MEC Zolile Williams: Eastern Cape Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Prov Budget Vote 2023/24

Imbued with this memory, we need joint efforts to drive the agenda we adopted at the beginning of the term. Our long-term vision is encapsulated in the National Development Plan, Vision 2030 which was adopted in 2012. At the beginning of the term our government adopted the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) to outline the government strategic intent in implementing the electoral mandate of the ruling party as well as the NDP, Vision 2030. We must take stock of the journey we have traversed and roll up our sleeves for a decisive drive to the full implementation of the agenda we adopted. If I can borrow from the great American Poet and Philosopher, Henry David Thoreau1;

“All endeavour calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, And shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil.

The fight to the finish spirit is the one characteristic we must possess if we are to face the future as finishers”,

Our mid-term assessment showed what we mastered and where we fell short on the targets we set in 2019. We are proud of our accomplishments and conscious of what still needs to be done. In the words of Thoreau, this year we must endeavour to ‘tramp the last mile and shape the last plan’. 2023 calls for the ‘finish spirit’ if we are to face the future as great finishers.

Madam Speaker, when we adopted the NDP in 2012 we acknowledged that something had to change in the manner and approach of doing things. In our own admission, we said that our trajectory at the time was never going to help us to eliminate poverty and inequality at the rate we wanted to. According to the NDP 2030, “Drawing on our collective successes and failures as a nation, we need to do more to improve our future. On the present trajectory, South Africa will not achieve the objectives of eliminating poverty and reducing inequality. There is an urgent need for a faster progress, more action and better implementation”.

The 52nd conference of the ANC defined features of a developmental state as follows:

• Firstly, a developmental state must have the necessary intellectual capacity to plan and monitor socio-economic transformation (must articulate a vision and agenda, and analyze the balance of forces to discern possibilities/options)
• Secondly, the developmental state must have the coherence, planning and coordinating capacity to ensure integrated strategies and priorities are resourced and implemented (planning commission, national development plan, PDP etc.)
• Thirdly, a developmental state must have the administrative and technical capacity to implement policy and strategy.
• Fourthly, it must be capable of mobilizing and disciplining capital in the national interest
• Fifthly, it must be embedded in alliances with progressive forces to avoid capture by narrow political elites and parasitic elements and avoid drift towards authoritarianism.

Madam Speaker, the achievement of a developmental state will remain a pipe-dream for as long as women shoulder the burden of poverty and are victims of Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). This scourge requires both men and women to commit to confronting it with determination. According to President Mandela, ‘safety and security do not just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear’.

It is for this reason that we will continue to mobilise and build capacity of traditional leaders to spearhead this fight because they live amongst the vulnerable in our communities. Our focus will be to organise social dialogues between communities and social partners so as to better understand the roots of this sickness and how it can be defeated.  

We remain committed to achieve the targets set in the Provincial Programme of Action (PPOA) as our contribution to the achievement of the MTSF targets. Our focus in supporting municipalities is a commitment to achieving the PPOA of the Province.

We are tabling the 2023/24 budget under unprecedented conditions.

• The heavy rainfalls have caused a disaster worth R4,5 billion in our province and claimed many lives,
• The disaster occurred at the back of the 2021/22 disaster which cost our province R1,9 billion,

We are in the middle of a crisis never imagined before. It never rains but it pours, last week Thursday on the 23th of March, yet again our province was lashed by heavy rains that wreaked havoc in Port St. Johns and the neighbouring municipalities in the O.R Tambo District and Mbashe Local Municipalities. The cost of the disaster adds to the cumulative impact of physical, financial and psychological ravages of the previous disasters,

A Professional, Ethical and Stable Administration

The success of a developmental state will depend on a public service that is professional and capable to deliver on the objectives and goals of our department. Madam Speaker, our department has achieved an unqualified opinion with no matters of emphasis (Clean audit) for two (2) successive years now. This depicts a stable and well-oiled organization that can deliver on its mandate. We will not drop the ball but focus more on those areas we still have not mastered. We will develop and monitor the audit turn-around plan on a monthly basis to address issues raised in the previous year’s audit and we dare not be complacent as we undertake a journey towards excellence. We are working hard to translate this achievement into tangible improvements in municipalities and traditional institutions.

