Speaker of the Legislature, Hon. Supra Mahumapelo
Premier of the North West Province, Hon. Thandi Modise
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Executive Mayors and Mayors
Dikgosi tsa rona tse di tlotlegang
Members of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims
Members of SALGA PEC
Head and Senior Management of the Department & Municipalities
Leaders of Labour and Civic Movements
Comrades and Compatriots
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon, Dumelang
“I have walked that long road to freedom I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for the freedom come with responsibilities, and I dare not to linger, for my long walk is not yet ended”. Long walk to freedom by NR Mandela
Honourable Speaker, as I stand here today to give account on the state of affairs in Local Government and Traditional Affairs in the Province, I do so with the full conviction that the road to creating effective, efficient, accountable and sustainable municipalities as well as viable institutions of traditional leadership, is not anywhere near the end. But we are marching on because we are determined “to deliver with dignity and integrity”.
I am inspired by the words of former President Nelson Mandela that “I can only rest only for a moment, for the freedom come with responsibilities. I dare not to linger, for my long walk is not yet ended. I am certain that if we make local government everybody’s business, we will conquer.
Honourable Speaker, allow me to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the Premier of the ANC – led Government in the Province for re-affirming her confidence in me by entrusting me with the responsibility of steering Local Government and Traditional Affairs in the Province, albeit on an acting capacity. It is indeed an honour and a privilege to present the budget policy statement for Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs for the financial year 2013/2014.
We indeed acknowledged in the past financial year that we needed to speedily find solutions to the challenges facing local government, which have impacted heavily in our commitments for ensuring stability and the enhancement of our services to the people of this Province that has negatively affected service delivery.
Administration
Mmusa – Kgotla it is my honour to inform this house that to date the Department has been able to fill critical vacancies at senior management level to ensure certainty and stability on key administrative levers. This includes appointment of the substantive Head of Department, Mr Monnapula Motlogelwa as well as 77 other positions.
As we all know the year 2012/2013 was marred by sporadic service delivery unrests by members of communities. We must also note that these challenges in local government are no different from other Provinces. At the heart of these unrests, were issues of inadequate public participation and lack of information sharing which to some extend created a vacuum which then got filled by those with ulterior motives other than genuine service delivery issues.
Honourable Speaker, in today’s debate my focus is more on what President Jacob Zuma said during his State Of the Nation Address, he laid out a foundation for us to carry the baton and run far and faster.
We are in our 19th year of democracy and in few months we will celebrate the second decade of democracy, surely we deserve a pat on our shoulders but of course reality is that our communities deserve more and this speaks directly to the services that we deliver to the people of this Province.
Let me pause to remind this August House and quote President Zuma on his State Of the Nation Address when he said:
“We should put South Africa first. All of us have a patriotic duty and responsibility to build and promote our country.”
He also spoke a mouthful about the National Development Plan that aims to eliminate poverty and inequality by 2030. According to the plan, South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society.
This, Honourable members, should be taken very serious, we might think we still have time but the truth is there is no time, daily there is a need that we as leadership took a vow that we will ensure achievements of commitments made to our communities out there. I am particularly confident that with the baton we can run and run with speed only if we take our worth serious.
Honourable Speaker, last year’s journey started with the 5 key priorities, and those are; municipal financial viability, maximizing public participation, stabilizing governance in municipalities, municipal infrastructure planning and delivery and stabilizing governance in key traditional leadership areas. I am therefore pleased to share with this August house the progress we have registered to date:
- Municipal financial viability
Honourable Speaker in our previous tabling we reported that, we are one of the two Provinces where more than half of the municipalities did not submit their Annual Financial Statements (AFS) for audit within the legislated time frames. I am pleased today to announce that the Province has been able to recover from a state of non-submission of AFS in that by 31 August 2012, all 24 municipalities in the Province had submitted their AFS, including the backlogs. Our next biggest challenge is not only to maintain the status quo but also to improve on the quality of AFS that get submitted for audit purposes.
In the past year we continued to capacitate municipal officials in municipal finance management through financial skills training course which was a joint effort by the Department and the Sector Education and Skills Training Organisation. Such training was intended to improve financial management in municipalities following bad audit opinions received by most municipalities from Auditor- General.
Establishment of Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPAC’s)
The Provincial and District Municipal Public Accounts Committees Fora have been established within the year under review. These fora were officially launched in December 2012 and their terms of reference and reporting template were adopted. Four District MPAC Fora and two Provincial MPAC Fora has been held during the year 2012/13 financial year and already 67 MPAC women members were capacitated on negotiations, communication and conflict resolution skills in partnership with National Democracy Institute (NDI) in November 2012.
