Media Statement by MEC Masuku at breakfast meeting with news editors and journalists at the Mpumalanga Provincial Disaster Manangement Cener

23 July 2012

We appreciate this opportunity, to convene with the media to give feedback on the work that has been done by the Department over the past few months, in particular the fourth quarter of the last financial year and the first quarter of this financial year.

State of local government

As the Department we have conducted an assessment of our municipalities. The aim of the assessment was for us to better understand our municipalities and the different problems that they face. After the assessment we categorized our municipalities into the following:

• Category1- Bigger towns,
• Category 2- those with high population, formerly homelands with no adequate infrastructure. These municipalities are mainly located in areas of high poverty concentration (socio-economic vulnerability) with significant services backlogs (institutional vulnerability);
• Category 3A- small towns with a potential and lastly;
• Category 3B- small towns but with systematic challenges that require on-going support.
• A strong correlation therefore exists between socio-economic vulnerability with institutional vulnerability that is mostly pronounced in rural municipalities and those localities that have only one or two small towns.
• Generally our municipal councils are functioning well, however there are some teething problems in some municipalities in terms of the powers and functions of the different offices. We are working closely with the affected municipalities to resolve these.
• Our analysis also indicate that many of the problems at municipalities include poor governance and accountability, weak financial management, high vacancies in critical senior management positions, high infrastructure backlog and in some instances an inability to deliver even a core of basic municipal services efficiently and effectively.
• Despite our attempts to address these problems, they have yielded mixed results with some areas of excellences and in others only limited success.

MISA

• Under the Category 2 and Category 3 (b) we have identified 9 municipalities for support and the development of integrated support plans. These municipalities are Bushbuckridge, Nkomazi, Thaba Chweu, Mkhondo, Dr Pixely Ka Isaka Seme, Dipaleseng, Chief Albert Luthuli, Thembisile Hani and Dr JS Moroka.
•  All these municipalities were faced with teething challenges of service delivery and institutional capacity to meet community demands and expectations. The challenges range from service priority issues to be attended with immediate effect such as inadequate supply and quality of water, upgrading of water treatment works with sufficient skilled operators, development of services master plans, improvement of services asset infrastructure management, ensuring that reliable and enforceable bylaws are in place, dealing decisively with illegal connections including Izinyoka , water leakages as well as taking steps on cost recovery on infrastructure investment and services rendered. Improvement of institutional capabilities through the dedicated assignment of technical experts and capacity development of municipal officials and councillors on strategic policy and managerial "know-how" is tops on the agenda.
• A Provincial Task Team is in place interacting with all the ISP’s and is assisted by a Professional Service Provider Consortium appointed by the National Department of Co-operative Governance. Work has started and we expect that the first report on progress shall be delivered by the end of September 2012.

District overviews — Ehlanzeni District

• In the Ehlanzeni District our analysis indicates that councils are functioning well with meetings taking place and resolutions being taken. The offices of the Executive Mayor, Speaker and Chief Whip are functioning well and they complement each other.
• The payment rate for the municipalities in this District varies from 10%-91% with Mbombela having the highest and Bushbuckridge the lowest respectively. The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) spending in all these municipalities has not been at 100% over the past 3-4 years, with the average spending for  being as follows; Mbombela 58%, Bushbuckridge 97%, Thaba Chweu 60%, Nkomazi 93% and Umjindi at 91%. As at end of June 2012, the district had spent 75%, Municipal Infrastructure Grant.  The Ehlanzeni District has obtained a clean audit for two consecutive years 2009/10 and 2010/11.

Nkangala District

• In the Nkangala District our analysis indicates that councils are functioning well with meetings taking place and resolutions being taken. There are also good working relations between the offices of the Executive Mayors, Speakers and Chief whips. All the municipalities in this district have all adopted their final IDP documents for the next five years.  
• The payment rate for services in this district varies from the lowest of 3% in Dr JS Moroka to highest of 101% in Steve Tshwete. The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) spending in all these municipalities has been at 100% over the past 3-4 years. As at the end of June 2012 the average Municipal Infrastructure Grant for the district was at 67%. In this District two municipalities, Victor Khanye and Steve Tshwete have obtained clean audit for two consecutive years 2009/10 and 2010/11.

