the 3rd South African Local Government Association Gauteng Members Assembly
(Salga)
14 September 2007
Programme Director
Salga-Gauteng Chairperson Mayor Duma Nkosi
Salga Deputy Chairpersons Mayor Maserame Khumalo and Mayor Obed Maila
Executive Mayors Present
Salga Provincial Executive
Municipal Managers
Officials:
Thank you for inviting me to the Salga-Gauteng Members Assembly. I am aware
my boss (Premier Mbhazima Shilowa) was here yesterday and I am tempted not to
say anything.
Suffice to say, I would like to focus on issues of policy. It will be
malicious for the gathering not to look at National Policy issues. I hope that
you are fully aware that the Minister of Provincial and Local Government has
begun a process of reviewing the White Paper on Local Government and develop
the White Paper of Provincial Government. All provinces are expected to make an
input to enrich and ensure that the process runs smooth.
It is important to look at the legal paper about the role of Local
Government. The Department of Provincial and Local Government develop policies
and provinces have the responsibility to implement policies. The role of local
government is stipulated in Schedule 5 of the Constitution.
Therefore, the questions we need to ask ourselves as Salga are what should
be the role of Local Government? In doing so we must be frank and honest
because the new system of local government started only in 2000 under the
Municipal Structures Act.
With regard to provinces, we must acknowledge that some provinces have done
well; some are weak and not doing well. It cannot be business as usual,
therefore as we review the White Paper of Local Government we must be able to
locate this service delivery protests.
For an example, housing is not a competency of local government, but all
these protests have been about housing and people who are demonstrating have
nothing to do with Local Government, but Provincial Government.
Programme Director:
It is important that when we deal with the issues of powers and functions we
must take emotions away. Province does not have any form of revenue except from
gambling, licensing and betting. The rest of the money comes from the National
Government in the form of fiscals and Value Added Tax. As province, we do not
have any revenue base and sometimes we do not appreciate the challenges facing
municipalities. We have to be objective and realistic when dealing with such
issues.
If South Africa has to deliver at the extend we want, we need to ask
ourselves on what is it that we need to do to ensure that all the three spheres
of government deliver in an integrated way.
Gauteng has progressed more than any other province but we still need to do
more in informal settlements.
Salga's mandate is to assist conduct research and assist municipalities in
the province to deliver and the Premier has said on many occasions that there
is no harm in having a strong Provincial Government and having a strong Local
Government. We need to discuss this issue that it is possible to have a strong
province and local government.
The role of the province includes monitoring and evaluation and integration
while municipalities play the role of service delivery.
Sometimes there are duplications on the work the province does and integrate
the work we are doing as different spheres of government.
As we are all aware, in Gauteng we are trendsetters. We have just launched
the Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) in order to ensure that we
separate the role of the executive and the Administration. MPACs have been
introduced and we are the only the province leading in this regard.
Programme Director:
It is noteworthy that Salga has now responded as a collective to the powers
and functions deliberations that have been going on in the province. Although
the powers and functions debate created a lot of confusion, it was a necessary
confusion. In reviewing the powers and functions we should take away our
emotions. We must remove emotions and allow sanity to prevail.
We need to begin to ask ourselves on what functions which belongs to
National Government needs to be delegated to the province in order to speed to
service delivery and which from province needs to be delegated to
municipalities. Service delivery is beyond ourselves; therefore we must put our
people first than our emotions.
Like on the aspect of provinces, there are municipalities which are stronger
than others and those which are weaker than others. It is therefore important
to look at the Metro System of Government as a solution. In reviewing the White
Paper on Local Government we must be focusing on the Metro System of Local
Government and Salga should also influence the process.
I would like to appeal to mayors and municipal managers not to do their own
feasibility study on the Metro System of Local Government. There is only one
feasibility study done by the province and all of us cannot procure services on
what the Metro System of Local Government should look like. The Five Year
Review on Local Government has raised the weakness in the role of district
municipalities. Some districts are functioning more than others and others are
weak. We then need to ensure that the weak districts function at an optimum
level.
On the aspect of municipal financial viability, I had a meeting with the
Auditor-General on Tuesday. He assured me that municipalities can achieve
unqualified audits by 2009. He informed me that Gauteng is the only province
which has initiated the campaign to achieve unqualified audit reports. His
concerns were that most municipalities have achieved disclaimers and qualified
audits from day one. He has promised that those issues raised in the financial
statements can be rectified. These include assets and document management. Most
municipalities do not know how many assets they have, i.e. laptops, tractors
and cars. Some municipalities have achieved qualified audit reports but they
have not managed to sustain them.
We are in full support of the restructuring of the electricity industry
through the establishment of the Regional Electricity Distribution (Reds). We
are working with the Electricity Distribution Industry (EDI), the Department of
Minerals and Energy and the Minister of Enterprise to ensure that we are
prepared for the establishment of the Reds.
We have done well as a province in the provision of electricity, water and
sanitation. We are on course in achieving the National Targets. We have
achieved a lot despite the challenges in informal settlements and we will
achieve much more.
Good luck and I wish you all the best in your deliberations and hope you
come out of this Members Assembly with one clear voice of Salga.
I thank you.
Issued by: Gauteng Local Government, Gauteng Provincial Government
14 September 2007
