The Alternative Information & Development Centre (AIDC) submitted a comment to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the Reviewed White Paper on Local Government.
In this submission, the AIDC contends that the White Paper’s 65 policy proposals, including origin-based VAT revenue sharing, reliance on the Metro Trading Services Reform, and expansion of public-private partnerships (PPPs), are merely marginal adjustments to a flawed model. These proposals are criticised for deepening the financialisation and commodification of essential services, particularly by retaining the unsustainable full-cost recovery and user-pay model, which risks further eroding the constitutional rights of low-income households to basic services such as water and electricity.
To resolve the crisis, the AIDC calls on Parliament and CoGTA to abandon the full-cost recovery model and fundamentally rethink the division of revenue between the spheres of government. The submission emphasises that the current crisis stems from a structural inability among most South Africans to pay for services due to mass unemployment and poverty, rather than a lack of willingness to pay. Please read our full submission below.
