The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in South Africa's Parliament has agreed to track overdue responses from municipalities every week. This decision was made after Members of Parliament reported that information requested during oversight visits had remained outstanding for months. The committee will maintain a continuously updated record of its resolutions and review it quarterly to ensure that all municipalities provide the required information.
The new tracking system will accompany each meeting agenda, allowing members to see which reports are missing, what reminders have been sent, and whether an institution has responded. The record will include the date and origin of each resolution, the action required, submission deadlines, and progress. This system will cover committee resolutions, oversight visits, correspondence, and legislation, providing a comprehensive overview of the status of municipal responses.
Long-overdue matters will be marked red, while completed matters will be marked green. Committee chair Zweli Mkhize stated that municipalities had been informed of what to provide and by when, but the challenge was following up consistently and recording what had been done. Members agreed that undertakings should enter the tracker as soon as a meeting or oversight engagement ends, rather than waiting for the formal adoption of an oversight report.
The committee cited requests to Walter Sisulu and Sundays River Valley local municipalities as examples of information still outstanding after reminders. However, the committee did not publish a full list of unanswered requests in its statement or conclude that every delay amounted to a refusal. The committee plans to review past reports and meeting recordings to compile a consolidated account of requests, reminders, responses, and institutions that have not complied.
Under the agreed escalation process, reminders will be sent to both the municipality and the relevant provincial local-government MEC. If repeated reminders fail, the committee may involve the minister. If further steps are needed, members said they could seek advice from Parliament's legal services about the best course of action. The committee emphasized that any escalation should rest on a clear record of what was requested, when it was sent, and who received it.
The new tracking system and escalation process aim to ensure that municipalities provide the required information in a timely manner. This will enable the committee to effectively monitor and oversee municipal activities, ultimately improving service delivery and accountability. The committee's decision establishes a process for pursuing outstanding information but does not establish that the municipalities have now supplied it.
The committee's consolidated report on requests, reminders, responses, and non-compliant institutions is expected to be completed within about a month. This report will provide a comprehensive overview of the status of municipal responses and help identify areas where municipalities need to improve their compliance. Key to this process is the committee's commitment to following up consistently and recording what has been done.
Key points
- The South African Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs will track overdue municipal responses weekly.
- The committee will escalate outstanding requests to municipalities and relevant provincial local-government MECs if reminders are ignored.
- A consolidated report on municipal responses and non-compliance will be completed within about a month.
