Badly managed state-owned entities pose general and specific problems that are a burden for everyone. The spectrum of public entities includes those that were formed and structured to directly execute on their mandate and those created to act as execution conduits for other structures. Municipal entities formed to aid other public agencies in the execution of their tasks might have been conceptualised with the realisation that specialist skills and focus might be better executed in micro entities rather than large, unwieldy structures such as the big metros. The viability and efficiency of that model should be continuously interrogated to avoid retaining entities in the fabric of service delivery simply because they were once regarded as critical conduits. While the existence of some institutions as public entities may be debatable and look like a duplication of corporate layers that diminish accountability and escalate costs, others are more justified in their existence. Entities such as the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and Eskom, whose mandates are anchored in policy or the public service architecture and who will transcend administrations and need to be as efficient as possible, can hardly justify the addition of permanent middlemen to their operating models. The addition of layers that increase costs of delivery and introduce reliance and dependency on nonstate actors such as Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) or municipal entities such as City Power flies in the face of the efficiency that is commensurate with the custody of public resources. When the existence of these agencies dampens the incentive for institutional capacity building, as in the case of Sassa, the risk to delivery is linked to the strength of the contracting relationship and the ability to hold contractors accountable. When the CPS relationship was judged to be corrupt it was the institutional incapacity of Sassa that forced the courts to endorse the continuation of a corruption-tainted contract. The motivation behind using a third party agent may have been initiated by a realisation that capacity in Sassa did not exist. However, the inability to invest in capacity building in light of the fact that the contract was for a particular term and Sassa’s mandate was permanent amounted to an abrogation of responsibility. When the CPS relationship was judged to be corrupt it was the institutional incapacity of Sassa that forced the courts to endorse the continuation of a corruption-tainted contract.The lack of foresight isn’t unique to Sassa. The auditor-general annually laments the prevalence of consultants hired to prepare financial statements for public entities that fail to produce statements as expected but also do little to aid in building internal capacity in the public entities. Naturally, one cannot fault the consultants themselves, who benefit from the pipeline of steady work, for failing to champion capacity building in the entities. However, those responsible for the affairs of the entities must surely have a greater appetite for institutional capacitation. When entities that have been created to ensure the delivery of public services fail to execute simply because those tasked with the job are not fit for purpose or the incremental costs are inflated by middlemen dependencies, the delivery is suboptimal and the effect on society ranges from denial of services to those directly affected and an increased burden on taxpayers and ratepayers who ultimately have to plug the gap. Debating the model that works most optimally across the spectrum of local government characterised by its uneven distribution of technical and financial resources requires frank confrontations and the courage to tackle the hard questions. Forcing parties on the campaign trail to engage on these issues can help voters determine who really understands the friction points that cripple local government. Persisting with a model laden with friction points that keep inflicting direct and indirect consequences on citizens is no longer tenable. • Sithole is an accountant, academic and activist.