COGTA MINMEC resolve to ensure an efficient and effective functioning sector
The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) meeting of Minister and the Members of the Executive Councils (MECs), MINMEC was held today on 02 September 2016 in Pretoria. This was the first meeting to take place after the successful Local Government Elections that took place on 03 August 2016.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of CoGTA, honourable Des van Rooyen. The Minister congratulated all MECs and the provinces and commended them for the sterling work and the leadership they provided during the local government elections. The Minister further urged the MECs to continue supporting the newly re-constituted Municipalities as they begin with their new term.
The meeting received presentations and discussed a number of key areas as part of the programme:
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There is a discussion on the two-tier system of local government and within this context, the roles and responsibilities of the District Municipalities was discussed. The meeting was appraised with the progress undertaken on this matter within the context of improving service delivery to the communities. The meeting noted and agreed to continue to look at the role that Districts are playing in the delivery of services. There was agreement that there be an audit around how the two tier system is working so as to inform further reforms.
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The meeting also received a report on Local Government transition matters which outlined the progress being made across the country with the formation of councils in municipalities across the country. The meeting also noted some municipalities that had missed the dead line of the 24th August to constitute themselves and the actions that provinces were putting in place to ensure that they are indeed constituted. At that time, about 99% of municipalities had held their first meetings and 4 councils were not able to meet on time - Jozini (KZN), Nquthu (KZN), kgatelopele (NC) and Gamagara (NC), but there has since been progress registered by some of this municipalities.
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MINMEC also received a report on the matters of gratuity to be paid to non-returning councillors. The gratuity will be a once off amount, which is a 3 month’s salary to be paid to a councillors. In paying the gratuity, the department will consider the last salary level of the councillor. The MINMEC acknowledged that even though there are strict compliance requirements relating to the payment of gratuity and also bearing in mind that 2011 payments of the gratuity took about 12 months, the meeting agreed that the 2016 payments to deserving councillors should be accelerated. CoGTA will communicate with all the provinces and outline the processes to be followed in this regard.
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The meeting was appraised with the issue of Hung councils. In 2011 we had 31 hung councils which led to coalitions governments. This means that the 2016 elections saw the drop in hung councils from 31 to 27. In terms of risks identified, this types of councils are usually not stable and sometimes experiences ongoing political challenges and uncertainty which might have a negative impact on service delivery. “As the department, we are encouraged that the hung municipalities have succeeded in in convening their first meetings and we hope that delivery of services will be prioritised”, said Minister van Rooyen. The meeting was also appraised with the key interventions that needs to be done going forward. This includes – strengthening the powers of the speaker, strengthen the code of conduct in relation to the decorum of councils, legislative review, and develop guidelines/framework to ensure stability and continuity in conducting council business.
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On the Integrated Councillor Induction Programme (ICIP), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) briefed the meeting about the programme beginning on Monday 05 September 2016. This multidisciplinary programme will ensure that councillors receive recognition certificates out of this programme. This programme will also continue beyond the induction to capacitate the councillors on various skills in other functional areas. The returning councillors will also be accommodated in terms of the theoretical part of the training to refresh their skills. A number of key stakeholders which includes LG SETA, COGTA, the National School of Government and the Auditor General are all ensuring that this programme becomes a success. The programme will have three phases, short term deliverables, medium term deliverables and long term deliverables to capacitate councillors to serve communities better. The programme will also feature case studies that are geared to introducing the 10 000 councillors to how the municipalities operates, thus preparing them for the challenges ahead. The meeting appreciated this intervention as an effective response to the challenges at the local sphere, as this will assist to strengthen Back to Basics programme.
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On the issues of Ward committees, the meeting indicated that they are an important institutional mechanisms intended to contribute towards bringing about people centred, participatory and democratic local governance. This will assist to strengthen public participation in local governance through ward committees by introducing ward level service improvement plans. The MINMEC agreed that ward committees should be established within 90 days. Their functions should be located within the broader strategic plans of the department to drive service delivery.
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The meeting was also briefed on the plans by the department of Traditional Affairs to host the Traditional Leaders Indaba later this year. This will be an opportunity to discuss all areas within the scope of traditional leadership in the country. More information will be provided at a later stage on all the processes around the Indaba, the topics to be covered and those who will be invited as guests and presenters.
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The meeting also received a close-out report on the winter initiation season. For this period, the department had put together teams that crisscrossed the provinces to ensure that initiation takes place within the correct prescripts issued by government. The meeting agreed that plans should be put in place to ensure that the deaths of young initiates should come to an end. In addition, the meeting was also informed that there is progress with the legislation on Initiation which is expected to be approved by the end of the year. Even with such an increased interactions between government and the public, we unfortunately lost 39 young lives which was a drop the 44 deaths last year as the same time.
The MINMEC committed to work with and support all the councils as they begin their 5 years term of providing services to communities across the country.
Enquiries:
Legadima Leso
Cell: 083 378 9495
