EAST LONDON- A high-level delegation led by Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs(CoGTA), Dr. Namane Dickson Masemola and Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Zolile Williams conducted an oversight visit to the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality(BCMM) on 29th April 2025.
The visit aimed to assess the municipality’s governance and service delivery challenges. Furthermore, the delegation found that the municipality is grappling with significant challenges, including incomplete projects, inaccurate billing systems and poor revenue collection.
Cogta Deputy Minister Dr. Masemola emphasized that these issues require urgent attention, stating, “Issues of engineering capacity, technical capacity and finances impact on service delivery.”
“Issues of potholes and cleanliness in our towns and cities are challenges that municipalities are subjecting our people to,” said Masemola.
In addition, the BCMM Executive Mayor Cllr.Princess Faku acknowledged the challenges, particularly with water delivery and expressed the need for assistance. “In 2023 we had R998 billion in our account but now this year our recovery plan stands at R1.2 billion through travel, catering and outsourcing services and this plan has been supported by the provincial Department of Treasury,” said Faku.
Eastern Cape Cogta MEC, Zolile Williams highlighted political interference in administrative matters as a major contributor to the challenges. “Most of the projects are incomplete, if Buffalo City is 20 years behind how can you trust that everything is right in terms of infrastructure? Service delivery is one of the issues that is a mess,” Williams said.
In contrast, Mayor Faku attributed the challenges to incompetent and inefficient senior officials stating, “The problem here is non-accountability of the administration. People must do their jobs or leave the city.”
Morover, the delegation’s findings and recommendations underscore the need for urgent action to address the municipality’s governance and service delivery challenges.
The Buffalo City Metro’s leadership faces a critical test in restoring effective governance and service delivery to its residents.
Photograph: supplied