We remain committed to the provincial pledge we signed to achieve between 98%-100% of the set targets for the financial year. Our journey to institutionalise monitoring and evaluation across all components of our department has gained momentum. This is critical in monitoring the targets set in our APP and to fulfil our vision for the term. We shall not rest until each employee understands his/her role in fulfilling and monitoring the performance of our department. As we monitor our targets, we will monitor the budget to ensure that at least 25% is spent in each quarter.

Madam Speaker, the rampant pandemic in the last two years has made it even more urgent that we build and strengthen paperless systems with the aim of streamlining workflow, increase efficiency, productivity, and information security. We will invest more in the information technology systems for district offices and traditional leadership institutions and ensure the stability of the network and accessibility to our clients.

Human capital remains the most valuable resource of our organisation and therefore focus will be given to issues of interpersonal conflict and grievance management. We will heighten awareness of Managers to proper procedures of resolving workplace conflicts and dispute management. As a caring employer we will source a 24-hour counselling services for all our employees to fulfil our intention of becoming an employer of choice.

Intergovernmental Realations and the District Development Model

Madam Speaker, the Constitution of the RSA establishes a state that supports interaction and cooperation between the three spheres of government on a continuous basis and provides a set of principles to direct the manner and quality of those interactions. In fulfilling this constitutional imperative, in the 2022/23 financial year the Executive Council of the Eastern Cape invoked Section 35 of the IGR Framework Act of 2005 to improve participation of organs of state in service delivery programmes. It was on this basis that our department introduced binding implementation protocols as a mechanism to enforce coordination of government programmes using IGR platforms. Organs of State in the Province signed the Implementation Protocols Agreement to jointly support government programmes. These protocols bind and commit government departments and state entities to the agreed upon programme and responsibilities assigned to various entities in such programmes.

This year we will continue to roll-out binding implementation protocols as a tool to foster coordination and collaboration. This will be done mainly in programmes that include different stakeholders to commit them to the responsibilities assigned to them. 

We will enhance our support to the functionality of a Provincial IGR System using the IGR mechanism to improve the coordination between the sphere of government. The IGR platforms at provincial, district and metropolitan levels will be used to address poor performance in municipalities and to address the syndrome of working and operating in silos by government departments.

Madam Speaker, the involvement of communities in governance is the cornerstone of our democracy. Our department does not view community participation as an end, rather the purpose of participation is the very essence of a people-centred approach to development. In this context communities should not be viewed as passive participants but as active agents for change and development. Participation processes should develop people to become more resourceful themselves in as much as it should be aimed at ensuring that services and infrastructure delivery is enhanced through community participation. Both municipalities and traditional institutions are closest to communities and have a better understanding of what affects communities and their interests.

At the beginning of the sixth term of local government, immediately after the November 2021 elections, we had to roll up our sleeves to facilitate the election of ward committees across the province in compliance with the regulation that provides that such committees must be elected within hundred and twenty (120) days after the election of councils. At the early stages of the process there were challenges that led to the extension of the period for two (2) months.

All municipalities managed to establish ward committees and conducted induction programmes except for only two municipalities, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality and Ngquza Hill Local Municipality that have not yet conducted the inductions. In the last financial year, we launched a ward committee operation manual with the involvement of Speakers of councils. We further established a provincial public participation forum to encourage the institutionalization of this function in municipalities.

Madam Speaker, during the last customary male initiation season the province registered a total of 31 791 initiates. It is with regret to report in this esteemed House that a total of 22 young lives were lost. Of the 22 deaths, 10 were from illegal schools in the OR Tambo district. During the winter initiation season eleven (11) deaths were registered and 10 of this total were from OR Tambo district and one (1) from Buffalo City.

We hang our heads in shame as the custom of our forefathers faces unprecedented challenges in our time. We have witnessed that where there was strong integrated working relations between traditional leaders, municipalities, SAPS, NPA, NGOs, CoGTA, Department of Health, the initiation schools become compliant and produce better results. This is evident in many municipalities where such cooperation and collaboration were forged. I call upon community leaders, sector departments, municipalities, families and the society at large to join hands to protect this custom and our children.

Madam Speaker, leaders in municipalities have committed, moving forward, to support customary initiation forums and provide the necessary resources for monitoring of initiation schools at a local level. We are engaging in these efforts to ensure that our children ‘’Baya Bephila, Babuye Bephila’’. We would like to send our message of condolences to all the families who lost their children and commit to do all in our power to have better initiation seasons that will bring hope and joy to our people.

