/ 3 November 1997

Hundreds of towns ‘can’t work’

MONDAY, 11.30AM:

More than a third of the 850 municipalities in South Africa are not financially sustainable, Constitutional Development deputy director general Chippie Olver told the Presidential Review Commission at the weekend. And a lack of co-ordination and co-operation between government departments is hampering delivery.

The commission, reviewing transformation and delivery in the public service, also heard submissions on a skills crisis. South African Management Development Institute head Professor Harry Ngwengwekhulu estimated more than 600 000 public servants need basic skills training, a lack more evident than ever now that different skills are needed for a new public service.