Upon taking office in the department for this five year term our first task was to align all our plans with the new strategic thrust of the ANC manifesto and the strategic objective of provincial government. We had to reorder our priorities within that frame and within the resources available to us. We will review our work on a quarterly basis to ensure that we are on track.
Housing remains a cornerstone of our service delivery effort. Being the main recipient of migration patterns in the country and the continent, the challenge for the province continues to grow. Having delivered 650 000 housing opportunities in the last 15 years which gave shelter to an estimated 1,5 million people, we are still faced with more than 500 000 people registered as waiting for houses on our demand data base.
Our urban renewal and twenty township programmes are our provincial approach to the philosophy of human settlements. These programmes seek to turn old townships that were neglected as labour dormitories into human habitable settlements.
The focus of these programmes is to eradicate the bucket system, install bulk services, install electricity, put up street lights, tar and pave the streets, erect social amenities and beautify the townships with parks and similar projects.
We are jointly with the local government of Ekurhuleni concluding a working agreement on how we together in the coming five years are going to upgrade and turn Tembisa into a human settlement.
We are working with the City of Johannesburg (COJ) to accelerate delivery to the areas of the south. The problem here is formalisation of the areas, bulk services and houses. We are determined to make a difference during this term of office.
In this month we will conclude our plans on the Winterveldt renewal project. Thereafter we will together with the treasury and the national department enter into agreements of the costs and how to finance the project.
Under the Alexander renewal programme, we continue to address the plight of hostel residents in Alexander. We are constructing 282 new houses to house all residents of M2 hostel. To date we have completed 204 and are occupied. This financial year we will complete the balance and then demolish the hostel. Work is in process for M1 and Helen Joseph Hostel.
Between now and the end of financial year we will be seized with completion of the reincorporation of Merafong back into Gauteng. We are working together with our North West province counterparts to continue rendering services in the areas whilst the hand over is on.
We sent inter departmental technical team to assess the immediate needs of that community. The assessment is then used to guide the different departments on how to direct their interventions in Merafong.
We can now say we have stabilised the situation in Ekurhuleni. There is now a fulltime municipal manager, chief financial officer and chief of Metro Police. Most of the executive director positions are now filled. Their capital expenditure has shot from 36 percent to 90 percent and their ability to collect revenue is 85 percent. Their cash flow situation remains sound.
Municipalities like every going concern are affected by the downturn in our economy. When consumers’ ability to spend is affected, that is immediately felt by municipalities. When Eskom and water utilities raise their tariffs the municipality is the first to feel the heat because they must buy bulk and pay upfront before they collect from the individual consumer. It is not hair rising that under such circumstances you may experience cash flow problems. It does not mean that you are a business phasing bankruptcy as our detractors would like to portray it.
We are examining the financial viability of all our municipalities and will provide a report to our Executive Lekgotla next week. All indications are that yes there are difficulties of cash flow management as a result of the economic downturn and of cause in other cases as a result of inefficiencies and mismanagement. Except for the Nokeng tsa Taemane local municipality it is not immediately obvious that any municipality if facing bankruptcy.
Let me take this opportunity to announce that we have now received a full report of the KPMG forensic audit on the Kungwini local municipality. I have now sent copies of the report to the minister of Co-operate Governance and Traditional affairs, chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), the speakers of our provincial legislature and Kungwini local municipality as directed by the municipal systems act. I will make a statement at a later point about the contents of the report and the way forward.
Our team from both provincial and national treasury has now started work in Nokeng tsa Taemane municipality. We will report progress on our financial recovery plan in due course.
After reviewing revenue collection capabilities of the different municipalities we are of the view that they can do more. We have now put a debt structuring model before the executive council for consideration. We hope this will enable us to enhance our revenue collection and put municipal financials on an even better footing.
By law enforcement remains a challenge for local government. The scope of the problem is vast. From screening of old ordinances that are no longer relevant for the new order, the new ordinances that are required and the capacity to enforce those ordinances. A related matter is the increasing of the required number of members of the Metro Police and the establishing of municipal courts. What compounds the issue is that these matters can only be concluded with the involvement of the justice and the police department.
We have concluded a plan on how to address these matters and I have signed it off for processing to the executive council. You are by now aware that the municipal demarcation board has made a recommendation that the district of Metsweding and its local municipalities should be diminished and the boundaries of Tshwane extended to include Metsweding. We are now at the consulting phase with the affected communities.
This matter is connected to the time lines for the preparations of the 2011 local government elections. To that effect the minister for Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs has issued a proclamation determining the formula for the number of councillors per municipality for purposes of the 2011 local government elections.
Let me conclude by saying I believe we have put our plans together and are now focusing realising the milestones in our plans. We will continue to monitor and review. We commit that to the best of our ability we will endeavour to carry out the mandate of the electorate.
For more information contact:
Fred Mokoko
Cell: 082 447 8404
Tel: 011 355 4013
Issued by: Department of Local Government and Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government
7 September 2009
