Cogta Deputy Minister Masemola conducts oversight in Buffalo Metro

Deputy Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Dickson Masemola, has expressed dissatisfaction with the state of governance and service delivery in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality based in East London in the Eastern Cape.

Masemola led a delegation to conduct an accountability and oversight visit in the metro. The oversight visit conducted under the theme “Every Municipality Must Work” is part of an ongoing series of strategic visits to identified priority Districts and Metros across the country.

The Buffalo City Metro is grappling with governance and service delivery challenges. The delegation has learnt that the municipality has spent large amounts of money on incomplete projects.

Inaccurate billing system coupled with poor revenue collection are some of the concerning issues in this municipality.

Cogta Deputy Minister, Dr Dickson Masemola, says these issues need urgent attention.

“Not all is well. I’ve explained issues of engineering capacity, technical capacity, issues of finances and these matters impact on service delivery. The mayor did not hide anything. She said there are challenges with water delivery and therefore, they require assistance,” Masemola says.

Eastern Cape Cogta MEC, Zolile Williams, added that political interference in administrative matters is a major contributor to the challenges of the metro.

“Politicians must get out of administration, in terms of interference, because it is that interference that makes things difficult for Buffalo City to function as a properly functioning municipality. So, politicians must oversee officials, must not play politics,” Williams says.

Executive Mayor for Buffalo City Metro, Princess Faku, says the challenges emanate from incompetent and inefficient senior officials.

“We will rise above because everyone would know we are not witch hunting people, but people must do their jobs. The problem here is non accountability of the administration. So, now we are having this reinforcement of people coming. People must do their jobs or leave the city. That is where we are sitting now,” Faku elaborates.

The municipality has been given three months to come up with a turnaround and implementation plan.

📍Buffalo City Metro – Deputy Minister Dr Namane Dickson Masemola is leading an engagement with the Buffalo City Municipality as part of the ongoing country wide intervention and support engagements in priority Municipalities. #EveryMunicipalityMustWork pic.twitter.com/r5gjH61UV5

— NationalCoGTA 🇿🇦 (@NationalCoGTA) April 29, 2025