With the promulgation of the National Customary Male Initiation Act, the province had to amend its legislation to align it with the National Act. The Department engaged in the compilation and consultation of the draft Eastern Cape Customary Male Initiation Amendment Bill. The Bill has already been presented to the Cabinet Committee. The amendment process will be handed over to the Eastern Cape Legislature for public consultation.

In this financial year we have committed an amount of R3.7 million to support customary initiation programme. We will reconfigure the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee

(PICC) to accommodate different stakeholders that will involve international bodies and non-governmental organisations. This relationship will strengthen our financial muscle that will assist us to mobilise society through social dialogs targeting hotspot areas.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADITIONAL AND KHOI-SAN LEADERSHIP ACT (TKLA), NO. 3 OF 2019

Madam Speaker, the promulgation of the TKLA in 2021 was a defining moment in the process of reconfiguring the institution of traditional leaders to restore its dignity. For the first time there was a proper recognition of the traditional leader’s status for Khoi and San communities. A commission was established to consider the traditional leadership claims of the Khoi-San communities. The departmental team had to visit Khoi San communities to create awareness about this process. Once a commission has listened to the claims of Khoi and San communities, a report will be presented to guide the establishment of the Khoi-San structures across the province.

This year we will collaborate with the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to conclude consultations with Kingdoms on the establishment of Kings and Queens Councils.

The TKLA, 2019 requires that Traditional Councils be reconstituted in line with the determined formula. This process has had its own challenges and is now re-scheduled to start in 2023/24 financial year. An amount of R2.7 million has been set aside for this process.

In the last financial year, we facilitated the establishment of local houses as provided in the Provincial Gazette. We are working hard to make Local Houses to function optimally. In the coming financial year, we are committing to provide vehicles to all chairpersons of Local Houses. We have further allocated an amount of R13.078 million for recruitment of support staff, operations and furniture for these houses.

The amendment process of the Eastern Cape Traditional Leadership Act is well underway to align it with TKLA, 2019. The Bill was compiled and submitted for consultation with key stakeholders. The Provincial Traditional Leadership and Khoisan Amendment, 2022 Bill has been presented before the Cabinet Committee and the process will be taken over by the provincial Legislature.

Good Governance

We are forging ahead with our work to support municipalities towards a stable human resource function. In the last financial year, we established and launched the Eastern Cape Corporate Services Directors’ Forum. This forum will engage on a common approach to municipal systems and relations and will also be used as a peer learning platform. In our quest to professionalise local government we shall strengthen a system to monitor and guide municipalities on recruitment of competent senior managers.

Madam Speaker, we have identified a gap in the accountability systems in local government and for this reason we will focus on strengthening capacity on the performance management system in line with the new Local Government Regulations.

In the last financial year, we seconded senior officials to six municipalities i.e., Amahlathi LM, Ingquza Hill LM, Blue Crane Route LM, Koukamma LM, Ntabankulu LM and Amathole DM as guided by our Municipal Support & Intervention Framework. We are delighted with our achievements as four (4) of these municipalities have appointed municipal managers. We will continue to monitor performance of these municipalities and will assess the status quo in line with Municipal Support & Intervention Framework so we can intervene when the need arises. We have set aside an amount of R3.5 million for municipal interventions.

We are working hard to support municipalities in distress to improve their functionality. We will continue to provide support to the Amathole District Municipality, OR Tambo, Makana and Chris Hani on the Institutional pillar in the Financial Recovery Plan as a way of intensifying Section 154 support. We will, in collaboration with National Treasury, monitor progress in the Section 139 interventions in Enock Mgijima Local Municipality and Amathole District Municipality. We will not rest until these strategic municipalities of our province can stand on their feet.

We have committed to conduct continuous assessments through verification of municipal councils and their committees throughout the year to identify any weaknesses that require support and capacity building. We will focus on strengthening the oversight function of councils and their committees by exposing councillors through training on roles and responsibilities. As we monitor the functioning of councils on a regular basis, we will assist municipalities to amend Section 12 Notices that establish such municipalities for proper and optimal functioning.

