ESTABLISHING a second metro municipality in KwaZulu-Natal might be prestigious but only if the new entity can up its game in terms of service delivery, says Professor PS Reddy, a local government expert based at UKZN’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership
His comments follow the Municipal Demarcation Board’s (MDB) recent suggestion that a second metro might be established in KZN through the proposed amalgamation of the uMsunduzi and Richmond municipalities. Reddy says while it might qualify for a metro in terms of size, it should also be able to discharge its constitutional obligations in terms of service delivery and promoting the interests of the people.
“We can support the establishment of another metro in KwaZulu-Natal and I think it will be quite prestigious for the municipalities, citizens and businesses to say we're part of a metro. But if that municipality is going to become a metro, it must also up its game in terms of service delivery. And thus far if you're looking at what has happened, it has been a bit of a disappointment.”
However, Reddy pointed out that this decline was evident in all municipalities across country. He said given that uMsunduzi had until recently been under administration to help get its affairs in order, becoming a metro could be a cause for concern.
“I mean, let's assume it has come out of that situation of being under administration and it's performing reasonably well or there has been an upward trajectory, then it all looks well and good. That inspires some confidence but looking at the situation now I think a lot of the citizenry will actually be questioning that. Because you must be prepared for the next level, in other words, performing at the level of a metropolitan municipality.”
Barileng Dichabe the MDB’s communications manager says all municipal outer boundary re-determination matters including the possible merger of the Richmond and uMsunduzi councils were still subject to research, as well as stakeholder and public consultation processes.
“The MDB delimits (changes) wards every five years preceding the local government elections (LGE) in compliance with the Municipal Structures Act. The next LGE will be held in 2026. The plan is to hand over the final wards to the Independent Electoral Commission towards the end of 2025,” said Dichabe.
The Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) is currently conducting consultations throughout the country with the aim of empowering stakeholders about the ward delimitation (change) process. These consultations are held in all municipalities and aimed at traditional leaders, ward councillors, ward committees, municipal officials and other stakeholders.
Dichabe said there were currently 4468 wards in the country and given that the number of registered voters had increased, there was a strong likelihood that the wards would also increase, according to the trend over the past years.
However, the number of wards for the next local government elections would only be known after the number of councillors were determined.
The MDB is the only demarcation authority in the country and is mandated to determine and re-determine municipal boundaries. It also delimits (changes) ward boundaries for local government elections. Dichabe said they also conduct “municipal capacity assessments” to ascertain whether municipalities had the requisite capability to fulfil their constitutional obligations. They also advised the responsible MECs on the allocation of powers between local and district municipalities, she said. The existing eight metros in South Africa are Buffalo City, City of Cape Town, City of Johannesburg, City of Tshwane, City of Ekurhuleni, eThekwini Metro, Mangaung Metro and Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.