Honourable speaker, our road towards achieving Clean Audit by 2014 is not an easy one, but we are hopeful that with the joint interventions by the Departments of Local Government and Traditional Affairs and Finance, we would be able to meet the deadline. Such interventions include ensuring the functionality of Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPACs). We have forged a close working relationship with the Office of the Auditor-General and this has already started to yield positive results. Need I also say that the appointments of skilled and qualified Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in our municipalities currently are a positive step in the realization of this objective.
We will forever remain grateful to the Premier Mme Thandi Modise who heeded our call, supported and launched the initiative on the hosting of the 2014 Clean Audit Indaba which was held on the 9th May 2013. I must also pause to express our appreciation to our municipalities for their total commitment in ensuring that this initiative will reap the desired rewards. On that occasion the provincial government departments, public entities and municipalities signed a pledge to renew their commitment to Clean Audit 2014.
We will continue to strengthen the Municipal Public Accounts Committees and Municipal Performance Audit System as well as support municipalities to strengthen their performance management system as a contribution towards Operation Clean Audit 2014 flagship programme.
Revenue enhancement
Five (5) municipalities, namely, Ventersdorp, Naledi, Lekwa-Teemane, Tswaing and Mahikeng, were identified to benefit from the revenue enhancement project. Recommendations were made on the eleven (11) key elements of revenue management strategies which involved; legal institutional matters, meter installation, data management, meter readings, billing, receipt management, credit control, debt management, indigent management, customer care and service departments. The five (5) identified municipalities have made progress in implementing these key elements. Honourable Speaker, it is indeed important that I mention the improvement in terms of the collection of rates and taxes for property tax and service charges has improved tremendously. As of now, Ventersdorp is at 73 % and Naledi local municipality has made a significant improvement from 46 % to 72 %.
Phase II of Revenue Management project.
The department initiated Phase II of the revenue enhancement management project to deal specifically with data cleansing and debt management in six (6) priority municipalities, namely Tswaing, Naledi, Ventersdorp, Lekwa-Teemane, Mahikeng, Madibeng.
To this end a Revenue Enhancement Project Forum has been established with the primary objective of ensuring that municipalities share best practices and that pockets of excellence are replicated. This forum must be ceased with the responsibility of reconciling and clarifying disputes around government debt and ensure resolution thereof.
The process of analysing municipalities’ debtors’ book to determine the accurate list of debtors owing municipalities [data cleansing] is underway. Mahikeng LM has been identified as a focal pilot site for this project and intensive data cleansing, debt/credit control management and customer care activities shall be undertaken at this pilot site for a period of six [6] months. This is done in partnership with MBD Solutions, (a debt collection and revenue management specialist private entity) at no cost to the municipalities or Department.
Meter rehabilitation project
The Department has allocated an amount of Five-hundred and Eighty-Nine Thousand, Seven-Hundred and Seventy-One Rands (R589 771,00) to Naledi and Tswaing local municipalities towards water and electricity meter rehabilitation projects, which translates to the value of Two hundred and Ninety-Four Thousand Eight-Hundred and Eighty-Five Rands and Fifty cents (R294 885.50) in each of the two municipalities.
Naledi Local Municipality
The District raised funding to the tune of ±R1.5million purely for the procurement of meters for boreholes and businesses within Naledi Local Municipality. It is also envisaged that these funds would be spent where its impact would be beneficial to the municipality with regard to minimizing electricity and water losses. Procurement processes are at an advanced stage and implementation will commence shortly.
Tswaing Local Municipality
The municipality used the funds for the procurement of both water and electricity meters to rehabilitate old meters in the Delareyville town with a view to improve service delivery to its community.
Implementation of the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA)
Honourable Speaker, whilst we acknowledge that there are a number of challenges in respect of the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) especially on issues of compliance by municipalities to certain provisions of the MPRA, as well as municipalities not utilising property tax as a revenue source to the full extend. The delay in finalizing the amendments to the MPRA poses a further challenge on the potential revenue streams of municipalities.
It is however pleasing to announce that all of the 19 local municipalities have successfully implemented the MPRA for the period under review. Two [2] of the municipalities [Mahikeng and Moses Kotane] have implemented the second generation valuation rolls compiled in terms of the MPRA and Ramotshere Moiloa and Tlokwe Local Municipalities will soon implement new second generation valuation rolls
Twelve [12] local municipalities namely Matlosana, Maquassi Hills, Ventersdorp, Mamusa, Naledi, Greater Taung, Kagisano-Molopo, Ratlou, Tswaing, Rustenburg, Madibeng, Moretele went out on tender and are currently in the process to compile new general valuation rolls for implementation on 1st July 2014.