Madam Speaker, in 2022/23 we adopted a bursary policy for traditional leaders and established a training committee to sharpen their leadership skills. In the last financial year, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nkqubela Community Development Training Programme, as a result 20 Traditional leaders participated and successfully completed a one-year programme in Leadership and Governance programme. It is disheartening to report that one of the graduates, uNkosi Vuyiswa, ‘Nomlindelo’ Dondashe of Ngqusi Traditional Council was viciously murdered in cold blood by unknown assailants during the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence in 2022. We bow our heads to her as a shining beacon of hope who valued education.

Owing to the success of this programme, this year we have set aside an amount of R2.3 million to target ten (10) traditional leaders for bursaries to advance their studies. Once a traditional leader is formally appointed to take the reins, we will facilitate induction of such a leader into the throne. During this financial year we are introducing a 5-day induction programme which will be conducted for all newly appointed traditional leaders.

Finacial Management

Madam Speaker, for municipalities to deliver on their responsibilities and perform their functions, they need money. According to the Auditor-General’s report, local government finances continue to be under severe pressure as a result of non-payment by municipal debtors, poor budgeting practices, and ineffective financial management. Almost half of the municipalities are exhibiting indicators of financial strain, including low debt recovery, inability to pay creditors and operating deficits. We are hard at work to assist municipalities to face this elephant in the room. We will be appointing a task team of experts including economists, engineers and human resource development specialists and town planners, to make a thorough analysis of all the municipalities that have over time shown poor financial viability indicators and this should help the provincial government to determine whether such municipalities require a differentiated funding model or what exactly is to be done.

A watershed moment was a 2-day Post Audit symposium our department convened at Gqeberha whose objectives, among others, were to improve efficiency within which External Audit Improvement Plans are managed, including taking cognisance of Internal Audit and Risk Management recommendations. Municipalities were also encouraged to improve management’s review and monitoring processes over compliance to ensure compliance with legislative requirements and work towards the reduction of UIFW in-line with applicable norms and standards.

This was followed by the MEC’s engagements with all Municipalities’ political leadership to strengthen support mechanisms and interventions and to engage them to improve municipal audits. This work is bearing fruits.

Madam Speaker, the Hon Premier indicated in the State of the Province Address (SOPA) that more than half of the municipalities in the Province, achieved an unqualified audit opinion, in terms of municipal audit outcomes for 2021/22 financial year, which is indeed an encouraging achievement. The three municipalities that have achieved a unqualified opinion with matters of emphasis are Mnquma LM, Joe Gqabi DM and Winnie Madikizela Mandela LM. Two municipal entities have also achieved unqualified opinion with no matters of emphasis are JoGEDA and Nelson Mandela Development Agency. We take off our hats to the leadership of these municipalities and entities.

Our focus is to drive those municipalities that got unqualified audits to cross the line towards ‘clean’ audit and this we are collectively determined to do as local government. Those municipalities that are still struggling to crossover to unqualified will be supported to take them out of the quagmire and the leadership must not despair we are with them to improve the situation. We will work hard to monitor the audit improvement plans (AIPs) of municipalities to address weaknesses and improve their systems.

This year our focus will be on those MPACs that were not reached and the support staff to ensure that the MFMA requirements are met and investigations on Unauthorized, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful Expenditure are conducted. We will also monitor compliance with the Treasury Circular 111 which requires them to have a UIFW&E reduction strategy in place.

Our support will focus on the capacity building of Municipal Risk Management Units. This will include facilitation of Strategic Risk Assessments, development of Risk Management Frameworks and Risk Management Workshops. This work will be monitored through the Municipal Internal Audit and Risk Management Forum quarterly meetings.

Basic Service Delivery

Spatial Planning & Land Use Management

Madam Speaker, the enduring facts of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment underscore the need for government to address issues of social and economic development. Municipalities are the closest sphere of government to the general population and are therefore expected and better placed to play a pivotal role in economic development.

The apartheid geographic and spatial fragmentation in South Africa remains a serious challenge to the efforts of government to develop basic infrastructure despite many reforms that happened since 1994. Indeed, the promulgation of the Spatial Land Use Management Act, (SPLUMA) 2013 was a landmark in the process of addressing the spatial fragmentation but its implementation has remained a challenge in our province.

