North West Department of Local Government and Human Settlements Budget Vote 09 delivered by MEC Galaletsang Fenny Gaolaolwe at the North West Provincial Legislature on 04 May 2018
Honourable Speaker of Bokone Bophirima Provincial Legislature
Honourable Premier of Bokone Bophirima SOR Mahumapelo
Honourable Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Executive Mayors and Mayors
Speakers of various Municipalities
Chairperson of SALGA
Councillors Present here
Magosi a rona a a tlotlegang
Leaders of Political Parties
Director General of Bokone Bophirima Administration
Head of Department of Local Government and Human Settlements
Municipal Managers
Representatives from State Owned Entities
Government Officials
Members of the Media
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Baagi ba Bokone Bophirima, DUMELANG!
Honourable Speaker, it is a great honour and privilege to present the budget vote and policy statement of the Department of Local Government and Human Settlements for 2018/19 financial year.
This happens at a time when South Africans have started with the celebrations of the centenaries of our struggle stalwarts, Tata Nelson Mandela and Mama Albertina Nontsekelelo Sisulu.
As President Cyril Ramaphosa put it during his State of the Nation address: “We honour this son and this daughter of the African soil in a year of change, in a year of renewal, in a year of hope. We honour them not only in words, but, more importantly, in direct action towards the achievement of their shared vision of a better society”.
This shared vision, symbolizes their struggle to fight against poverty and injustice system which was imposed by the Apartheid regime on Black People.
The late Nelson Mandela wrote: I quote: "Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom". Close quote.
Honourable Speaker, we pay tribute to the late Mother of the Nation, Mme Nomzamo Winnie Mandela who fought the oppressive government to the bitter end. She has inspired many of us in the oldest liberation movement, the AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS to fight the injustices of the past and she will always be remembered for her bravery.
It is against this backdrop, Honourable Speaker that we will continue to implement Human Settlements programme and strengthen local government in the province as mandated by the Constitution.
As we do this, it will require our collective wisdom, commitment to embrace SAAWERK-SAAMTREK philosophy as one of the provincial concrete. "Mabogo dinku a thebana Bagaetsho." Sedikwa ke ntsha-pedi ga se thata."
Honourable Members, municipalities are required to structure and manage their administration such that budgeting and planning processes are given priority on the basic needs of the communities and promote the social cohesion as well as economic development of the communities they serve.
To succeed in this process, the Department will gazette the Municipal Planning and Reporting Tool, to ensure alignment of budget, IDP, through Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plans (SDBIP).
We have made a commitment in the previous financial year to work with our strategic partners to conduct workshops to empower councils and council committees to strengthen their oversight role and to ensure that municipal officials improve their performance with regard to Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and service delivery budget implementation plans (SDBIP).
To date, we are pleased to report to this August house that, we have kept that promise by conducting workshops in all municipalities and Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipality was given a priority.
Furthermore, three-day workshops were conducted to empower members of Council Committees and their respective officials on oversight responsibilities with regard to institutionalisation of the Performance Management System (PMS).
This system remains the early warning which help municipalities to monitor the effective implementation of the IDPs.
Honourable Speaker, in this financial year, the Department will continue with these workshops on performance management systems and trainings to improve the outcomes of municipalities.
The Department has trained Councillors, officials and ward committee members on various aspects of project management, report writing, minutes taking, and disciplinary procedure to effectively discharge service delivery obligations to communities.
The Department in partnership with National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) has reviewed all Municipal Back to Basics Action plans. The intention for this exercise was to strengthen the quality of reports and realign indicators that will feed to the development of Back to Basics reporting tool.
Municipal Administration
The Department continues to play its oversight in ensuring that municipalities appoint relevantly qualified, experienced and competent municipal senior managers.
We have made a significant progress in filling of vacant senior positions and will continue this journey to capacitate both Council and Administration.
Honourable Members, we are working with COGTA and South African Local Government Association (SALGA) towards the development of the standardized generic organizational structures and staff establishment for municipalities. We will therefore continue with this exercise to assist municipalities to review their respective organizational structures and staff establishments to ensure that they respond to government priorities and IDPs.
Honourable Members, public participation remains at the centre of community development. We are thankful to the Office of the Premier to have established “ROMA NNA" Setsokotsane ward operation centres.
Motlotlegi-Mmusa Kgotla, dikantoro tse tsa tlhaeletsano di re kgontsha go golagana le baagi go akaretsa le batsaya-karolo ba le bantsi tebang le thebolo ya ditirelo.
We will continue our participation in the "ROMA NNA SETSOKOTSANE 10 X 10 CAMPAIGNS. By far monthly community meetings convened by Councillors have increased, cleaning campaigns are taking place, payments of rates and taxes are also taking place.
We are very proud with the impact that, the campaigns continue to make in our communities.
We are calling on all Ward Councillors who are not convening community meetings to do so, and those who are doing so, to keep up the good work. The Councillors should remember that community meetings is part of their job descriptions.
We request all local speakers through council to develop action plans on issues raised during committee meetings.
We call on Provincial and National Departments to respond to service delivery issues that are being raised by communities to avoid unnecessary protests.
