Municipal expenditure on personnel makes up 30% of all municipal expenditure; but this expenditure does not always result in adequate delivery of services.

The total number of people employed at local government level decreased by 2 532 people from 206 266 in 2005 to 203 734 in 2006. However, over the same period, the total cost of employees increased from R25 billion in 2005/06 to R28 billion in 2006/07. The reduction in the number of employees was not necessarily due to greater efficiency or municipalities becoming more capital-intensive. In 2005, there were 50 619 vacancies in local government compared with 57 010 in 2006. And, according to the review, the higher salaries received by the fewer municipal employees had to “paid for” by the shedding of low-level jobs.

The average cost per employee in the metros increased by 15.5% from R140 187 to R161 861 per annum. The average cost per employee in the metros is higher than the cost in the local municipalities, which increased by 14.9% from R105 370 to R121 029. The only municipalities to experience a decrease in the average cost per employee were the district municipalities, which decreased by 3.4% from R182 124 to R176 012. This average cost is still higher than the costs in metropolitan and district municipalities.

According to the National Treasury, the general view is that smaller municipalities have more difficulty in filling positions, which is why they do not have the same capacity as larger municipalities to deliver services. This is not always the case, however, the metros had the highest vacancy rate in 2006 at 25%, compared with district and local municipalities, whose vacancy rate was 17.7%. The vacancy rate among the 70 most rural municipalities was 16.6%.

Service delivery is not dependent solely on the number of employees, but also on the number of households covered by the employees in a particular municipality. The average number of employees per 1 000 households in all municipalities was 16. Municipalities in the Western Cape had an average number of 27 employees per 1 000 households, which was the highest provincial average. The lowest average number of employees per 1 000 households was in Limpopo, with slightly above six employees per 1 000 households.

The City of Cape Town employed nearly 25 people per 1 000 households, while the City of Ekurhuleni and the City of Tshwane employed just more than 17 workers per 1 000 households.

The composition of municipal staff is also important for service delivery. In 2006, some 14% of municipal employees were involved in financial administration, even though many municipalities do not manage their finances adequately as seen in the large operating surpluses reported by most – even with the high number of service delivery backlogs.

Municipal employees dealing with refuse removal make up 10% of municipal employees, compared with those who work with water, who account for 8% of employees, and 7.4% who deal with electricity. Those who deal with sanitation make up only 3.5% of employees; this may explain why about 85% of waste water treatment works in South Africa are dilapidated.

The analysis of municipal finances and budgets analysed in our four newsletters has exposed some key issues experienced by local government:

·         Municipalities have become more reliant on transfers from national government.

·         There is inadequate maintenance expenditure by municipalities.

·         There are high levels of municipal consumer debt.

·         Municipalities lack skills and capacity to deal with poverty challenges.

Municipalities must ensure that they have the right people in the correct positions to lead their municipal administrations and provide the technical expertise required to deliver services.

Considering the skills shortages facing the country, as well as the work environment offered by local government, it remains unlikely that it will succeed in this most critical task. The implications for the delivery of services are serious.

-Nthamaga Kgafela