by Department of Provincial and Local Government (dplg) Director-General, Ms
Lindiwe Msengana-Ndlela, Namakwa District Municipality, 9-10 June 2006
9 June 2006
Introduction
The President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki, accompanied
by the Minister in the Presidency, Dr Essop Pahad, Public Enterprises Minister,
Mr Alec Erwin, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Ms Brigitte
Mabandla, Minerals and Energy Minister, Ms Buyelwa Sonjica, Water Affairs and
Forestry Minister, Ms Lindiwe Hendricks, Deputy Ministers for Public Works, Mr
Ntopile Kganyago, and Sports and Recreation, Mr Gert Oosthuizen, the Premier of
the Northern Cape Ms Dipuo Peters and senior government officials will visit
Namakwa District in the Northern Cape Province on Friday to Saturday, 9 to 10
June 2006.
The President will interact directly with the District and Local Municipal
leaders, key sectors and the public in an effort to strengthen performance at a
local government level. Presidential Izimbizo are aligned with Project
Consolidate, a hands-on Local Government support and engagement programme as
well as Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA).
Central to these Izimbizo is the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process,
which enables and empowers communities to participate in confirming local
development priorities.
Background
In 2005, in the previous phase of the Presidential Izimbizo programme, the
main focus was the municipal council, its officials and Ward Committees, with
attention paid to Project Consolidate municipalities. The aim was to focus on
problems related to less than optimum levels of service delivery. In this
current phase, the Presidential Izimbizo programme will still focus on the
council and officials. Added to this current phase is the opportunity for
interaction with stakeholders, i.e. business, youth groups and farmers.
Through these Izimbizo an opportunity is provided for all three spheres of
government, stakeholders and communities to interact in an unmediated manner on
matters of service delivery and development.
Key to the support provided to municipalities is strengthening the capacity
to deliver. To support this objective, the January 2006 Cabinet Lekgotla
adopted three strategic priorities to support local government sector for the
next five years. These are:
* mainstreaming hands-on support to Local Government to improve municipal
governance, performance and accountability
* addressing the structure and governance arrangements of the State in order
to better strengthen, support and monitor local government.
* refining and strengthening the policy, regulatory and fiscal environment
for local government and giving greater attention to enforcement measures.
Summarised Profile of Namakwa District Municipality
Namakwa District Municipality is geographically the biggest in the country
but has the smallest population. The area of Namakwa is made up of one District
Management Area and Six Local Municipal Areas, namely:
* Nama Khoi
* Khai-Ma
* Richtersveld
* Kamiesberg
* Hantam
* Karoo Hoogland
There are 27 776 households in the District with Nama Khoi accounting for
the majority of 41% of the Districtâs population. The greatest number of rural
households is located in Hantam.
The education levels in the District are low. Almost half of the people
older than 20, either had no schooling or only some primary education. A third
of the population older than 20 had some secondary education and only 15,47%
obtained Grade 12.
Three municipalities have been placed under Project Consolidate for support,
namely: Kamiesberg, Karoo Hoogland and Hantam local municipalities.
Municipalities have five Key Performance Areas which are assessed and
monitored. They are:
* Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure;
* Local Economic Development;
* Municipal Transformation and Institutional Development;
* Municipal Financial Viability and
* Good Governance and Community Participation.
Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure
Exceptional provision of free basic services has been recorded in all Local
Municipalities in the District. The entire District has adopted indigent
policies and has indigent registers in place and are providing free basic water
and electricity to indigent households.
Basic Service Delivery has improved during the past few years and in some
cases backlogs are low. There are currently 690 buckets that the District is
planning to eradicate before the end of 2007. Most of the buckets are in Nama
Khoi. An amount of R9 323 000 has been allocated though the Municipal
Infrastructure Grant (MIG) for the eradication of buckets in the Namakwa
District for the financial year 2006/07.
Although the majority of households receive basic services, the development
of alternative bulk water resources should be prioritised.
One of the main challenges that the District area faces is the poor
condition of roads, especially the gravel roads.
More than 1 580 houses have been built with 281 still to be completed in the
District.
Local Economic Development
The District has mining, agriculture, tourism and fishing as its main
economic contributors. Agricultural activity is made possible by large-scale
irrigation using water resources coming from the Vaal and Orange Rivers.
The Municipality has developed clear plans to help grow the economy of the
District. These are the District Integrated Development Plans (IDP) as well as
the Integrated Economic Development Plan.
On the tourism front, the District offers natural and cultural heritage
resources big enough to attract both local and international tourists. However
tourism in the District has not reached its full potential.
The District plans to develop regional and local tourism development
plans.
Agriculture accounts for 22% of the provincial GDP. The sector is the
largest contributor to employment after mining. Stock farming, wool and flower
bulbs are the key contributors to the sector in the District.
Municipal Transformation and Institutional Development
The District Municipality and most of its Local Municipalities displayed a
high level of stability of senior political office bearers during the first
term of office, with the same mayors remaining in office for the whole
period.
Although other municipalities have displayed stability when it comes to
senior management, some have vacancies. The District has shortage of technical
skills in the area of mechanical, civil and electrical engineers. The Local
Municipalities face a challenge of attracting qualified personnel to fill these
key positions.
In the IDP of the Namakwa District, it is stated that skills development,
capacity building and integrated systems are listed as developmental issues
that must be attended to.
Performance Management Systems are in place in some municipalities.
Municipal Financial Viability
Namakwa District and its Local Municipalities have budgeted for R221,5
million for the 2004/05 financial year. Of this amount R44,1 million is for
capital expenditure and R177,4 million for operating expenditure.
The total expenditure on salaries and wages in the District and Local
Municipalities is 36%, which is higher than the norm of 30%.
In both the District and Local Municipality a provision of 1% for bad debt
is made.
The District has a high dependency on grants.
All municipalities have either received a qualified report or a disclaimer
from the Auditor-General, while others have not received their audit
report.
There are intervention strategies proposed to improve this situation in the
District. These proposals include support to improve credit control and revenue
management. It is proposed that municipalities receive support in developing
control procedures, accounting processes and improve the systems and internal
controls. The municipality officials will be trained in budgeting with specific
emphasis on budget restructuring.
Good Governance and Public Participation
The District is in the process of finalising the election of new Ward
Committees. This follows a successful Local Government election in the
District.
Efforts to train and increase the capacity of the newly elected Ward
Committees will be undertaken as soon as the process of election is completed.
These will include strengthening communication at a ward level.
Conclusion
The Presidential Izimbizo forms part of efforts to accelerate the
implementation of the governmentâs Programme of Action (PoA) and improving the
institutional capacity of Local Government to deliver basic services to
communities as well as advancing community participation to create a better
life for all.
These Izimbizo for 2006 present a platform for engagement between
government, civil society, business, key stakeholders and communities.
It will also seek to create a favourable environment for government to
implement the three local government priorities for the next five years.
These interactions will seek to provide immediate solutions to challenges
experienced by Namakwa District, some of which are raised in this preview,
namely that of service delivery and development at local government level.
Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
9 June 2006
