MEC Fikile Xasa: Tabling of Annual Report to Eastern Cape Legislature

Honourable Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cogta
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Head of Department of Cogta and the entre management of the our department
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

Madam Speaker, the delivery imperatives of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs are aligned to Outcome 9 to establish a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system.

In this journey we are guided by the four focal areas namely, Good Governance, Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure Development, Co-ordination and Integration and Traditional Affairs.

In the same context, our Strategic Goals remain to create an enabling environment to enhance service delivery through integrated support services to municipalities and traditional leadership institutions.

The People Shall Govern

Ladies and gentlemen, our department has provided meaningful support to municipalities towards the election of 715 Ward Committees of which 695 are functional. As a single window of co-ordination Cogta-EC has established the MuniMEC platform which sits on a quarterly basis. This is a functional platform attended by Sector Departments and State Owned Enterprises (SOE) to heighten service delivery through the resolution of bottlenecks.

Through our increased support to municipalities we have seen an improvement in the expenditure of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) which currently stands at 96%.

Our department remains committed to implement the District Support Centre Model to bring services closer to the people and strengthen our service delivery machinery.

Sound Financial Management

Madam Speaker, the Financial Review of the department’s Annual Report 2014/15 is as follows, amongst other things:

  • The department obtained an unqualified audit opinion with one matter of emphasis from the Office of the Auditor General for the 2014/15 financial year. This results in an achievement of obtaining an unqualified audit opinion for 7 consecutive years.
  • The final budget appropriation was R887, 339 million and the actual expenditure for the year under review was R872,039. This resulted in a variance of 1, 7% which is within the acceptable norm of 2%.
  • Capital expenditure for the year was R31, 172 million and a significant portion of this relates to the Provincial Disaster Management Centre which has now been completed. This centre, once fully operational, will ensure that the Province is able to respond more efficiently to disasters and will provide an enabling environment for all stakeholders to pool their resources in a manner that will alleviate prolonged suffering during disasters.
  • The department has through the report of the Auditor General, identified areas where systems and controls need to be reviewed and strengthened and a process has already been initiated to ensure that these matters are dealt with.
  • Improvement in processes related to overall Governance is also being addressed to ensure that the department focuses on attaining a “clean administration” rather than a “clean audit opinion.”

Invited guests, in our quest to instil a culture of sound financial management, we have seen Senqu and Sarah Baartman municipalities getting unqualified audit opinions with no other matters (clean audits) from the Auditor General’s Office.

Thirteen other municipalities received unqualified audit opinions. Our department continued to assist municipalities on their oversight and administrative functions through the establishment of 45 Audit Committees and Units and Municipal Public Account Committees (MPAC).

Social and Economic Development

On this front, Madam Speaker, we rendered technical and financial support to municipalities to develop sound Local Economic Development (LED) strategies and plans. We also reinforced municipalities to enter into partnerships with the private sector in the implementation of LED strategies.

The department conducted a study on the impact of the implementation of LED strategies. It is on record that we have 40 954 participants in the Community Work Programme (CWP) as at the end of March 2015.

Transformation of Traditional Leadership

Honourable Members, the restoration of the dignity and role of traditional leaders includes the transformation process for it to co-exist with democratically elected institutions. In this context, our department provided assistance for the participation of 257 Traditional Leaders in Municipal Councils.

In line with the implementation of the Initiation Monitoring Intervention Strategy (IMIS), we facilitated woman outreach programmes in the Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo District Municipalities to ensure the safe passage of our boys to manhood. (Mabaye Bephila, Babuye Bephila, Siyazingca Ngesiko lethu).

Cogta-EC aided with the development of twenty research reports on genealogies of royal families. The recognition of traditional leaders and their official installation has been done and is on-going through the work of the Commission on Claims and Disputes. However, we must stress the fact that the disputes and claims on traditional leadership should be resolved by royal families and their communities rather than resorting to the courts of law.

Back to Basics Programme

Honourable Members, our department launched the B2B programme last year and has since started to operationalise it internally for effective and efficient implementation of its pillars. We believe in the saying that charity begins at home and we must be seen to walk the talk on B2B.

This programme is not meant for municipalities alone.

The B2B programme is premised on changing a set of fundamental relationships that underpin our Constitutional order namely:

  • Between local government and the people we are meant to serve (putting people first, instilling a culture of ‘service’ rather than ‘service delivery’).
  • Between leaders and the municipalities they are meant to lead (good governance rather than extractive elites).
  • Between people and the public services they receive (responsible citizenship, payment for services).

Honourable Members, we require a country wide mobilisation of stakeholders within government and civil society more broadly, to address possible fears from some of our partners and stakeholders. By so doing, we will build a coalition of those who want B2B to succeed as a service delivery programme of our government. Such a coalition should provide impetus for more effective oversight, removal of obstacles and drive change at a local level.

In this regard, the recent momentum from the Local Government Summit and strong and unequivocal political support for B2B should be harnessed.

Conclusion

As South Africans we feel proud of our achievements and commit ourselves to work towards a shared future. In this context, the National Development Plan (NDP) is the country’s roadmap to the promised land of a better life for all to realise the benefits for generations to come.

We still have a long way to go to improve the lives of all South Africans, black and white and realise a better life for all.

“Local government is everybody’s business, let us make it work.”

I thanks you.

Province

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