Political inaction and misdirection and administrative apathy are some of the biggest causes of local government ruin.
It is alarming that R15m meant to help reimagine the Gqeberha and Kariega inner city precincts is at risk of being forfeited because the Bay municipality has failed to pay over the money to the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA).
The MBDA has come under fire from mayor Babalwa Lobishe and councillor Rano Kayser for what they allege is a failure to account for and use funding.
Yet, as MBDA chief executive Anele Qaba pointed out, the agency could not be expected to implement projects without the necessary funds actually being transferred to it.
This situation borders on the absurd.
This is a professional agency, purpose-built to stimulate urban regeneration and deliver catalytic development projects for the Bay, being pilloried for failing to spend money that has never reached its bank account.
Yet, the funding, approved by the National Treasury and intended for clearly outlined projects, continues to sit in municipal coffers, threatening to lapse altogether at the end of the financial year.
The danger here is twofold: first, the very real loss of R15m in conditional grants, and second, the damage done to public trust when accountability is weaponised and twisted into a political game.
Because politics is probably the issue at play here.
The MBDA has a mandate.
It is not responsible for basic refuse collection or day-to-day city maintenance. It steps in, often with limited resources, to top up those municipal services when needed.
But it cannot be made into a scapegoat for systemic service delivery failures in the metro.
Is the agency perfect? Far from it. But, given the chance and the resources due to it to fulfil its mandate, it could make a meaningful difference in uplifting the inner city.
There was a time when the agency was flourishing, but it did so with the support of the council.
It is imperative that politics be put aside and that the MBDA be paid and allowed to do the work it was established to do.
The Herald
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