culture of excellence by rewarding high-performing municipalities,” said Mamabolo. Nkonki confirmed that the next six (6) months will ensure that capacity building and stabilising institutions, as well as implementing high-impact municipal programmes, are aimed at transforming governance and service delivery across Gauteng’s local government sphere.