In 2022/23 focus was given to setting up SPLUMA Coordinating Forums, including Traditional Councils. We have made a significant progress in the establishment of systems and structures for the implementation of Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) in all municipalities. We have also started a process of amending the Provincial Spatial Development Framework to address specific provincial growth and developmental planning needs.

We are hard at work to support municipalities in processing land development applications in terms of the Land Use Management Schemes. An amount of R292 877 has been set aside to monitor and support targeted municipalities. We will guide and support municipalities to comply with administrative systems required by SPLUMA i.e., establishment of the structures such as Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT’s), that enable municipalities to consider and dispose land use applications.

Madam Speaker, in terms of the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF), over 60% of South Africans live in towns and cities; and this figure is projected to rise to over 70% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. Informed by the IUDF, the department continues to pilot the implementation of the Provincial Small Town Development Framework through the development and implementation of master plans to spatially transform small towns for sustainable economic development. We have finalised the development of the Stutterheim master & precinct plan and currently mobilising both public and private sector partners for a coherent implementation of the plan. The municipal council has endorsed the precinct plan and committed to ensure that it changes the face of Stutterheim.

We are working towards finalisation of the development of the Port Alfred-Alexandria master plan focussing amongst others on the beachfront development for tourism promotion as part of the pilot exercise. We shall continue to support other small towns namely, Port St Johns, Maluti, Port Alfred, Stutterheim, Engcobo, Mt Fletcher and Qumbu through the implementation of cleaning, repairs and maintenance of infrastructure. We have set an amount R2,8 million for this work.

Supporting Local Economic Development to create work opportunities.

Madam Speaker, our partnerships with the University of Fort Hare (UFH), National Business Initiative (NBI) and Development Financial Institutions (DFI) to strengthen and support municipalities and SMME’s in their economic development endeavours is promising to have positive impact. We are working in collaboration with municipalities to create a conducive environment for public and private sector investment in municipal spaces. We do this by assisting municipalities to develop effective local economic development strategies, managing the cost of doing business at a local level and ensuring that appropriate LED related by-laws are adopted.

This financial year we will broaden our efforts and focus on long-range economic planning (strategies), capacity-building, exploitation of economies of scale through intergovernmental platforms that contribute to arresting and reversing economic decline as well as help to increase job opportunities. In 2022/23 we approved the LED Capacity Building Manual to guide municipalities on how to effectively exploit comparative and competitive advantage for growth of local economies. In this financial year the manual will be rolled out across the province.

Municipal Infrastructure Services (MIS)

Madam Speaker, as well stated in State of the Province Address (SOPA) by Premier Mabuyane, ‘having observed the slow spending on conditional grants in municipalities we have adopted a risk adjusted approach to strengthen their capability’. In our quest to address perennial underspending of municipal infrastructure grants in the province, we developed a Municipal Conditional Grants Management Policy Framework (MCG-MPF), which embeds the risk adjusted strategy. This framework has been presented for consultation to municipalities and sector partners. The framework has also served in the provincial clusters and will be implemented during the 2023/24 financial year. It therefore contains non-negotiable terms that will improve the currently experienced infrastructure under –

• The risk adjusted strategy promotes project planning and registration phase including a time bound procurement phase and the last phase being construction phase.
• The provincial PMU office will be instrumental in driving the risk adjusted strategy through a district-based construction IGR forum to monitor individual performance of municipalities.
• The risk adjusted strategy operates within the framework of the laws regulating finances and procurements including budgets and we will focus on 4 grants which are MIG, INEP, WSIG and RBIG.
• The implementation of the risk adjusted strategy will push expenditure per municipality towards 60% by the end of the second quarter of the municipal financial year with the balance of 40% being spent in the last two quarters of the financial year.

Madam Speaker, COGTA will further strengthen the District Wide Infrastructure Forum to address CAPEX and OPEX programmes; establish District Infrastructure Support Centres (DISCs) which are constituted by a strong collaboration between Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), Provincial Treasury (PT), and other sector support agencies to provide hands-on support and arrest conditional grants underspending as well as poor performance.

We will further monitor the procurement plans of municipalities to ensure that this process starts well in advance to start implementation of projects right at the beginning of the financial year.

