MEC NM Mokoena at the breakfast meeting with journalists
and new editors
8 October 2009
We are all aware that over the past few months the province has been hit by a number of incidents of unrest. These incidents have affected Thaba Chweu, Mkhondo, Emalahleni, Dipaleseng, Steve Tshwete, Mbombela, Albert Luthuli, Thembisile Hani, Pixely Ka Seme and Lekwa. As government we have sought to introduce a number of interventions that seek to deal with not only the problem but the root causes of these problems.
Ministerial Task teams were dispatched to each of the three districts in the province to investigate the problems facing local municipalities, which could have contributed to some of the incidents of unrest. The task team comprised of the officials from National & Provincial Departments of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs whom were supported by South African Local Government Authorities (SALGA), Department of Water and Environmental Affairs (DWEA), Department of State Security (DSS) and the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU).
The task teams engaged a number of stakeholders during
their visits. These included the Executive Mayor, Members of the Mayoral
Committee, Speaker, and Chief Whip, Opposition Party Members, Municipal Manager
& Section 57 Managers, Ward Committee Members, Community Development Workers,
Organised Labour (SAMWU and IMATU), organised business, Traditional leaders, and
concerned groups (community groups).
Public participation is found wanting especially during
the IDP review process, budget consultation and in the implementation phase
resulting in communities challenge the quality and credibility of these
processes. Political tensions induced in the main by narrow business interests
have trigged instability of municipal administration which has led to poor
accountability. We must also accept as a fact that the financial viability of
most municipalities is on the brink of collapse, characterized by growing great
dependence, growing consumer debt which amounts to R53 billion in the whole
country and about R1.6 billion in the province.
The task team report has indicated that there is a gross
under investment in bulk infrastructure and asset maintenance in key service
delivery areas such as water, sanitation, electricity and road infrastructure.
We must also acknowledge that the infrastructure in municipalities is quite old,
which is the major cause of service delivery interruptions and this will require
us to move with speed in correcting the situation. Lack of
experienced technical personnel on engineering and finance accompanied by high
turnover rates amongst Section 57 Managers have also contributed to challenges
of service delivery.
In general the findings, which are still a draft, have
revealed the following:
- Lack of responsiveness to issues raised by
communities
- Ward committees that are not fully functional,
resulting in poor communication with communities
- Councilors not calling public meetings
- Poor planning, maintenance and management of
infrastructure resulting in poor service delivery
- IDP and budgeting processes not aligned to community
priorities
- The high vacancy rate in municipalities
- Non-existence of Local Economic Development
strategies and implementation plans
The department has met with all Executive Mayors,
Speakers, Chief Whips and Municipal Managers of all the three Districts to give
them feedback on the report of Ministerial Task Teams. The municipalities have
been given a period of seven 7 days to study the report, and then give its
inputs to the province for the final consolidation of the report. Once these
inputs have been received and consolidated the province will then hold a
Municipal Lekgotla on 23 October 2009, where all municipalities in the province
will converge to finalise the provincial report on the assessments. This will
then culminate in a local government summit to be held in November 2009. The
objective of the municipal lekgotla is to process the consolidated report, look
at the turnaround strategy and identify immediate interventions that we can
bring to deal with the short term problems. The Local Government Summit will
bring together all local government stakeholders and practitioners and mobilize
resources to deal with the challenges faced by our municipalities. We will also
seek to develop partnerships where in we can tap into the different expertise
available.
The violence accompanying service delivery protest is a
source of great concern; it undermines the very struggle meant to reverse the
frontiers of underdevelopment.
We have got a collective responsibility to condemn
violence in the strongest possible terms. We must ask the question: how does
burning a clinic, library or computer center advance development in ones area?
Departmental interventions
As a department we have also set up districts teams that
are focusing on each of the districts. These teams are monitoring and supporting
municipalities in each of the district. These teams include
departmental officials on various fields to ensure that the department
proactively supports municipalities where capacity gaps exist.
These teams have been dispatched to the municipalities where there are
problems to troubleshoot the challenges, working with the community and the
municipalities. These teams zoom into a municipality with problems, engage in
dialogue with the different stakeholders and gather all the information. They
then return to the department with all the information processes it and develop
municipal specific action plans to deal with the challenges. The teams have
visited and developed actions plans for Dipaleseng, Mkhondo, Lekwa, Steve
Tshwete, Emalahleni, Albert Luthuli, Msukaligwa, Thaba Chweu, Pixely Ka Seme,
Thembisile, Govan Mbeki and Mbombela municipalities. These action plans have
clear deliverables and targets, and we are closely monitoring them. I must
convey my gratitude to the different communities and community leaders who have
worked with these task teams to develop these action plans. However it is
equally evident that the genuine service delivery struggles have been hijacked
by criminal elements, judging from the continuous protest action, despite honest
attempts and bona fides engagements on the part of government to address all
issues raised
As we indicated about a week ago, the Department of
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has conducted an analysis of the
institutional capacity of Mbombela, Msukaligwa, Lekwa and Nkomazi Local
Municipalities. The analysis done in terms of section 154(1) of the Constitution
of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act No.108 of 1996), as well as Section
105 of the Local Government systems act 2000(Act no 32 of 2000) has indicated
that the suspension or vacant key positions of the Municipal Manager or Chief
Financial Officers has impacted negatively on the performance of these
municipalities. The department will therefore be providing support to strengthen
the capacities of these municipalities.
