Part 1 - overview of the objectives of Provincial Week.

Part 2 - Executive Summary.

Part 3 - Transversal Trends and challenges emanating from Provincial

Week visits.

The issues are grouped under the following headings:

• Statutory compliance.

• Powers and functions.

• Delivery of municipal services.

• Infrastructure backlogs.

• Municipal finances.

• Revenue-raising.

• Operational and capital expenditure.

• Local Economic Development.

• Integrated Development Plans.

• Expanded Public Works Programme.

• Capacity issues.

• Community participation.

• SALGA.

• Traditional Leadership and Municipalities.

• Community Development Workers.

• Cross-Boundary Municipalities.

• Political tensions.

• Approval of Development Projects.

Part 4 of the report consists of the individual provincial reports:

• Eastern Cape

• Free State

• Gauteng

• Kwazulu-Natal

• Limpopo

• Mpumalanga

• Northern Cape

• North West

• Western Cape

On 21 May 2004 President Thabo Mbeki presented his State of the Nation

address, in which he outlined a programme for a social contract to create jobs

and promote socio-economic development.

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is one of the key initiatives

which integrate the core objectives outlined by the President; the development of

social and economic infrastructure, poverty alleviation, enterprise development

and human resource development, all of which will be promoted through labour

intensive infrastructure development projects. The EPWP is also set to focus on

the 21 urban and rural nodes already identified in terms of the Urban Renewal

and Integrated and Sustainable Rural Development Programmes.

Infrastructure developments such as schools, roads, health facilities and housing

will use labour intensive methods with a view to creating more employment

opportunities and skills training. The vision is to combine the resources of

national and local government to implement projects, which will boost job

creation, and local economic development in identified areas, particularly where

there continues to be pockets of poverty.

Local government has been identified as playing a critical in the realisation of

government’s broad poverty alleviation programme, its strategic objectives and

targets.

The President provided clear direction to local authorities on government’s

targets for the delivery of free basic services. He made the following

commitments with respect to service delivery targets:

• Within the next five years, all households would have been provided with

easy access to clean running water;

• By December 2004, 10 million South Africans will have clean and potable

water;

• During 2004 more than 300 000 households would be provided with basic

sanitation;

• Local government, working with the state enterprise, ESKOM, will, within the

next eight years, ensure that each household has access to electricity;

• The programme to ensure easy access to clean water for all the households

within five years will also help in the fight against cholera and other

waterborne diseases.

This report presents a broad picture of the capacity of Municipalities to contribute

to the successful implementation of the social contract to create jobs and

alleviate poverty. A key issue for the 2004 Provincial Week was to determine the

readiness of local government to implement Expanded Public Works Programme

(EPWP) projects as well as other governance and finance issues facing

Municipalities. The report is intended to provide a stimulus to the NCOP as well

as relevant provincial and national Departments to provide targeted support to

Municipalities to enable the fulfillment of their constitutional mandate. This

mandate relates directly to the objectives of government’s broad poverty

alleviation programme.

In line with the NCOP’s Vision 2009 programme, of expanding its oversight to the

provinces in order to ensure continued progress towards service delivery, the

NCOP took a resolution to undertake a Provincial Week between 6 and 10

September 2004. The NCOP decided that it would be fitting that the Provincial

Week should focus on local government – the vehicle for the implementation of

the EPWP.

The permanent delegates of each province were tasked to look at the capacity,

performance and abilities of Municipalities to act as agents for the successful

implementation of the Government’s social contract to create jobs, development

and alleviate poverty, especially in poor and historically disadvantaged

communities. This was to be done with Provincial Standing Committees and

Departments responsible for Local Government, as well as SALGA, in order to

ensure a continued partnership towards improving local economic development.

Research shows that the capacity constraints, institutional weaknesses and

limited revenue hamper the ability of Municipalities to deliver these basic

services. Municipalities have come to serve much larger populations while facing

overwhelming services and infrastructure backlogs. Municipalities are therefore

faced with the task of improving not only the quantity but also the quality of basic

services being delivered to their communities.

In acknowledging these challenges, President Mbeki outlined various measures

to increase the capacity of local government to discharge its responsibilities with

regard to the challenge of economic growth and development:

• Local government will invest R38 billion in infrastructure development over

the Medium Term Economic Framework period.

