Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 6: Down at the dumpsSince 2004, the cuts in transfers to local government have been reversed. Centralgovernment is also investing some R24 billion nationally, up from R15 billion, throughits Municipal Infrastructure Grant programme and this is supplemented by additionalfunding for the 2010 football World Cup. This is big money but it does not reversethe neo-liberal assumptions that now frame local institutional relations and planning.To the contrary, all the major cities have adopted the ‘world class city’ slogan, whichsounds like a good thing but in fact expresses a commitment to keeping the city withinthe circuits of global capital. That means creating and servicing the high value locationsand infrastructure to attract corporate investors and enable top managers to link withhigh value locations in other global cities.For Samson, Johannesburg “provides the prototypical example” of the neo-liberal reorderingof the state [2008b: 26]. It has opted for a corporatised business model.The waste utility, Pikitup, is owned by the local state and has its own Board withoperational revenue theoretically funded from income. This has created pressure forboosting revenues and containing costs with the effect that rich areas get better serviceswhile costs are savagely cut both in poor areas and for functions such as street cleaningwhere it is not possible to secure an income. eThekwini’s John Parkins does not see itas a model to follow because, he argues, real control in fact resides with the counciland not the Board. One might conclude that the council has created a system ofplausible denial, holding power while disavowing responsibility. If this is so, however,it reproduces the national strategy of devolving responsibility to local governmentwhile holding onto authority, whether through the centralisation of power in theruling party, the transmission of neo-liberalism, or the concentration of market powersupported by key departments.eThekwini and Msunduzi are still funded through the rates with no independentbilling for waste removal. Other revenues generated – from landfill charges and CDMetc. – are returned to the municipality. This is regarded as a disincentive to innovation.Councillors, according to Parkins, generally take a short term view defined by theirfive years in office. Waste management, in contrast, involves long lead times and atwenty year planning horizon at least. He argues that a ‘business model’ which givesDSW greater autonomy of decision making would allow it to plan for the long term.uMgungundlovu’s Jogiat similarly complains that waste management in the districtdoes not have its own ‘cost centre’ and says this is a reason why information on wasteis not collected.Wasting the Nation - groundWork - 173 -