The Department has assembled a team of experts with the
required expertise that will be sent to provide institutional support to the
Mbombela, Msukaligwa, Lekwa and Nkomazi Local municipalities. These experts will
be there for an interim period to ensure that they build capacity in the
identified areas.
In Lekwa the department has appointed Mr Jabu Sindane to
be the Acting Municipal Manager and in Mbombela we will be sending Mr Khaya
Mpungose.
A recovery plan has been developed to deal with the
challenges faced by the Mkhondo, Lekwa and Pixely Ka Seme municipalities.
The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional
affairs is currently conducting investigations in terms of section 106(1) (b) of
the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (act No.32 of 2000) in
Thembisile, Emalahleni, Lekwa, Mkhondo and Thaba Chweu. Serious allegations have
been leveled against these municipalities including maladministration, financial
mismanagement and lack of service delivery. We are still awaiting reports for
the Thembisile, Emalahleni, and Thaba Chweu investigations.
Further support to municipalities will include the
following interventions:
- Help to review and strengthen the supply chain
management processes
- Establish technical support teams to municipality in
partnership with DBSA and other sector departments
- Forge stronger partnerships with private sector
- Strengthen support to ward committees and CDWs. These
have a greater role to play to enhance communication
- Ensure that the institution of Traditional Leadership
is supported to play a central role when it comes to matters of rural
development.
Status of appointed municipal managers and section 57
senior managers in municipalities
Out of 21 municipalities, two Municipal Manager Posts are
vacant. The Municipal Managers of Lekwa and Msukaligwa have
resigned. The Department has deployed an acting Municipal Manager to support the
Lekwa municipality.
In Msukaligwa the department has been very instrumental is
assisting the municipality reach an amicable agreement with the Municipal
Manager. It will also be deploying an Acting municipal manager to Msukaligwa.
Three other municipalities suspended their Municipal Managers namely, Nkomazi,
Mbombela and Msukaligwa. The department is assisting Nkomazi
municipality to finalise the dispute in relation to the suspension of the
Municipal Manager. An acting Municipal Manager has been
identified for deployment to Mbombela municipality.
In relation to Senior Manager Posts (Section 57 Managers)
in municipalities, the Department can report, that, 83 of the 100 posts in the
Province are filled. An agreement was reached that the
department will assist the municipalities to fill the vacancies within a period
of three months. A total number of 101 section 57 managers and municipal
managers have signed performance contracts and two suspended Municipal Managers
have not signed the performance contracts.
Municipal infrastructure budget allocation
Whilst some of our municipalities have experienced
challenges, we are encouraged that they continue to strive to address the
infrastructure backlogs and improve the lives of our people. Over the period
2006/07 up to 2009/10 the budget in all municipalities in relation to municipal
infrastructure development has increased with an average of 50%.
Through the departments intervention municipalities who found it
difficult to spend these grants, received various forms of support.
The support included placement of technical experts, drafting of business
plans and project management. Some of the municipalities who
benefited through this support have increased their spending on this budget from
27% to 100%.
The support contributed towards a 100% spending of this
grant over the respective financial years. The spending on
the current financial year budget is standing at 20%.
Operation clean audit
During this month of October 2009, we will be launching
the “Operation Clean Audit”. This programme aims to assist all municipalities by
obtaining clean audits by the year 2014. This programme has
already started in the Province by the Department conducting an analysis of the
audit outcomes for all municipalities. The analysis has
indicated areas of similarity in all municipalities. The next
step will be to develop an action plan to address all activities which needs to
be implemented. The department with Provincial Treasury and
SALGA Mpumalanga will assist the municipalities through the action plan to
address all activities that will be identified.
Water summit
We are coming from a two day water indaba. This indaba
brought together all the relevant stakeholders involved in the provision of
water across the three spheres of government. We have emerged
with strong resolutions that should assist us improve the roll out of water
provision through-out the province. A framework for the Provincial Water Plan
has been created and annual platforms established. Quick wins have been
identified and the role players will develop action plans for execution. The MEC
for Co-operative Governance and Traditional affairs will lead the integration of
water on the agenda of IGR structures supported by Technical IGR. The
resolutions of the indaba will be included in the Provincial Economic Summit and
will be included in the review process of the PGDS, IDPs and LEDs
Emergency intervention to the water supply in Mpumalanga
Immediate Intervention
As an immediate intervention the province will be rolling
out water tankers and jojo tanks in a number of municipalities. In Mbombela
there are 21 water tankers and 43 Jojo tanks will be installed, 25 water tankers
are currently serving the area of Bushbuckridge and will all be replacing the
contracted water tankers,6 water tankers will replace the current contract
appointments in Albert Luthuli and 30 water tankers to be sourced to replace the
current contractors in Nkomazi
Medium Term Interventions
All boreholes will be resuscitated and the water tankers
will be withdrawn where water supply has been restored. A total of 30 boreholes
with tanks and security fence will be resuscitated and commissioned in Mbombela,
a total of 25 existing boreholes will be resuscitated and trucks will be
withdrawn in Bushbuckridge, 30 existing boreholes will be resuscitated in
Nkomazi and 10 boreholes will be revamped in Albert Luthuli.
We are confident that monitoring and evaluation across the three spheres of
government will go a long way in improving performance and provide an
opportunity for government departments to do things differently and better.
Furthermore as government we remain committed to our central political objective
to put people at the centre of development, not merely as beneficiaries, but as
drivers of transformation
Contact Person
Simphiwe Kunene
Cell: 082 413 3931
Issued by: Department of Co-operative
Governance and Traditional Affairs
