The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape will call on the MEC of COGHSTA and the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to respond to a preliminary recommendation by the Commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Dr Henk Boshoff, that the Kai !Garib Council be dissolved.
With the complete dysfunctionality of Kai !Garib municipality exposed at the ongoing public inquiry, the dire state of this municipality can no longer be ignored.
Despite a bulging staff component of over 400 employees, service delivery is non-existent. At the same time, the municipality claims to be grant dependent and lacking funds yet, for the past three years and counting, it spends between R700 000 and R900 000 on water tankering services every month. It has spent another R300 000 plus per month on refuse collection and ad hoc yellow fleet services, yet residents don’t see progress.
In addition, it has accumulated debt of approximately R1 billion rand, owed to institutions like Eskom, the Office of the Auditor General, Salga and more, and has entered into unrealistic payment agreements, that further confirm its insolvency.
Kai !Garib has clearly become a dumping ground for ANC cadres in need of a salary, while being captured by questionable contracts and suffering at the hands of gross financial mismanagement. It is no wonder that, as an opposition councillor, repeated attempts to get responses and address service delivery failures, hit a brick wall.
The fact that Dr Boshoff has no faith in instituting a provincial intervention, like placing the municipality under administration, is a significant indictment against the political will of the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, and the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to address the collapse of municipalities like Kai !Garib.
Given that Kai !Garib will never act against itself, the DA will ask the MEC and Premier to respond on the state of this municipality, and we will also challenge them to act, as a dysfunctional Council ensures that proper oversight is forfeited, while enabling regression and corruption.
Failure by the provincial government to enforce consequence management on this failed municipality leaves only the voter to enforce accountability, by removing the ANC in Kai !Garib from power in the 2026 Local Government Election.