Gert Sibande

• In the Gert Sibande District our analysis indicates that councils are functioning well with meetings taking place and resolutions being taken. There are good working relations between the offices of the Executive Mayors, Speakers and Chief whips.
• The payment rate for services in this district varies from the lowest of 35% in Chief Albert Luthuli and Dipaleseng to a highest of 108% in Msukaligwa. As at the end of June 2012 the average Municipal Infrastructure Grant spending in this district was at 79%.  The Gert Sibande District obtained a clean audit 2010/11.

Filling of vacant senior positions in municipalities

• Progress has been made with regard to the filling of vacancies in municipalities.  This process however was in some instances delayed as a result of the amendment of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act.  The Act in terms of section 56(ii) (b) prescribes that only persons with relevant skills, expertise, competencies and qualifications can be considered for appointment.  The municipalities therefore conducted a competency test assessments on all candidates prior to appointment of managers. Working with municipalities we have been able to make sure that candidates are screened thoroughly and that competent candidates are appointed.
• The current situation with regard to critical vacancies in municipalities can be summarised as follows:
• 16 Municipal Managers positions filled.  5 still vacant (Gert Sibande District Municipality, Dipaleseng, Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, Dr JS Moroka, Umjindi)
• 16 CFO positions filled and 4 vacant with one suspended (Dipaleseng, Emalahleni, Dr JS Moroka, Thaba Chweu)
• 14 Technical Directors positions filled, but critical is the 7 vacancies.  (Lekwa, Dipaleseng, Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, Govan Mbeki, Thembisile Hani, Dr JS Moroka and Umjindi).

Public Participation

• It is important for our municipalities and communities to continuously engage in public participation processes to ensure that we close gaps between government and our people. When we engage with our communities a lot of unnecessary tensions can be avoided.
• We have Ward Committees and Community Development workers in all our municipalities who serve as a link between local government and communities. We are making a humble appeal to our people to engage first before resorting to violence.
• Government acknowledges challenges that are faced by communities and remains committed to addressing these challenges. We urge Ward Councillors to ensure that they improve public participation in order to ensure that communities are kept informed about developments in their municipalities. 

Debts owed to Municipalities

• The Department is continuing to support municipalities with the collection of outstanding government debts. The department and COGTA and Provincial Treasury continues to provide technical assistance to help municipalities to recover debts owed to them particularly by government departments. As at June 2012 a total amount of R132 Million has been collected by municipalities.  The outstanding debt of R74 million was recovered.  Following the collection of the outstanding debts the Team assisted municipalities with the recovery of current accounts and an amount of R58m were further collected in this regard.

Operation Clean Audit 2014

• As COGTA and Provincial Treasury we remain committed to ensuring that our municipalities meet the Operation Clean Audit 2014 target for clean audits.  As part of our support we have deployed teams to obtain information on remedial actions from each municipality that received a disclaimer or qualified audit opinion. Remedial action plans have been verified.
• National Treasury is in the process to deploy financial experts to all the municipalities who did not receive a clean audit. A support framework was developed to ensure that municipalities get the necessary support as identified. Together with Provincial Treasury we will monitor these municipalities.  The Audit Outcomes for 2010/11 are as follows:

Key areas Identified as challenges per Municipality in the 2010/11 Audit outcomes