Four (4) new Valuation Appeal Boards have been established for the period 2012 to 2016 for municipalities within all the four districts as prescribed by the Act. The newly appointed members have been inducted by the Department.
- Maximising public participation
This priority is of vital importance in our quest to achieve inclusive and co-ordinated programs in our day to day operations. The Department therefore deemed it necessary for ward committees to be capacitated through training and workshops.
Having said that, this effort Honourable Speaker included the development of training materials for the report writing course in seven (7) municipalities namely Ditsobotla, Naledi, Greater Taung, Mahikeng, Ramotshere, Moses Kotane and Kagisano-Molopo. Each of the stated municipalities including Moretele were also provided with one laptop for ease of minutes writing and including memory sticks to benefit ward committee secretaries who are the champions of ward committee administration.
In addition, we conducted minutes and report writing training sessions for Matlosana empowering 65 secretaries responsible for ward committees. Further training of Community Based Planning (CBP) facilitators as well as officials in the Speaker’s office also took place in February 2013, this brings a total number of trained ward committee secretaries to 136 out of 153. Municipal Systems Improvement Grant (MSIG) workshops were conducted in Mahikeng, Mamusa, Kagisano-Molopo and Ventersdorp local municipalities for the purpose of proper utilization of MSIG funds in ward committee logistical support to enhance participatory democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, in our quest to further assist municipalities the capacitation support program on linking and aligning the Community Based Planning (CBP) to the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) and the Ward Based Model on the development of ward plans was extended to managers and other officials in three municipalities Dr RS Mompati DM; Moretele and Ventersdorp with the latter municipality further receiving hands-on support to developing ward plans in respect of wards 2, 3, 5 and 6 as well as ward 23 in Mahikeng. Another CBP training for Matlosana facilitators including a total of 87 officials and ward committee members was conducted.
I am also pleased to announce that in order for us to assess the effectiveness of these ward committees the department also conducted District workshops for all Community Development Workers (CDW) to familiarise them with the questionnaire developed for these assessments in February 2013. It is worth noting that the level of ward committees functionality in our Province differs from one ward to the other and that is also applicable to local municipalities.
Their functionality is rated at approximately 66% for the 2012/2013 financial year and that is based on the half yearly assessment reports submitted by individual municipalities. The assessment reports are based on a questionnaire developed by the Department to assess functionality of ward committees.
Further to that, the fact that this is the first survey of its kind, only thirty questionnaires per ward were distributed in March 2013 and the completed questionnaires are being submitted to the Department for analysing and we are hopeful that the exercise to assess the effectiveness of ward committees will be completed before end of September 2013.
Mmusa - kgotla in our previous budget statement we reported that 380 out of 383 ward committees were established with three outstanding in the Rustenburg Municipality. As of to date the only ward committee not yet established is for ward 28 in Rustenburg in the Lethabong village which was won by an independent ward councillor. Several attempts made by the municipality to have the ward committee established have been unsuccessful due to alleged disruptions. We however, as the Department remain steadfast and confident that the ward committee will soon be established despite the existing challenges.
Operations of ward committees
The biggest challenge still remains office space and as a result meetings are still held in either schools, ward councillor’s or committee’s house. The efforts by Moretele local municipality to provide all 24 ward committees with offices is worth noting and the Department in partnership with municipalities and other sector Departments will double its efforts to ensure gradual provision of adequate office accommodation for ward committees.
These challenges have propelled the Department to establish a Provincial Ward Committee Coordinators Forum consisting of Departmental and officials from Municipalities’ Speakers offices, District Speaker’s offices, CDWs Co-ordinators and Supervisors. The purpose of this forum is to enhance functionality and effectiveness of ward committees by sharing best practices and also providing the necessary guidance with the view of maximizing public participation.
Honourable speaker, whilst on this matter please allow me to pause a bit in honour of our wonderful and committed sister in Ms Kgomotso Mfulwane who recently passed on, May her soul rest in peace. There are many achievements registered by the CDWs but there is this one that is close to my heart where the late Mfulwane was responsible for. She has been responsible for Ward 5 of Moses Kotane local municipality, she contributed to crime prevention by identifying a need for a Police Station in her area of operation which is Mantserre village, working in closer collaboration with the local traditional leader, Constituency Office and the Councillor.
She communicated this to the South African Police Service (SAPS) who are in a process of building a police station for that area. Her dream will indeed be realised and the department will forever be indebted to her legacy.