Municipal Finance and Support
Honourable Speaker, we are disappointed by the continued negative municipal audit outcomes. Both Departments of FEED and Local Government have developed plans to assist municipalities to improve their audit outcomes.
Furthermore, through our monitoring and support function, the Department was able to capacitate Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) to enable them to perform their oversight roles and responsibilities in their respective municipalities.
We are pleased to indicate to this House that, 77% of our MPACs are functional and the Department will continue to provide them with support and pay special attention to the remaining 33% which are not functional. These include Maquassi Hills, Lekwa-Teemane, Mamusa, Tswaing, and Ditsobotla local municipalities.
The Department, together with Department of Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development (FEED) have successfully put in place Section 32 programme which is a procedure to follow in supporting both the Council Committees, MPACs and municipal administration in addressing Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful expenditures.
To date, Bojanala District; Rustenburg ,Madibeng, Ratlou and Kgetleng local municipalities have been assisted in order to address Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful expenditures.
In the current financial year, the programme will be rolled out to all municipalities to work towards achieving better audit outcomes.
Honourable Members, let me also take this opportunity to congratulates the newly elected National Chairperson of National Association of Municipal Public Accounts Cllr. Solomon Davis from Bojanala District. I also wish to congratulate Cllr Nombuyiselo Adoons from Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District for her election into the National Executive.
Honourable Speaker, as part of our support function to municipalities, we are grateful to indicate that, through Shared Service Model, we have made a number of consultations to our stakeholders on Draft Rules of Order for our municipalities with the intention of creating certainty and uniformity on proceedings of municipal councils in Bokone Bophirima.
The Minister has given us the feedback on these draft rules of order and in due course we will publish them for public comments.
Revenue Management and Enhancement Programme
Honourable Members, with regard to revenue management, the Department working with COGTA have supported three municipalities namely; Naledi, Moses Kotane and Ditsobotla local municipalities through the revenue project to develop and implement simplified revenue plans in order to improve revenue management.
In this financial year, we are targeting six municipalities for support on the development and implementation of simplified revenue plans, namely Kgetlengrivier, Mamusa, Maquassi Hills, Tswaing, Lekwa Teemane and Ramotshere Moila.
Once the simplified revenue plan is implemented, Honourable Speaker, it will ensure that, there is improved revenue management and reduction of municipal consumer debt in municipalities.
Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) implementation
Honourable Members, we are grateful to announce that, the Department has supported all local municipalities with a project plan to start compiling their third General Valuation Roll for implementation on the 1st July 2019. I am pleased to report to this noble House that Kagisano Molopo, Naledi, Ratlou and Madibeng local municipalities have appointed Municipal Valuers to start with the process.
Municipal Property Rates Act Appeal Board were also established in all four (4) districts and its members were work-shopped on their responsibilities which include Municipal Property Rates Act appeal processes.
Honourable Members, the Department will continue to support the municipalities with the implementation of valuation roll and supplementary valuation roll, adoption of the reviewed rates policies and by-laws and promulgation and publication of such in accordance with the Municipal Property Rates Act 6 of 2004.
Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG)
Honourable Speaker, we wish to congratulate municipalities which continue to do well on MIG expenditure. Thus far Moretele, Tswaing, Naledi, Greater Taung, Lekwa Teemane, Kagisano Molopo, and Dr Ruth Segomotso Mompati District Municipality are the leading examples in spending their MIG grants.
These municipalities had spent all their MIG and have also benefitted from reallocation of MIG funds from Municipalities that are not spending the funds.
We remain concerned with municipalities which are not spending their funds and therefore, commit ourselves to intensify our support. This support will be done through one on one sessions to turn around the situation in increasing expenditure patterns while maintaining and sustaining those who are doing well through constant monitoring.
Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP)
Honourable Members, in this financial year ten local municipalities (Ditsobotla, Ramotshere, Ratlou, Lekwa Teemane, Greater Taung, Mamausa, Kgetleng, Maquassie Hills, Tswaing and Moretele) are benefiting from EPWP programme and they will continue to benefit in the current financial year. Each municipality is expected to appoint 19 participants for a period of 6 months, starting this month of May 2018 until October 2018. We have put aside R 2, 231 Million for this exercise.
Provincial Disaster Management Centre
Honourable Speaker and Honourable Members, the Department has developed an Integrated Provincial Disaster Management Strategy (IPDMS) which is intended to improve the province's planning for disasters, response and disaster rehabilitation. The objective of the strategy is to create safer and disaster resilient communities in our beautiful Bokone Bophirima Province.
We are grateful to indicate that, this single strategy will be implemented by all Provincial Departments to mitigate disasters.
We must also indicate that, the Provincial Disaster Management Centre in partnership with the National Centre will be training Municipal Fire officials on Urban search and rescue activities.
Se, se tla re kgontsha go emelana le matlhotlhapelo le koduo nngwe le nngwe e e ka welang baagi ba Bokone Bophirima ka tshoganyetso.
Housing Development
Honourable Members, our journey continues of creating housing opportunities for our people within the context of Section 26(1) of our Constitution. This provision of the legislation guarantees everyone the right to have access to adequate housing.