• Chief Albert Luthuli:
• Internal control deficiencies (Management controls, HR processes and financial management
• Lack of procedures and policies
• Ineffective Asset management
• Mis-statements in Annual Financial Statements
• Lack of supporting documents
• Dr JS Moroka:
• Records destroyed by fire
• Ineffective Asset management
• Internal audit
• Lekwa:
• Vacancies in Management
• Internal control deficiencies
• Non-compliance: Supply Chain Management
• Lack of supporting documents
• Valuation roll
• Mkhondo:
• Lack of supporting documents
• Non-compliance: Supply Chain Management
• Internal control deficiencies
• Inaccurate financial and performance reporting
• Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme:
• Vacancies and lack of support to CFO/Acting MM
• Lack of supporting documents
• Internal control deficiencies
• Inadequate human resources capacity
• Non-compliance: Supply Chain Management
• Inaccurate financial and performance reporting
• Umjindi:
• Lack of supporting documents
• Inaccurate financial information
• Dipaleseng:
• Non-compliance: Supply Chain Management
• Internal control deficiencies
• Inaccurate financial and performance reporting
• Emalahleni:
• Ineffective Asset management
• Lack of internal audit and risk management capacity
• Inaccurate financial and performance reporting
• Non-compliance: Supply Chain Management

• Thembisile Hani:
• Internal control deficiencies
• Inaccurate financial and performance reporting
• Lack of internal audit capacity

The support that has been identified as being needed by these municipalities is as follows:

• Thembisile Hani: Monitor service providers, AFS training, filing system, data cleansing, job evaluation, policies and procedures, information technology, SCM training, appoint personnel, asset management, HR audit, bank reconciliations
• Lekwa: Dispute resolutions
• Emalahleni :Procedure manuals guidelines and internal audit
• Dipaleseng: Appoint MM and SCM training
• Dr JS Moroka: GRAP training
• Mkhondo: Bank reconciliations and funding asset register
• Chief Albert Luthuli: Procedure manuals and guidelines and valuation rolls

• In the next audit outcomes we expect Dipaleseng and Thembisile Hani who got qualified audits to again get qualified audits and Emalahleni to move to an unqualified audit.
• We also expect Chief Albert Luthuli, Dr JS Moroka, Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme and Umjindi who all got disclaimers to move to qualified audits and we expect Mkhondo to move to an Unqualified audit.
• We expect those municipalities who got unqualified audits to work towards a clean audit.

Municipal Public Account Committees.

• One of the key findings as per the Auditor Generals findings was the challenges with regard of functionality of oversight committees.  Following the Local Government Elections all municipalities were assisted with the establishment of Municipal Public Account Committees.
•  Training was provided to all members making them understanding better their oversight roles and responsibilities.  Key role players during the training were Auditor General, COGTA, Association of Public Accounts Committees, Provincial Public Accounts Committee, SALGA and Provincial Treasury.

Municipal IDPs

• All 21 municipalities have adopted their IDPs for the 2012/2013 financial year. The Department in conjunction with relevant Sector Departments has assessed all adopted IDPs as required by the Municipal Systems Act.  In addition to the above, the Department further conducted a detailed analysis of the IDPs to determine if the development priorities including community challenges in these municipalities are incorporated in the plans.
• As the municipal budgets have already been approved by all municipalities before end of June 2012, our Department in collaboration with the Department of Finance now have to ensure that all our municipalities approve the Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plans (SDBIP's) based on IDP'and Budgets for the current year so that all senior managers enter into performance agreements sourced from the SDBIP's.

• We will also be actively monitoring the implementation of these IDP's throughout the year through our IGR structures and a Provincial Forum inclusive of all lead sector departments has been set-up for this purpose. Our M&E Unit shall also be drawn in to check-up on our periodical milestones covered so as to provide appropriate feedback to our communities. This mechanism we believe will go a mile in addressing community dissatisfaction and unhappiness with delivery at local levels.
• Each ward shall have its ward based plan sourced from the approved IDP and all Ward Committees shall pursue their agenda of monitoring, advising and evaluating progress with respective ward councillors through these ward based plans. Our task will be to ensure that these things happen in order to ensure we gradually avert the unnecessary violent protests.