- Stabilising governance in municipalities
Honourable Speaker, this priority is of paramount importance to us, this is what builds the municipality towards better service offerings. We have continued with our regular engagements with municipalities and recently we formed partnership with the Department of Finance in an endeavour to find lasting solutions to challenges invading our municipalities particularly on financial and administrative management aspects
Ward-based service delivery improvement strategy
The ward based service delivery improvement strategy was piloted in Maquassi Hills, Ventersdorp, Tswaing and Mahikeng local municipalities. The pilot focused on data collection for service delivery assessment and identification of required interventions. Municipalities have been persuaded to implement the strategy during their planning sessions. The Department will continue to offer support and mobilize financial resources to ensure implementation of the ward based service delivery improvement strategy across the Province.
Establishment of District Information Communication and Technology ICT Fora
During 2012/13 Budget Speech, the Department committed to establish District ICT Fora. The fora serve as a platform of sharing expertise, implementing ICT capacity programmes and the usage of ICT to enhance service delivery at local sphere.
To date we are pleased to announce that four (4) District ICT/Geographic Information System (GIS) Fora were established across the Province. We also coordinated Fora members to attend the Provincial ICT Summit convened by Office of the Premier.
It is with a great pleasure to report before this house that the planning and reporting systems of municipalities were strengthened through provision of hands-on support in the development of Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plans (SDBIPs) and performance reports. There is visible improvement that is registered in that regard.
We have also experienced a marked improvement in submission of Section 46 reports by municipalities. In 2011/12 submissions increased to 17 as compared to 9 submissions by municipalities in 2010/ 11.
Improving records management
On 13 December 2012, the following 11 priority municipalities received equipment (computers, 3-in-1 printers and stationery) to assist their records units. These are Moretele LM, Tswaing LM, Kgetlengrevier LM, Mafikeng LM, Lekwa Teemane LM, Mamusa LM, Madibeng LM, Naledi LM, Kagisano/Molopo LM, Maquassi LM, and Ventersdorp LM.
A Municipal Provincial Record Management Seminar will be held to bring awareness on proper record keeping as an initiative and contribution towards Clean Audit 2014.
Community Works Programme (CWP)
Honourable Speaker we are also proud to announce that the Community Works Programme (CWP) which has been implemented in thirteen 13 municipalities is bearing its intended fruits. By the end of March 2013, the programme had created work opportunities for fourteen-thousand nine-hundred and nineteen (14 919) participants. These participants who work only two days a week or 8 days a month, are providing support to home-based care, school support programme, feeding scheme, agricultural projects and basic services such waste collection and cleaning of community parks and facilities.
Local Economic Development(LED)
The Department is also analysing and providing support in the review and development of local economic development strategies to assist municipalities with economic development issues and support in the implementation of plans. We are also strengthening District Local Economic Development Fora to ensure coordination of resources and ensure that low capacity municipalities receive support.
Integrated Development Programme (IDP)
Much has been done in supporting all municipalities with planning, drafting, adoption and review of their IDPs. Our municipal IDP Unit assisted all municipalities in establishing IDP structures such as IDP Representative Fora and IDP Steering Committees. The support provided produced 100% submission and adoption of 2012-2016 IDP Documents. Honourable Speaker, in line with the requirements of the National Development Plan, we will continue to forge closer working relations with the Planning Commission in the Province to ensure that our planning is in line with vision 2030. We believe that the work of the Commission will advance our planning capacity across government spheres.
- Municipal infrastructure planning and delivery
Infrastructure as explained in the NDP is not just essential for faster economic growth and higher employment. It also promotes inclusive growth, providing citizens with the means to improve their own lives and boost incomes, it is indeed essential to development.
Honourable Speaker, by end of April this year Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) expenditure by municipalities was seating at 49%. The best performing municipalities are Ditsobotla with 95% and Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality with 65% expenditure respectively.
Our MIG under-performing municipalities were amongst others, Tlokwe with 9%, Moses Kotane 16%, Ramotshere Moiloa 18% and Greater Taung with 19% expenditure.
Our greatest challenge is therefore the inability of our municipalities to spend their Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG). This cannot be left to be business as usual.
We have managed to intensify our program to move towards 100 % MIG expenditure by municipalities in the Province. This we did by way of consulting with stakeholders on an integrated and co-ordinated approach and also forging intergovernmental relations between the three (3) spheres of government in order to accelerate the provision of services to our communities.
In order to realize this objective, the department has regular engagements with municipalities in order to:
- Strengthen intergovernmental relations between sector Departments and municipalities.
