Increasing access to basic services
Mitigating against the risk of disasters
Creating income security in areas of high unemployment
The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Ministry consists of the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) and the Department of Traditional Affairs (DTA).
Department of Cooperative Governance
The DCoG is mandated to develop and monitor the implementation of national policy and legislation to enable government to fulfil its developmental role; develop, promote and monitor mechanisms, systems and structures to enable integrated service delivery and implementation within government; and promote sustainable development by providing support and exercising oversight of provincial, local government and its entities.
Chapter 13 of the NDP outlines a vision for building a capable and developmental state through interdepartmental coordination and strengthening local government. The department remains committed to offering support and assistance to local governments in fulfilling their obligations for basic service delivery. In this regard, over the medium term, it will continue to focus on: increasing access to basic services, mitigating against the risk of disasters, and creating income security in areas of high unemployment.
Cabinet has approved reductions to the department’s budget amounting to R15.8 billion over the medium term, including adjustments to provincial and local government conditional grants.
To mitigate against any negative implications of these reductions on performance, the department will strategically allocate resources to fund programmes that are essential to service delivery and implementing critical plans.
This approach seeks to prevent disruptions to services, sustain infrastructure development and uphold compliance with regulatory frameworks. Despite the reductions, overall expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 4.5 per cent, from R120 billion in 2023/24 to R136.8 billion in 2026/27. Transfers to provinces and municipalities account for an estimated 96.3 per cent (R379.1 billion) of the department’s total budget over the MTEF period, mainly to fund the local government equitable share and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG).
Increasing access to basic services
The district development model, which government is in the process of implementing across South Africa, is designed to address problems with service delivery by enabling the three spheres of government to work together in a more effective way. The purpose of this is to guide municipalities to improve their planning, budgeting and implementation of projects and programmes; and ensure that their work is managed and monitored to keep it on track.
The model focuses on 52 district and metropolitan municipalities towards the development and implementation of a comprehensive plan, referred to as One Plan. The plan is expected to include multiyear budgets over electoral cycles and guide strategic frameworks for investments and projects that tackle service delivery challenges and foster economic growth.
These activities are funded through the Intergovernmental Support programme, which is allocated R59.7 billion over the medium term. The local government equitable share is an unconditional transfer that supplements the revenue raised by municipalities to perform their functions. Transfers to it comprise an estimated 80.9 per cent (R317.9 billion) of the department’s spending over the medium term.
These funds are intended to be used for the operations and maintenance of free basic services and subsidise the cost of administration for municipalities with the least potential to cover these costs from their own revenue. Transfers to the grant are made through the Intergovernmental Policy and Governance programme, allocations to which are expected to increase at an average annual rate of 5.1 percent, from R95.6 billion in 2023/24 to R111.1 billion in 2026/27.
The MIG and the Integrated Urban Development Grant play pivotal roles as supplements to municipalities’ capital budgets. The MIG is designed to address critical gaps in municipal infrastructure for impoverished households and serve poor communities, while the integrated urban development grant is geared towards improving access to municipal infrastructure and enhancing the quality of municipal services.
Projects funded through the MIG involve building new infrastructure and enhancing existing facilities. This component focuses on funding new water and sewer connections in selected intermediary cities meeting prescribed standards, provides dwellings with connections to the primary electricity supply administered by municipalities, and ensures that recognised informal settlements receive integrated waste handling services throughout the financial year. The component dealing with enhancing existing facilities entails providing essential services such as water and sanitation, central refuse collection points, transfer stations, recycling facilities, solid waste disposal sites, sport
and recreation facilities, street and community lighting, and public amenities.
Both the MIG and integrated urban development grant are funded through the Intergovernmental Support programme and account for a combined 14.8 per cent (R58.1 billion) of the department’s total spending over the MTEF period.
Mitigating against the risk of disasters
Through implementing their disaster management plans, over the MTEF period, the department intends to offer continued support to 30 priority district municipalities that are considered the most vulnerable.
The department also strives to support all municipalities with interventions that minimise risks related to climate change, assist them in mitigating against the impact of natural and man-made hazards and ensure that they have effective measures in place to respond adequately to disasters.
Accordingly, to improve the implementation of disaster risk reduction strategies, the number of municipal disaster management plans assessed by the department per year will be maintained at 14 over the medium term. These activities are funded through the Disaster Risk Reduction and Capacity Development subprogramme, which is allocated R33.9 million over the medium term in the National Disaster Management Centre programme.
