Anatomy of a rot: Why South Africa is a ‘failing state’
A file photo of the flag of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa's governing party. Most municipalities, all involved run by the ANC, were in a financial shambles
The daily and costly outages are threatening to become permanent as the power fleet, the average age of which is 47 years, becomes ever-more unstable.
Only 16 percent of South Africa’s 257 municipalities obtained a clean audit in the 2020-21 financial year, with the overall standard of financial management having regressed in the past five years, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke found in her recent report.
So bad is the situation that the worst-performing and entirely dysfunctional municipalities, 33 in all, had been placed under administration after failing to meet their financial obligations and provide essential services.