- Measure the current performance against national infrastructure service delivery targets.
- Provide methods for a co-ordinated pursuit of national policy priorities with regard to basic municipal infrastructure programmes to curb the duplication and inefficiencies associated with fragmented grants.
- Enhance pre-planning of projects and ensure 100% projects registration and commitments in the Municipal Information System (MIS).
Free Basic Service (FBS)
Honourable Speaker, Census 2011 recently indicate that of one-million and sixty-two thousand and fourteen (1 062 014) households in the North West province, five-hundred and eighty-four one-hundred and seven (584 107) households live below poverty line. These are the households that cannot survive without our intervention, however we have registered progress in the milestone to ensure access to Free Basic Services by Indigent Households. Free Basic Services is aimed at including those currently excluded from access to basic services through the provision of a social safety net. Of the five-hundred and eighty-four one-hundred and seven (584 107) households, five-hundred and twenty six-hundred (520 600) (89%) have access to Free Basic electricity. It must also be noted that Matlosana, Ventersdorp and Ditsobotla Local Municipalities have started to implement Free Basic Alternative Energy to households that are not connected to grid. This programme ensures that farm dwellers and informal settlement areas also benefit from Free Basic Services Programme.
Disaster management
Honourable Speaker the past year has been a traumatic one especially the tragedy that befell our fellow brothers in the Marikana incident. “May the soul of those departed rest in peace and their families should find solace in the Almighty”. The Department facilitated and coordinated the provision of humanitarian assistance following that tragedy. On a positive note, our disaster management team was very hands-on during preparations and final staging of the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations Tournament which was incident free.
The Department has made tremendous strides in Disaster Management in the Province. Our teams in our districts managed to successfully deal with disaster incidents which includes storms that left some families homeless. The necessary support and assistance was provided to such families. We have also supported municipalities such as Tlokwe, Ventersdorp and Mahikeng with fire fighting vehicles and we are continuing to do so in other areas.
Honourable Members, in our effort to speedily react to disaster incidents, an Interim Disaster Managememt Centre has been established to coordinate disasters and major incidents, with a view of establishing a Provincial Disaster Management Centre in line with Disaster Management Act.
- Stabilizing governance in key traditional leadership areas
Honourable Speaker, please allow me to take this moment to pay homage to all our traditional leaders who departed this world in our Province and in particular two of our long standing traditional leaders Kgosi Mokalake Motsatsi of Batlokwa ba Bogatsu and Kgosi Sephola Petrus Motsepe of Bakgatla ba Mmakau. The untimely passing on of these two icons last year left us reeling with shock and dismay. Pelo tsa rona di setse di gamaregile mme re ikgomotsa ka gore setshaba sa gaetsho sone base diretse ka manontlhotlho.
On the same breath, let me also take this opportunity to once again salute Kgosi Phopolo Maubane of Bakgatla ba Mochane for his re-election as the Chairperson of National House of Traditional Leadership. He continues to represent the Province well and through his leadership I have no doubt in my mind that challenges in institutions of traditional leadership will soon become a thing of the past.
Traditional council administration
I am very much delighted to announce that the much awaited Traditional Council elections are kicking off the ground. The Department has enlisted the services of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in the Province, to assist with the running of elections for 56 traditional councils which are scheduled to take place on the 06th July 2013.
To that end a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on the 29th April 2013, and at the same occasion the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the North West House of Traditional Leaders, Kgosi Madoda Zibi and Kgosi Moshe Mabe as well as all other Dikgosi signed a pledge in support of the envisaged traditional council elections. Preparations are underway to educate our traditional communities about these elections and voter registration will begin this weekend, 18-19 May 2013.
We can confidently confirm that we are working very hard to ensure that we maximize community participation in the upcoming elections especially on the 40% component, ka go nne Kgosi ke Kgosi ka morafe.
You will be pleased to know that the Department in partnership with South African Police Services (SAPS) and other stakeholders has developed the North West Initiation Schools Draft Bill. The main objective of this Bill is to regulate the conducting of initiation schools across the Province. This was developed as a result of numerous complaints from various sections of our communities about bogus initiation schools, disrespect for Dikgosi (Custodians of culture) and our cultural practices. This Draft Bill will be consulted on extensively after presentation to the North West House of Traditional Leaders
Honourable Speaker, the Provincial Committee of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims is fully operational. I am in fact excited to announce to this house that the Committee of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims has appointed a Chief Executive Officer in the name of Mr Phumelelo Majolla who resumed his duties earlier this year. Office space has been secured for the Provincial Committee to ensure that its independence is not compromised in any way.
