N Hangana: Debate on Cross-boundary Municipality Laws Repeal and Related
Matters Bill 2007

20 September 2007

Madam Speaker
Honourable Members of Parliament
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

In 2004, the African National Congress in its election manifesto committed
itself to a people's contract to work together to build a better South Africa
and to improve the quality of life for all citizens. We specifically resolved
to broaden access to basis services and agreed to focus on, amongst others, the
need to,

* speed up programmes to provide water and sanitation, electricity and
telephone services to those who are not yet connected,
* realise the Batho Pele principles and improve services from our various arms
of government.

In the 2006 local government elections, we further renewed our vision for
2014 and said that we need to accelerate our pace in improving the lives of our
people. In this regard we specifically said that that we are determined to make
local government work better in order to build a better South Africa.
Honourable members, we need to remind ourselves that it was these electoral
mandates that directly informed our decision to review the dispensation of
cross boundary municipalities.

Rationale for the eradication of the former cross boundary
Municipalities

In 2003 and 2004 this government undertook a rigorous assessment of the
performance of the new local government system since its inauguration in
December 2000. We reached a key conclusion that many people are not feeling the
impact of the new system developmental local government. It was also this same
assessment of all 284 municipalities that directly informed the initiation of
Project Consolidate in October 2004.

This local government review and our work on Project Consolidate highlighted
key challenges and problems facing the 16 former cross boundary municipalities
which affected five provinces. It became clear that these municipalities had
very complicated administrative and governance arrangements that lead to a
number of problems pertaining to:

* the implementation of differing provincial legislation pertaining to
health and traffic,
* the co-ordination of housing and infrastructure projects,
* the finalisation of integrated development plans (IDPs) and its alignment
with different Provincial Growth and Development Strategies,
* differing provincial financial management systems impacting on the affected
municipalities.

In our view, the combined result of this system of cross-boundary
municipalities negatively impacted on our communities and deprived them from
the optimal set of services due to them by our provincial governments and
former cross boundary municipalities. It was against this background that this
House, the National Council of Parliaments (NCOP) and all the relevant
provinces adopted legislation to eradicate all the cross-boundary
municipalities. This was facilitated through the enactment of the Constitution
Twelfth Amendment Act of 2005, and the Cross-boundary Municipalities Laws
Repeal and Related Matters Act (Act No 23 of 2005).

Response of government to support the re-aligned municipalities

When we passed this legislation in 2005, this government committed itself to
ensure that all former cross boundary municipalities,
* would be better-off than they were as cross-boundary municipalities,
* service delivery would improve and therefore the affected communities would
benefit,
* national and provincial government would be mobilised, as well as resources,
to ensure a smooth transition and accelerated service delivery at the local
level.

In 2006, the community of the Matatiele Local Municipality challenged the
constitutional validity of our legislation. On 18 August 2006 the
Constitutional Court found that the KwaZulu-Natal province failed to facilitate
public participation in the legislative process as required by section
118(1)(a) of the Constitution. It is for this primary reason that we are
re-convening here today to correct this unfortunate oversight and to renew our
pledge of ensuring that our people in the realigned municipalities reap the
maximum fruits of this people's government at all levels.

In 2005 this parliament and the affected five provinces engaged in a process
of consultation with local communities regarding our system of cross-boundary
municipalities and sought to get their comments and views on a range of
matters. It is once again unfortunate in retrospect that only a single issue
has dominated the public discourse, especially via the media, regarding the
subject of our consultations with our people, that issue has been whether
communities should reside in a particular province or not. Our understanding of
the Constitution, the laws of this country and the programmes of this
government is that it is incumbent on every level and component of government
to exercise its full developmental mandate to the maximum benefit of our people
regardless of where our people are located.

We recognise that our provinces are differentially endowed with resources
and capacity, primarily due to the legacy of apartheid's uneven spatial, human
settlement and economic development policies. It is for this reason that
subsequent to the enactment of 12th Constitutional Amendment Act in 2005
national government and the affected provinces undertook various measures to
positively advantage the former cross boundary municipalities and our
communities in these areas.

Since 2006 government's institutional response to support these realigned
municipalities comprised of a number of elements, including:

* signing of Memorandum of Understandings, Provincial Implementation
Protocols and Service Level Agreements between and with affected provinces and
municipalities to ensure uninterrupted service delivery,
* the institution of special support programmes at a provincial level, such as
the Premier's Emergency Infrastructure Grant in Limpopo,
* the deployment of a number of experts and professionals to directly support
the affected municipalities on matters regarding financial management,
infrastructure delivery, economic development, project management and
integrated development planning
* ensuring the maximum and effective utilisation of various intergovernmental
grants to the realigned municipalities, such as the Local Government Equitable
Share and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG).

By mid-2007, a total of 163 MIG projects were completed in the former
cross-boundary municipalities to the value of R565 million. At this same time,
a total of 113 water and sanitation projects were in the planning stages,
totalling R483m. It is estimated that these planned projects will benefit over
387 000 households. An assessment of the allocations to the realigned
municipalities from the Local Government Equitable Share for the 2006/7 year,
following the re-demarcations, has shown general increases.

We are aware of number of challenges that continue to face these realigned
municipalities in the area of service delivery backlogs and the strengthening
their municipal institutional capability. These challenges will continue to
receive focused and dedicated attention.

Conclusion

Madam Speaker, the Cross-boundary Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related
Matters Amendment Bill now before the House seeks to amend the Cross-boundary
Municipalities Laws Repeal and Related Matters Act, 2005 by substituting and
re-enacting those provisions of the said Act that were declared invalid by the
Constitutional Court. We want to call on everyone involved in the processing of
the Bill before the House, as well as the Constitution Thirteenth Amendment
Bill, to support the finalisation of the process.

Following the deliberations here today, this legislation will proceed to the
NCOP and the provincial legislatures of the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape
governments. The latter is especially viewed as crucial since these
legislatures are in relative closer proximity to the affected communities. It
is important that the process unfolds in a manner that allows for greater
accessibility and participation by our people. Today is another important
milestone in our effort to build a better South Africa for all.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
20 September 2007
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.dplg.gov.za)