Violent service delivery protests, fraud, corruption and a lack of capacity at various municipalities are expected to dominate the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu)'s conference which starts today. The union's 9th National Conference starts in Bela Bela in Limpopo and will last for four days. 

The gathering will be attended by more than 500 union delegates from across the country. Samwu spokesperson Tahir Sema says they hope to come up with resolutions that will help members of the public regain confidence in their municipalities. 

Sema says they will debate service delivery protest issues, why they are taking place, how the union can, together with the tripartite alliance, ensure that municipalities are working at maximum capacity. He says as things stand now, the majority of the country’s 270 municipalities have been in the red in their financial reports, thus resulting in these municipalities recording financial deficits. 

Meanwhile, political analyst from the University of Limpopo Lucas Nemutanzhela says conference delegates will have to come with clear resolutions which will help their municipalities to deliver services. Senior African National Congress, South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions officials are expected to address delegates during the first day of the conference.