Disaster Management

• During the period 16-19 January 2012 Ehlanzeni District Municipality experienced heavy rains which resulted to flooding damaging infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools, clinics, water infrastructure and houses in all the five Local Municipalities. A total number of seven (7) fatalities related to the floods were recorded.
• A preliminary assessment on the damages that were caused by the January 2012 floods indicated that the damages amounted to R460 732 million and this was submitted to the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC). Due to late information received the costs of the damages increased to R520.8 Million.  A budget of R 111, 5 million was made available by provincial departments and municipalities and R55, 1 million was spent in addressing some of the issues.

• The National Disaster Management Centre appointed SRK Consulting as the professional service provider (PSP) for the long term rehabilitation assessments and quantification. A provincial team was established to support the PSP with the verification processes. The findings of the verification and quantification assessment resulted in the total damage being costed at R252 170 114.

• The National Treasury has approved an amount of R47 282 949 to address immediate relief intervention as per submission by municipalities in their business plans and was allocated as follows:

• Human Settlements : R 15, 136 000
• Mbombela : R   2, 458 020
• Nkomazi : R   1, 919 740
• Umjindi : R   5, 674 120
• Bushbuckridge : R 22, 095 069

• These allocations are currently being used by municipalities to implement part of the reconstruction projects. A provincial projects verification team consisting of Provincial Disaster Management Center, Ehlanzeni Disaster Management Center, relevant sector Departments and Municipalities has been established and is monitoring the implementation of the projects.

• The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency also received an amount of R44 million from the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism of which R30 million was allocated to 3 reserves within the declared disaster area of which most will be allocated to infrastructure rehabilitation as follows; R10 million to Manyeleti; R10 million to Songimvelo and R10 million to Blyde Canyon Nature Reserve.

Traditional Leadership Institutions

• We have identified a challenge in the administration of land in traditional areas and we will therefore facilitate the signing of MOUs between traditional councils and municipalities. The decision to enter into the MOU’s is informed by the fact that traditional leaders have challenges in understanding issues of land administration and development, within their area of jurisdiction which  they share with local municipalities, on the other hand municipalities have challenges of understanding the principle of coexistence with traditional council in the same space.
• Subsequent to the disestablishment of the Nhlapho Commission, The Provincial Committee on Disputes and Claims that was appointed by the Honourable Premier in 2011, the mandate of this committee is investigate make recommendations on disputes and claims that were forwarded to Nhlapho commission.
• This committee is led by its Chairperson  Mr Bagudi Tolo  and its members are Advocate SK Mahlangu, Mr MC Zitha, Dr. MW Ndlala ,Dr. JJ Thwala, Mr MP Nxumalo, Ms SR Mdluli and Ms BG Fakude

• The committee has received hundred and sixty nine disputes and claims to be finalized in a period of five years which will be in 2015. It is worth noting that since inception the committee has finalized twenty four disputes and claims.
• Currently there are 53 traditional councils constituted in the province. The program of training traditional councils to be able run their councils is underway. Thirty two traditional councils have been through induction workshops and are now fully functional.  Induction workshops for outstanding councils are on-going. Traditional councils are expected to hold an official sitting once per quarter and traditional councillors are eligible to receive a sitting allowance of R400, 00 per sitting per quarter.
• I would also like to once again congratulate and welcome the newly elected leadership of the Mpumalanga House of Traditional Leaders under the Chairperson of the House is Kgosi LM Mokoena from the Mathibela Traditional Council and his deputy is Inkhosi SG Ngomane from the Hhoyi Traditional Council. The three executive committee members  Inkhosi MB Mnisi – Mantjolo Traditional Council, Ikosi VN Mahlangu – Ndzundza-Litho Traditional Council and Inkhosi KJ Malaza – Mandlamakhulu Traditional Council. I am look forward to working with this leadership and trust that together we will bring an improvement in the lives of our people.

Contact Person:

Simphiwe Kunene
Cell: 082 413 3931

Issued by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs

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