How world sees SA: Makhanda – a ‘literal trash fire’ that reflects ‘systemic rot of the ANC’

Makhanda is held up as an example of a municipality that refused to take the deteriorating state of their area lying down as they not only managed to get the High Court to place their municipality under administration; they also proved how successful a pact between the local community and businesses could be to tackle problems with service delivery. Even though the Eastern Cape province is pushing back and is appealing the Makhanda ruling; it has prompted other local community groups to consider similar action. It has provided a model for the rest of the country "a new way of doing democracy that cuts across class and race and ideology", the director of the Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics at Rhodes University, Pedro Tabensky told Bloomberg. In a damning article in the Financial Times, Joseph Cotterill describes the court verdict as a "rebuke" to President Cyril Ramaphosa's style of leadership and a warning about "the risks of procrastinating over repairs to the looted state." – Linda van Tilburg

By Thulasizwe Sithole

"There are donkeys on the rubbish pile picking through the middens. Beneath the hot Eastern Cape sun, the garbage mound that a negligent municipality has left to rot in the middle of the South African township of Fingo is actually smoking." That is how Joseph Cotterill of the Financial Times describes Makhanda, the municipality that took its council to court and forced the Eastern Cape provincial government to appoint an administrator to run the district until fresh election can be held.

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