Through our support the provincial committee has thus far concluded 27 disputes and claims, 18 of those were later referred to National Commission because when complains were lodged the complainants were still demarcated within our Province but it has been established that all of the 18 fall either within the Northern Cape or Gauteng especially in areas like Kuruman and Themba in Hammanskraal.
Priorities 2013/ 2014
Honourable Speaker, I am full of excitement for I know the department boasts quite a number of capable and well experienced men and women who will ensure that we indeed achieve on the new set of priorities we wish to present to this August house
Traditional Affairs
Mmusa kgotla, ke rata go tsaya tshono eno go tlotlomatsa seabe se magosi a rona a nang le sone jaaka baeteledipele ba ba tswelelang go busa ka botlhale mo mafelong a rona aa farologaneng. Jaaka lefapha, we are once again committing our support to serving institutions of traditional leadership to ensure stability and promote good governance as well as enhancing developmental objectives to foster service delivery in rural communities.
The House on Traditional Leadership has also made significant progress in terms of forging partnerships with different government Departments, almost all political heads of Departments met with the committee to present their mandates in a quest to build a better and harmonious relationship.
We have noted with concern, the challenges that traditional councils are experiencing with regard to resources such as offices and equipments.
They are also in financial dire straits and as a result, are unable to execute functions given to them by various pieces of legislation and as such service delivery to our traditional communities becomes the victim. We will continue to strive to better this situation by providing them with the much needed resources.
Bagaetsho, MOTSWANA ARE KGETSI YA TSIE E KGONWA KA GO TSHWARAGANELWA. The allowances of traditional leaders sitting in various municipalities remains a serious concern as there is a huge disparity influenced by municipal financial standing, we are however working together with SALGA and the House of Traditional Leaders on a process to attend to the challenges experienced.
The Department through the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims will fast track the resolution of chieftainship disputes and bring about stability in such traditional councils.
The construction of offices for the Bahwaduba Traditional Council in Mathibestad is underway at a cost of about R10 million. The project will be completed in this financial year.
Significant progress has been made in dealing with complaints regarding the Tribal and Trust Account otherwise known as the “D Account”. Scoping of the forensic audit was completed in the 2012/13 financial year but since the audit will involve more than one Department, it will be handled from the Office of the Premier. However, I can announce that a service provider has been appointed and the audit work has commenced in earnest.
Towards an improved governance
Honourable Speaker we have recently engaged with all local municipalities and district municipalities with a sole purpose of assessing the state of readiness of municipalities in achieving Clean Audit by 2014 and to address other critical issues of concern in our administrative areas.
There has been a number of issues cited in many reports including our own monitoring in municipal performances, these reports are ranging issues such lack of political tone-setting in municipalities, non-compliance to applicable legislation and flouting and deviation from supply chain management procedures, leadership and governance challenges, insufficient and weak oversight over municipal processes insufficient and inadequate skills and expertise. Lack of effective performance management challenges that result in poor administration, negative audit outcomes and poor delivery of quality services.
Findings based on observations made are that some municipalities continue to ignore these queries which then get repeated the following year. As a measure of intervening and ensuring that a lasting approach to these challenges is immediately applied, the two Departments held an Indaba on the 09th May 2013, wherein a Service Delivery Improvement Charter was signed between the Provincial Departments, Public Entities, SALGA and municipalities
Honourable Speaker, our biggest wish is to find one another in this instance we will chant praises of joy when we finally say amongst other achievements that we have :
- Improved and enhanced political oversight on municipal administration through collaboration and cooperation between the various structures and committees of council (Portfolio committees and MPACs)
- Improved the quantity and quality of municipal basic services to the people in the areas of access to water, sanitation, electricity, waste management, roads and disaster management to meet the millennium development targets;
- Build capacity to improve expenditure on capital budget especially Infrastructure Conditional Grants, build and strengthen the administrative, institutional and financial capabilities of municipalities by recruiting quality skills (professionalising local government);
- Implemented revenue enhancement and debt collection initiatives through public mobilisation campaigns and ensured the implementation of a transparent municipal supply chain management system;
- Uprooted fraud, corruption, nepotism and all forms of maladministration affecting municipalities through the establishment of structures and systems;
- Created a single window of coordination for the support, monitoring and intervention in municipalities.
Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Fora
The Department is currently and will continue with a process of establishing the provincial, district and local IGR fora as part of strengthening intergovernmental relations.
Local government (Section 139 [Constitution] Interventions
Honourable Speaker the Department has a Constitutional responsibility to support, monitor and intervene in the performance of municipalities. The Provincial Executive Council recently intervened in three municipalities in the Province namely Matlosana, Maquassie Hills and Ditsobotla Local Municipalities by invoking Section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution.