In the past financial year, Ten thousand Two hundred and Twenty Two (10 222) housing opportunities have been created, which is less than what we have targeted for based on the following challenges:
In the main, we have experienced the poor performance of contracts whose review is ongoing currently with an intension to scale-down to their current progress. The balance of the work will be allocated to capacitated developers through supply chain management processes to deliver in short space of time.
Motlotlegi Mmusa Kgotla, re agela lefoko la ga Tonakgolo Mahumapelo mosako la go simolola dipatlisiso tebang le bonweenwee jo bo tlogetseng baagi ba le bantsi ba sena matlo etswa madi ona rugilwe.
Bontsi jwa matlo a ke buang ka one, mangwe ke metheo fela. A mangwe a phuagantswe a sa fela. Mo mafelong a mangwe o fitlhela bojang fela. Ga go na le tlhase ya bosupi jwa gore a ne a tla agiwa mme madi one a duetswe bo-rakonteraka. Se, ke tshenyetso setshaba ya maemo a a kwa godimo.
Sejo sennye ga se fete molomo.
We have also in the past financial year, introduced a new Human Settlement delivery approach called the Bietjie-Bietjie maak meer within the context of Villages, Township and Small Dorpies (VTSD) preferential procurement strategy as previously pronounced by the Hon Premier SOR Mahumapelo.
This approach has ensured that we allocate a minimum of 50 units to various small contractors of levels one to four (1-4). These housing projects are being implemented currently in the municipal space.
Honourable Members, we are grateful to announce that, a total of Three thousand Nine hundred and Forty Three (3 943) Title deeds were transferred in the past financial year to affirm property ownership to our people.
We have set aside an amount of One billion Nine Hundred and twenty six million, Six Hundred and Forty Four Thousand (R 1 926 644 000) to create Fifteen Thousand Five Hundred and Nineteen (15 519) housing opportunities across the province.
We have also put aside an amount of Fifty One Million, Four Hundred and Forty Nine thousand Four hundred (R51 449 400) to deliver Twenty Four Thousand Four Hundred and Four (24 404) new title deeds which include the backlog.
Furthermore, we have put aside an amount of Thirty Nine Million Four Hundred and Twenty Five thousand Three hundred and Ninety Seven rand (R39 425 397) for the construction of Two Hundred and Nine houses (209) for Military Veterans in this current financial year.
Honourable Members, we are very proud to announce that, we have spent over R1 billion for revitalization of distressed mining communities in the previous financial year. In this financial year 2018/19, a total of Seven Hundred and Eight Million rand (R708m) is to be spend on 139 serviced sites and 4 598 housing units specifically to relief and alleviate pressures on mining towns.
Honourable Speaker, During the 2018/19 financial the North West Housing Corporation commits itself to accelerate the provision of accommodation and in this regard the Corporation will initiate and implement the development of student accommodation to address the current shortage of student residential facility. The Corporation is also determined to explore the possibility of developing mixed housing development through public private partnership to assist in addressing the ever increasing demand for affordable housing. The Corporation is also expected to finalize the transformation of the flats into sectional title schemes improve home ownership of the current tenants.
Honourable Speaker, allow me to outline the departmental budget allocation for 2018/19 per programme as follows:-
|
Programme |
R'000 |
|
|
Administration |
243 282 |
Two Hundred And Forty Three Million, Two Hundred And Eighty Two Thousand Rand |
|
Local Governance |
44 120 |
Forty Four Million One Hundred And Twenty Thousand Rand |
|
Develpment and Planning |
120 657 |
One Hundred And Twenty Million Six Hundred And Fifty Seven Thousand Rand |
|
Housing Needs Planning and Research |
34 477 |
Thirty Four Million Four Hundred And Seventy Seven Thousand Rand |
|
Housing Development |
2 034 327 |
Two Billion, Thirty Four Million Three Hundred And Twenty Seven Thousand Rand |
|
Total |
2 476 863 |
Two Billion Four Hundred And Seventy Six Million, Eight Hundred And Sixty Three Thousand Rand |
Kwa bokhutlong , ke rata go tsaya nako e, go leboga Tonakgolo ya rona Supra Obakeng Ramoeletsi Mahumapelo ka boeteledipele jo bo manontlhotlho jwa go isa Bokone Bophirima kwa pele.
I also want to thank the peoples movement, the ruling party, the African National Congress for entrusting me with the responsibility of serving the people of Bokone Bophirima in this portfolio.
Thank you very much my colleagues in the Executive Council for advices and support.
Thank you very much the Chairperson and entire Portfolio Committee responsible for Local Government and Human Settlements.
Thank you very much SALGA leadership in the province for their support and cooperation
Dikgosi tsa rona
The Head of Department Rre Phihadu Ephraim Motoko and staff members in the Department.
Profound thanks also goes to all Management and staff of the department
Thank you very much my family for your support all the time.
As I conclude Honourable Speaker, allow me once again to borrow courageous words from Tata Nelson Mandela “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
Kwa bokhutlong ke leboga Modimo yo o tshelang. Re kgona go dira tsotlhe ka ene yo o re thatafatsang.
Ke a leboga
