Cape Town guilty of maladministration under Geordin Hill-Lewis

The City of Cape Town has been found guilty of maladministration and prejudice in a new report released by the Public Protector.

The report followed complaints about the City of Cape Town regarding the lack of basic municipal services in the Joe Slovo and Khayelitsha townships.

This placed the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, under the leadership of Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, under the spotlight.

The investigation was initiated following complaints received during the Public Protector’s Annual Roadshow on 07 March 2022.

Additional complaints were lodged during a subsequent roadshow held between 17 and 21 April 2023, which informed the focus of the ongoing systemic investigation.

Throughout this period, the investigation team conducted multiple follow-up inspections and held meetings with residents and city officials.

Inspections and meetings occurred in August 2022, June 2023, January 2024, and throughout last year.

The investigation looked at grievances regarding dilapidated sewerage infrastructure and inadequate refuse collection in the townships.

It also focused on residents’ complaints about a lack of formal lease agreements for housing occupants.

The findings were damning. The Public Protector found that Cape Town breached its constitutional duties to provide services to Joe Slovo and Khayelitsha residents.

This failure and prejudice left communities to endure hazardous living conditions and insufficient public health safety measures.

These systemic failures include compromised fire safety equipment, structural defects in housing, inadequate sanitation, and failures in electricity coordination.

“This caused residents ongoing exposure to life-threatening risks, compromised living conditions, and systematic deprivation of basic services,” it said.

This, the Public Protector said, constituted maladministration and prejudice from the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality.

It found that the City of Cape Town was guilty of an inadequate response to documented service delivery deficiencies over three years.

This failure, despite multiple commitments, showed an established pattern of conduct that falls under improper conduct and maladministration

Cape Town remedial actions and recommendations

The Public Protector issues remedial actions and recommendations to national ministers to address these problems.

It requires Hill-Lewis to table the Public Protector’s report to the Municipal Council for discussion within 60 days.

The City of Cape Town’s Municipal Manager has received concrete steps and timelines to improve the situation.

• He must, within 30 days, ensure that residents of SST-Marikana have access to water and provide a plan for installing additional taps and sanitation facilities.

• Within 120 days, the manager must ensure long-term repairs to sewerage systems in Langa Flats and Khayelitsha and submit rehabilitation strategies.

• Within 6 months, he must provide a detailed action plan for the regularisation initiative, including the conclusion and signing of lease agreements with occupants.

• Within 60 days, he must develop a strategy for sustainable, long-term cleaning services at Langa Flats.

• Within 30 days, he must engage Eskom to restore non-operational high-mast lights and submit a long-term maintenance plan

• Within 60 days, he must prioritise the electrification of the ten relocated families in Marikana or move them to a site that meets minimum settlement standards.

• Within 6 months, he must ensure all health facilities are equipped with smoke detectors or early fire-warning mechanisms.

The MEC for Local Government is required to monitor the city’s implementation of these actions on a quarterly basis.