The action followed evident signs of poor administration and governance which affected the financial status of the municipalities and ultimately affected service delivery. The intervention in Matlosana Municipality is however only limited to the administration of the finances. It is critical for us not to view this intervention in a negative way but to positively support the intervention as it is purely in the interest of ensuring improved performance and better service offerings.
Financial recovery plans will be developed and implemented in Ditsobotla, Maquassi Hills and Matlosana which are currently placed under section 139 intervention to ensure sustainability and financial viability in these municipalities.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this intervention should be understood as a measure by the Department to rectify the situation but not a sign of a failure by the municipality. Team of experts will manage the affairs of these municipalities for a period of six months. Co-operation from both councillors and officials as well as the community in this regard is critical to ensure the successful implementation of the intervention.
Provincial Infrastructure Grant (PIG)
Honourable speaker, the Department through its provincial equitable share received an amount of R50 million for the 2012/13 financial year. These funds were to be utilized to assist rural municipalities in eradicating their water and sanitation backlogs. The Department had prioritized Kgetleng rivier and Ngaka Modiri Molema in the said financial year. To date 38% of the amount has been utilized. As an intervention to this challenge the Department is to appoint an independent implementing agent for the implementation of prioritized infrastructure projects participating in the programme going forward.
For 2013/2014, an amount of R52,6 million has been allocated as part of the Provincial Infrastructure Grant for water and sanitation backlogs.
Establishment of Performance Management Unit (PMUs)
Most municipalities Honourable Speaker still have not established the Performance Management Units while some have PMU’s that are not fully functional. The Department is currently embarking on capacitating the Performance Management Unit staff to intensify monitoring and support to be able to pick up early warning signs.
In a bid to revitalize the capital city of the Province, Mahikeng as well as improvement of the water and sanitation provision in low capacity municipalities, an amount of R295 million has been allocated in the current Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
Sixty million rand (R60m) has been appropriated in this financial year to this Department to augment the support in infrastructure projects in municipalities including Mahikeng Revitalization projects as part of the Premier’s Legacy Projects as mentioned in her State of the Province Address in February this year.
Disaster Management
The key objective of the provincial disaster management structure is to formulate provincial disaster management plan, disaster reduction programme for district disaster management centres and to support provincial departments to develop their disaster management plans.
Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA)
The Department will continue to monitor and support municipalities to ensure proper implementation of the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) and we are in the process of establishing MPRA District Fora for practitioners.
Municipal Public Account Committees (MPACs)
The Department will co-ordinate further training and workshops for both MPAC members and their support staff and continue with the scheduled District and Provincial Fora Meetings.
We will soon commence with an APAC/MPAC Imbizo which will be held in partnership with the PPAC to create awareness on the functions of the committees, and to also determine mechanisms that will ensure effectiveness of the oversight role.
Revenue Management
Honourable Speaker, our municipalities are still struggling in terms of revenue collection. Ageing infrastructure and old metering systems hampers accurate billing. These are some of the challenges that most of our municipalities are still grappling with. These challenges affect the ability of municipalities to bill and collect revenue as expected. However, the Department will continue to put in place systems that will assist to improve their revenue collection to ensure sustainability and enhanced service delivery. Our intervention for this current financial year will include rolling out the revenue enhancement project to remaining low capacity municipalities.
Honourable Speaker, we will also continue with Phase II of the revenue enhancement management project to deal specifically with data cleansing and debt management in Tswaing, Naledi, Ventersdorp, Lekwa Teemane, Mahikeng, Madibeng, Ditsobotla, Maquassi Hills and Matlosana local municipalities.
Records Management Project
Municipal District Records Management Practitioners Fora will be established in all the four districts and they will serve as platform for sharing experiences, challenges and exchanging best practices, reporting and monitoring practices of record management in municipalities. In order to create awareness on proper records keeping as an initiative and contribution towards Clean Audit 2014, a Municipal Provincial Records Management Seminar will be held in Mahikeng next month.
Performance Monitoring and Municipal Compliance
The directorate will continue supporting struggling municipalities with reporting and compliance through deployment of officials from the Department at least once in a quarter.
Anti-Fraud and Corruption
We will continue supporting municipalities with development of Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policies and establishment of Anti-Fraud and Corruption Committees.
Monitoring and Evaluation of Outcome 9 and Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS)
The Department will compile service delivery assessment reports in 23 municipalities and consolidate the state of local government report on a quarterly basis focusing on Municipal Turn-Around Strategy (MTAS) and Outcome 9.
