Government and Housing, Howard Yawa, during the Local Government Budget Week
held at Taung Tusk
12 July 2007
Programme Director, RJ Douw
Chairperson of South African Local Government Association (Salga) North West,
Desmond van Rooyen
My colleague MEC of Finance, Maureen Modiselle
The Mayor of Greater Taung, Boitumelo Mahlangu
The Executive Mayor of Bophirima District, Kaone Lobelo
Salga North West Executive Committee members
Executive mayors and mayors
Councillors
Municipal managers
Chief financial officers (CFOs)
And other officials
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Accelerating the delivery of basic services and increasing access to
services are core priorities for this term of our democratic government. As a
developmental state, we believe that effective local government is a
cornerstone of government and central to the realisation of a better life for
all.
The goal of the five-year local government strategic agenda (2006/11)
adopted by Cabinet as a national plan of action to improve municipal governance
and to have municipalities discharging their constitutional mandates fully and
effectively as a sphere of government throughout the country by the end of the
second term of local democracy and to specifically draw on the lessons of
Project Consolidate.
The legacy of apartheid policy has resulted in many of the newly established
municipalities lacking the resources and capacity to meet their developmental
challenges. The theme for this important annual Local Government Budget Week
i.e. "Maximising Financial Management Capacity for sustainable Service
delivery", relates with our objective to create caring, compassionate
municipalities that is responsive to the developmental needs of our
communities.
Sound financial management at this critical sphere of government therefore
cannot be overemphasised. We have put in place transformative legislations and
progressive policies to ensure financially viable municipalities to the benefit
of our communities we have no choice, but to abide by these policies.
Programme Director, we have a responsibility as the provincial government to
support and strengthen the capacity of our municipalities to manage their own
affairs and discharge their responsibility of providing quality services to
communities.
We are all aware that the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) oversees
sound and sustainable management of the fiscal and financial affairs of all
municipalities. It also sets out powers and responsibilities for national and
provincial government regarding local government. The Constitution of our
country also commands provincial departments to monitor and support
municipalities with regard to financial management.
Programme Director, one of the strategic priorities of the five-year local
government strategic agenda is to improve financial viability and financial
management of municipalities. Both national and provincial government are
expected to provide financial management hands on support to low capacity
municipalities.
This year's budget week coincides with the start of the local government
financial year. I am also aware that municipalities are now busy with their
financial planning for the next financial year. I therefore hope that today's
deliberations will assist you with your planning.
This programme (budget week) also comes at a time when most of our
municipalities are still faced with the daunting task of restoring the
community's confidence in local government. It also comes at a time when our
municipalities are grappling with addressing infrastructure backlogs which are
mainly caused by the dearth of financial management skills and lack of sound
financial management systems.
We are bound by the MFMA to make our budgets and service delivery plans,
public. Let us continue to intensify our communities' involvement in municipal
processes like integrated development planning (IDP) and budget preparations.
We have legitimate structures that can assist to facilitate these decision
making processes.
Ours is to find ways of improving the accountability of these structures to
communities that they serve in order for us to be able to walk tall and say
with pride, that indeed, we have a democratic and accountable government for
local communities.
Programme Director, corruption is a social scourge that cuts across the
public and private sectors and society at large and involves a transaction
between at least the giver and the receiver. Corruption and unethical conduct
pose a major challenge within the public, private and civil sectors and that
wherever it occurs it threatens our democracy and if it has to be defeated it
should be defeated at local government.
Defeating corruption at local government will restore the confidence of our
communities in our local government system. We have to mobilise churches,
faith-based organisations (FBOs), non-government organisations (NGOs), trade
unions community-based organisations (CBOs) and communities to ensure effective
implementation of the local government anti corruption strategy, which was
launched in April this year.
The strategy is modelled around key principles including enhancing the
culture within municipalities which is intolerant to unethical conduct, fraud
and corruption; strengthening community participation in the fight against
corruption; improving accountability; efficiency and effective administration
within municipalities and developing anti corruption capacity within
municipalities.
The strategy identifies the following risks in municipalities:
* nepotism, i.e. the practice of employing relatives as staff
* inadequate financial controls and lack of oversight on expenditures by those
who are supposed to do their work in the finance department of the
municipality
* procurement for building and allocation of Reconstruction and Development
Programme (RDP) houses
* lack of transparent procurement processes which includes lack of openness
about processes for procuring services in the municipality by outside
individuals and businesses
* abuse of municipal assets, this involves abuse of things like municipal
vehicles, telephones, computers and other equipment and resources.
I wish to reiterate that if corruption has to be defeated in the public
sector, it has to be defeated at local government level. I am confident that
through united action, impartial and vigilant political oversight and enhanced
public accountability the scourge of corruption can and would be defeated
because history has shown us that a united people cannot be defeated.
Municipalities that keep in touch with their communities to ensure a
partnership towards the local government improvement plan can and would reclaim
their rightful place within their communities.
Councillors that keep in touch with their constituencies in order to give
regular feedback understand public accountability. Councillors that involve
their communities in IDP processes and budget processes understand public
accountability.
Municipalities that tap into the skills of professionals, the private
individuals and the business sector in the jurisdiction of their municipalities
understand the renewing of our pledge for a national partnership for a plan to
make local government work better.
Officials who do not meet deadlines for approval of budget proposals by
councils, Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIGs) applications, housing subsidy
applications and reconciliations, annual reports, financial statements but
expect performance bonuses do not understand public accountability.
Those who do not embark on forward planning processes to ensure that capital
projects commence and are completed on time and put in place early warning
systems as part of project monitoring and supervision but expect performance
bonuses do not understand public accountability. They do not realise that their
performance agreements are contracts to serve our communities in line with
Batho Pele principles.
Councillors who approve performance bonuses to non-performing officials are
equally not aware of their political oversight responsibility because if any of
these processes mentioned are not performed timeously, service delivery is
compromised.
As we broaden access to local economic opportunities towards national goals
which benefit all, we need to commit ourselves to work together towards
financially sustainable municipalities for sustainable service delivery.
Programme Director, we should gear ourselves for better service delivery in
partnership with communities and keep in touch with them to ensure a
partnership towards the implementation of the local government improvement
plan.
In conclusion allow me to appreciate the invitation from the Chairperson of
Salga North West and the Executive Committee. The Tanzanian poet Nadir Thaana
reminds us of the importance of quote of our hands, "Words can't break stones
nor wash feet, but then how many stones or feet can explain, what our hands
create belongs to us."
I am confident that our communities expect us to perform our political
oversight and public accountability for sustainable service delivery .I renew
therefore our pledge for the implementation of the plan to make local
government better and to support our municipalities in every war possible
because "what our hands create belongs to us."
Our communities belong to us, let us reclaim them.
Ke a leboga!
Issued by: Department of Developmental Local Government and Housing, North
West Provincial Government
12 July 2007
