Many in the country are hoping that, despite virulent opposition, finance minister Enoch Godongwana will stick to his decision to freeze R13.5bn in equitable share funds to 69 municipalities until they get their systems right. His directive to do so is welcome, as it also says, “This far and no further.”It’s unsurprising that there are many who oppose it, but let the minister stick to his guns.The country is in dire straits in terms of government unaccountability, lack of consequences and the arrant misuse of public funds. In her most recent report, auditor-general Tsakani Maluleke talks of severe financial mismanagement, infrastructure failures and deep-rooted vulnerabilities in state procurement, as well as unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure across South Africa’s municipalities, which has ballooned to an alarming R268.13bn. I was among thousands of young black people who gave their youth to the struggle in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, with thousands dying and many spending years in jail or in exile. When we bump into each other and end up discussing the situation in our country, tears flow down cheeks in anger and disbelief. One fellow Robben Islander said, “I never sacrificed my youth or withstood the cruelty of the security police and abuse of prison warders for this sh*t.” Hence, when the National Treasury announced this measure, the reaction from these struggle veterans was one of silent ululation lest they be called names. Their faith in the justness of the liberation struggle as led by the Nelson Mandelas, Oliver Tambos, Robert Sobukwes, Steve Bikos, Strini Moodleys, Helen Josephs, and Joe Slovos, to name some of the more prominent, had been restored. These veterans pray the Treasury sticks to its guns in the interest of the more than 60-million South Africans for whom they laid down their lives. They are hoping and praying that this is the starting point of decisive action, just as the Madlanga commission is a source of hope and that more of the same will follow to ensure a just country. After all, and for the record, the directive by the Treasury is for financial discipline, integrity and accountability, what public governance is about. It is about protecting the public purse and, above all, ensuring municipalities do not spend money they do not have. These veterans pray the Treasury sticks to its guns in the interest of the more than 60-million South Africans for whom they laid down their lives. They are hoping and praying that this is the starting point of decisive action, just as the Madlanga commission is a source of hope and that more of the same will follow to ensure a just country. To get to the directive itself, an understanding of equitable share funds is that they are unconditional allocations of national revenue to provincial and local governments to help provide basic services such as water, electricity, sanitation and refuse removal to suffering households. What is wrong with Godongwana and his team ensuring these funds are used for what they were intended for, what you and I expect?The Treasury has also moved in this direction because of countless demonstrations against sewage in streets, waste not collected, poor supply of electricity to communities and lack of clean water ― a basic human right. Worse still, many of the communities up in arms are from the same 69 flagged municipalities. Thus, we have a situation in which voter complaints are at last being addressed.What is more essential is that the minister revealed that municipalities were deducting more than R1.7bn in staff pension contributions and failing to transfer them to pension funds. This means that when these workers retire they will not have pensions and families will be plunged into relentless suffering.Some of the “nay-sayers” argue that the freezing of municipal grants cuts off vital community services. They say residents and workers suffer because corrupt or negligent officials are not held accountable. Thus, the Treasury should focus on direct, punitive consequence management for individual municipal managers rather than disrupting overall local governance. To counter this, the communities are already not getting services, so the Treasury is not withholding services but trying to ensure they’re delivered.Deafening silenceWhat matters most is that the directive has strained political alliances. The ANC’s alliance partners, such as the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the SACP, have threatened street protests, claiming the minister has “gone rogue”. To add to this, the silence from certain political parties who claim mass support has been deafening. It is evident that Godongwana is closing the door on their ambition that “It is our turn to eat.” To respond to the alliance concerns, does it not blow the mind that Samwu criticises Godongwana for protecting the pensions of its members? Is the safety of pension funds not part of worker rights? It is not surprising for the SACP to threaten mass action. They always shout, and not from a position of principle, but to get attention and a share of the spoils.What is rather quizzical and forces a little smile is that the South African Local Government Association (Salga) in Gauteng maintains it is not against the directive but wants a “fair, transparent and collaborative intergovernmental process”. With a wink, one wonders whether it is not that they want a process in which the recalcitrant municipalities can exercise a “democratic right” to veto the process. Perhaps Salga Guateng has forgotten that its mandate is to enhance service delivery. Those in the ANC in opposition fail to realise that their organisation stands a better chance of getting back lost support because of the directive than it does of causing them to lose support, as they argue. I thought this was common sense.• Dr Mazwai is a former political activist.