Overall expenditure in the programme is expected to decrease at an average annual rate of 35.5 per cent, from R2.5 billion in 2023/24 to R665.2 million in 2026/27. This is due to a higher baseline after additional allocations were made to the department for unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Creating income security in areas of high unemployment
To support government’s broader employment initiatives, over the medium term, the department aims to maintain the number of participants in the community work programme at 200 000 per year.
The programme strives to foster social and economic inclusion by targeting areas of high unemployment and is a means of providing individuals with a source of income. It also offers participants valuable work experience, a resource that can significantly increase their access to broader career opportunities when they exit the programme.
Funds for the programme are made available in the Community Work Programme programme, which has a total budget of R9.8 billion over the medium term.
Legislation
The mandate of the DCoG is derived from the following legislation:
- Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, 2005 (Act 13 of 2005);
- Municipal Property Rates Act, 2004 (Act 6 of 2004);
- Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act 57 of 2002);
- Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000); and
- Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act 117 of 1998
Entities
Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB)
The MDB derives its legislative mandate from chapter 7 of the Constitution and Section 3 of the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act of 1998. The board is mandated to determine and redetermine municipal boundaries and render advisory services. In terms of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act of 1998, the board is also mandated to delimit wards, conduct capacity assessments for municipalities, and assess the capacity of the executive council responsible for local government.
Over the MTEF period, the board will continue to improve its administrative and legislative functions, and begin ward delimitation processes to ensure that all municipalities that qualify to have wards are finalised in time for the 2026 local government elections. It will also seek to strengthen awareness and education of demarcation processes through annual public awareness and education activities.
These activities are funded over the medium term through the Demarcation and spatial transformation excellence programme’s allocation of R53 million and the Stakeholder engagement and partnership programme’s allocation of R19.8 million.
The board expects to derive 95 per cent (R231.9 million) of its revenue over the period ahead through transfers from the department.
Spending on compensation of employees accounts for an estimated 59.8 per cent (R148.9 million) of total expenditure for the board’s 48 funded posts. Total expenditure is expected to decrease marginally, at an average annual rate of 0.7 per cent, from R84.2 million in 2023/24 to R82.5 million in 2026/27, as a result of Cabinet-approved reductions on transfers to the board amounting to R7.7 million over the MTEF period. The board plans to use retained earnings to limit the impact of these reductions on service delivery.
Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA)
The MISA was established in terms of Section 7(5)(c) of the Public Service Act of 1994. The agent provides technical support to and builds technical capacity in municipalities to enhance their capability to efficiently plan, deliver, operate and maintain municipal infrastructure.
Over the medium term, the agent will continue to provide technical support to selected municipalities to improve access to and the reliability of basic services. To ensure the effective and efficient development, rollout and maintenance of municipal infrastructure, the agent plans to enrol 450 candidates for the young graduate programme and provide 1 500 municipal officials with technical skills training over the MTEF period.
Compensation of employees accounts for an estimated 59.2 per cent (R734.5 million) of total projected spending over the period ahead.
Cabinet-approved reductions on transfers to the agent amount to R37.2 million over the MTEF period. As such, expenditure is expected to decrease at an average annual rate of 6.8 per cent, from R478.5 million in 2023/24 to R387.3 million in 2026/27.
The agent will implement cost-containment measures in an effort to limit the impact of these reductions on service delivery. The agent is set to derive all (R1.2 billion) of its revenue over the MTEF period through transfers from the department.
South African Local Government Association
The SALGA is an association of municipalities recognised by the Organised Local Government Act, 1997 (Act 52 of 1997). The association’s strategic role is to represent the interests of local government within the overall system of government, assist members to fulfil their developmental goals, participate actively in intergovernmental relations, voice local government interests and provide solutions to challenges in local government.
As the association’s core functions of research and municipal governance support are labour intensive, spending on compensation of employees accounts for an estimated 59.5 per cent (R1.7 billion) of total projected expenditure over the medium term. Cabinet has approved reductions on transfers to the agency amounting to R3.9million over the MTEF period.
Despite these, total expenditure is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 5.6 per cent, from R874.2 million in 2023/24 to R1 billion in 2026/27. The association will use funds from additional revenue streams such as town planning services, subscription water services and outdoor advertising to limit the impact of these reductions on service delivery. The association is set to derive 91.1 per cent (R2.7 billion) of its revenue over the MTEF period through membership fees from municipalities.
Source: South Africa Yearbook 2023/2024