The non negotiables in relation to basic service delivery

Madam Speaker, having realised and recognised the challenges of many government programmes like, Siyenza Manje, Project consolidate, Local Government Turnaround Strategy, Back to Basics etc including the introduction of performance management system in terms of their impact. Our intention to change the face of the province is the implementation of the non-negotiables as announced by the Hon Premier in the (SOPA). We will make municipalities respond to basic needs of communities in a much more holistic manner by setting clear non-negotiable standards. The starting point towards building responsive municipalities to issues affecting our people will be to assist them (municipalities) to define the basic tasks and develop service standards for each key performance area. This will direct municipal management to key targets that must be performed and assist the process of oversight by councillors. In this strategy we will set performance standards for attending to potholes, keeping our towns clean, streetlights and electricity outages, refuse collection and waste disposal sites, sewer spillages and water leaks and revenue collection.

This will be our flagship programme during this financial year and a booklet consolidating all the service standards will be launched before the municipal financial year begins this year. The non negotiables will empower councils to oversight the municipality effectively and the mayor will be central to the implementation of the non-negotiables. The success of this programme will depend on all municipalities ensuring that from the level of general workers (up to Municipal Manager) it is understood that we cannot rest whilst our municipalities are unable to attend to those things that would present something positive about the municipality.

The challenges raised by the Hon Premier in respect of water services and the location of such function will be discussed extensively in a workshop where all the various permutations will be analysed in order to find a lasting solution to provide seamless services to our people. We will partner with the Department of Water Affairs to deliver this workshop where all experts will be engaged to lead us to a lasting solution.

Free Basic Services (FBS)

Madam Speaker, what poor people in our province have in common is the need to access affordable basic services that will facilitate their productive and healthy engagement in society. The government policy requires all spheres of government to have a role to play in setting up this safety net. In 2022/23 we partnered with SASSA to cross reference Municipal Indigent Registers against social grant beneficiaries to improve accuracy of indigent data thereby reduce the escalating municipal costs associated with the payment of indigent benefits. We further conducted Indigent Policy Workshops and established Indigent Steering Committees (ISC) in seventeen municipalities so far. These workshops have created tremendous FBS awareness for the correct targeting of legitimate indigent beneficiaries in communities.

This year we will continue to conduct workshops to the remaining municipalities to build capacity of councillors, CDWs and ward committees for correct identification of indigent households. Focus will be given to 39 municipalities to monitor and review their indigent policies in line with the new national policy imperatives.

Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) 

The devastating impact of the recent disasters continues to affect our rural communities since bridges and roads remain impassable and with these challenges still unresolved it is difficult to assuage the conditions of our people. Since the disaster was so devastating His Excellency President Ramaphosa has declared a national state of disaster due to the erosion of basic infrastructure including economic infrastructure. Assessments have been completed and we have submitted our reports to the National Disaster Management Centre. Indications point to a deteriorating situation as dam levels continue to drop on the western side of the province. On average, the combined biggest dams supplying Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (Gqeberha) and nearby Sarah Baartman municipalities currently stand at 14%. Because of the unabating water scarcity, drought was classified as a national state of disaster and prioritised municipalities were allocated a total of R125 829 000 through Municipal Disaster Response Grant (MDRG). Despite these interventions our economic hub, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality continues to witness unprecedented water scarcity challenges that have led to what some call an eminent day zero. To avert the day zero, COGTA in collaboration with the National Business Initiative (NBI) entered into a social compact with private sector partners to reduce consumer demand and optimise water usage.

This has seen the Nelson Mandela Business Chamber affiliated businesses, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), Shoprite – Checkers and Vodacom amongst others putting their hands on deck by adopting eighty-two (82) schools considered as high-water users for water leaks fixing project, conducting public awareness campaigns for consumer mindset and culture change, deployment of engineers to fix and maintain water pumps for uninterrupted water supply.

Madam Speaker, in 2022/23 an amount of R1 452 492 was used to conduct a provincial disaster risk assessment study, and the report was finalised. The study will serve as a guide for the development of a provincial disaster management plan during 2023/24 financial year. Bids for the Audio Visual and Video Conferencing project were non-responsive, and SITA was approached to implement the project on our behalf. An amount of R1 437 million has been set aside for this project. 

An amount of R2 908 million was set aside in 2022/23 for procurement of drones and training of pilots to monitor and ensure quick response to disaster situations. This will ensure a quick and timely response to disasters in the province.

Source: 2023 MTEF Database and MTEF Allocation letter