Performance Monitoring & Evaluation and Municipal Compliance
The Department will through the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, pilot the municipal performance assessment tool in Bojanala Platinum and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district municipalities, Moretele, Rustenburg, Lekwa Teemane and Naledi local municipalities.
The Department will be developing and gazetting a municipal planning and reporting tool to ensure alignment of budget and Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) through Service Delivery Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP). The tool will be automated and piloted also in eight (8) municipalities during 2013/14 financial year. The eight (8) municipalities include all the District Municipalities and B1 category municipalities.
Community Development Workers Programme
As part of the War on Poverty project which is led by the Department of Social Development, Women, Children and People with Disabilities, CDWs will continue to profile individual households using a data collection tool referred to as the household profiling questionnaire designed by Statistics South Africa. They will in cooperation within and with other structures like Ward Committees, School Governing Bodies, etc. at community level, monitor government interventions and report progress or lack thereof to relevant authorities.
These profiles will be consolidated into provincial baseline information that will be used for planning by sector Departments and Agencies and as a yardstick to measure progress or lack thereof of municipal IDPs and other government interventions meant to improve on the livelihoods of our communities.
The Department will also develop a service user satisfaction survey methodology and tools which will be used by the CDWs to conduct the user satisfaction survey as part of their engagements with households and broader communities. This will be done in cooperation with other sector Departments and agencies through the Batho Pele Forum convened by the Office of the Premier. Learners on the Community Development Workers Programme will be taken in at the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District. We are hopeful that through this programme, we should be able to restore public trust and confidence in government and also improve access to government services and programmes.
Strengthening of IGR structures
The Department will in partnership with Office of the Premier, continue to monitor and support District Intergovernmental Relations structures (IGRs) to improve sector participation and monitoring of sector support programmes.
Destination 2016
Honourable Speaker, the Department came up with the initiative to strengthen a number of programs we have in our disposal to enhance performance. The newly adopted Destination 2016 with the slogan : “we can deliver with dignity and integrity”, is a guiding tool for the department to embark on a programme to revamp and synergize municipalities and institutions of traditional leadership to bring about a total turn-around such that there is accountability, effective service delivery and good governance. The campaign which we intend piloting before end of this financial year will focus mainly on: (a) leadership alignment (b) Clean Audit 2014 (c) Capacity building (d) Financial viability (e) Financial management and (f) Stability and governance of traditional councils.
Budget allocation 2013/2014
Mmusa kgotla re fitlhile mo ntlheng e e botlhokwa e e re fitlhisitseng fa. Tekanyetso-kabo ya lefapha la dipuso-selegae le merero ya segosi ya 2013/2014 e eme jaana : R430,960,000.00
|
Programme |
Budget per programme |
|
Administration |
R72 991 000.00 |
|
Local governance |
R165 588 000.00 |
|
Development and Planning |
R96 678 000.00 |
|
Traditional Affairs |
R95 703 000.00 |
|
Total |
R430 960 000.00 |
|
Economic Classification |
Budget per Economic Classification |
|
Compensation of employees |
R235 032 000.00 |
|
Goods and service |
R110 487 000.00 |
|
Transfers and subsidies |
R77 539 000.00 |
|
Payments for capital assets |
R7 902 000.00 |
|
Total |
R430 960 000.00 |
Conclusion
Honorable Speaker as I conclude, I still want to align myself with the National Development Plan, which states that:
We are all actively set out to change our lives in ways which will also benefit the broader society. We work towards goals with patience invested in actual efforts, we invest in our efforts and we are not waiting in disengaged expectations, because we are impatient to succeed. We work in painstaking rigor, our efforts not so much of others make us stronger, then we are patient for the results of our efforts. This kind of patience gives birth to our new work ethics.
Honorable Speaker we say to one another I cannot be without you, without you this South African community is an incomplete community, without one single person, without one single group, without the region or the continent we are not the best that we can be. Therefore to accelerate progress, deepen democracy and build a more inclusive society, South Africa must translate political emancipation into economic well-being for all. It is up to all of us to fix the future, starting today.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Chairperson and Members of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government and Traditional Affairs for their continuous oversight and support. Magosi a rona a tlotlegang ditebogo go lona le masego mo ditlhopong tsa makgotla a segosi tse di tshwarwang mo kgweding e tlang. Similar appreciation goes to my organisation, the African National Congress for the trust that it bestowed upon me. The HOD and his management team as well as all employees of the Department.
The continuous support of my family remains immeasurable.
I thank you, ke a leboga !