• Government has been reviewing the local government equitable share

allocation and formula, set to be completed by December 2004, to ensure that

Municipalities with low fiscal capacity are adequately resourced and

empowered to collect their own revenues. President Mbeki also noted that the

review would focus on systems needed to improve municipal capacity for

credit control and implementing policies that alleviate the plight of the

indigent.

• Within the next six months, government will complete the process of ensuring

the harmonisation of the municipal Integrated Development Plans, the

provincial Growth and Development Strategies and the National Spatial

Development Perspective.

It is clear then, that government’s policy of improving the living conditions of poor

households by increasing access to basic services is being strategically matched

by attention to capacity building and infrastructure development at local level.

The NCOP is also cognisant of its own role in these processes. The principles of

co-operative government embodied in Chapter 3 of the Constitution are given

practical application through the NCOP: an institution created to afford provinces

and organised local government a direct role in national legislative processes. In

addition, Section 154 of the Constitution accords to the NCOP and the provinces

the role of strengthening and supporting local authorities.

The NCOP had sent questionnaires to the 284 Municipalities prior to the

Provincial Week, to conduct an audit of the experiences, challenges and

constraints facing local authorities. The information retrieved in this manner as

well as the Report on Provincial Week 2004 will be used by the NCOP as a

framework to develop a mechanism for monitoring Municipalities in all provinces.

There may be a need for external capacity to develop such a monitoring

mechanism, and where necessary, to augment the skills within the NCOP with

additional expertise. The NCOP may, therefore, draw on the skills of external

local government specialists to assist in the finalisation of this project.

The overwhelming finding following Provincial Week is that, despite the

enormous strides made following the restructuring process, local government

continues to face severe constraints in delivering services as well as significant

financial challenges. These must be attended to in order to ensure the readiness

of Municipalities to begin implementing the EPWP.

The NCOP is committed to ensuring follow up on areas of concern raised during

its visits as well as on recommendations for interventions and support to local

government to be submitted to relevant government departments.

Between 4 and 10 September 2004 nine delegations, comprised of NCOP

permanent delegates, embarked on a programme to assess the state of

Municipalities in all nine provinces. The programme of each delegation included

visits to at least four Municipalities, in most cases a briefing by the Local

Government MEC and provincial Department responsible for Local Government,

a briefing by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) as well

as visits to community social development projects. Delegations were

accompanied by Provincial Standing Committees and in some instances

representatives of SALGA’s provincial offices.

Each delegation compiled a report, which highlighted the issues of concern noted

during the week’s visits and made recommendations on action to address those

concerns and weaknesses. The individual report of each province is available on

request from the Clerk of the Papers at the national Parliament. It is also

expected that provinces will follow up on many of the issues raised in those

reports.

The delegations found many Municipalities throughout the country to be well

functioning; delivering services of high standards and making real contributions

to the lives of the communities they serve. But in some areas grave concerns

were recognised and these revealed that there is much room for improvement.

This report distils the key issues examined by the delegations, areas that must

be addressed if local government is to respond to the President’s vision. National

and provincial government should take note of the findings contained in this

report to ensure that their initiatives and programmes have the desired impact at

local level.

Municipalities selected for visits during the Provincial Week were a combination

of local, district and metro Municipalities with either Mayoral Executive or plenary

type systems. This allowed delegations to assess a range of Municipalities

representing the spectrum of the local government system.

• Firstly, all the provincial reports depended largely on the information

provided by Municipal and Departmental officials, whether in the form of

verbal or documented presentations. While all responses were recorded,

in most cases, time constraints prevented delegations from verifying all

information provided.

• Secondly, many Municipalities appeared to lack the necessary capacity to

respond adequately to the delegations’ request for information. In such

cases, there may be a need for a follow-up visit to examine the challenges

being faced.

• Thirdly, not all Municipalities followed the prescribed process in finalising

their questionnaire; some Municipalities did not obtain the political

endorsement in the form of approval by Council.

King Sabata Dalindyebo Local

Municipality

OR Tambo District Municipality

Ntabankulu Local Municipality

Umzimvubu Local Municipality

Kouga Local Municipality

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan

Municipality

Amathole District Municipality

Jeffrey’s Bay Local Municipality

Johannesburg Metropolitan

Municipality

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Nokeng Tsa-Taemane Local

Municipality

Metsweding District Municipality

Kungwini Local Municipality

Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality

Mafube Local Municipality

Moqhaka Local Municipality

Motheo District Municipality

Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality

Umkhanyakude District Municipality

Newcastle Local Municipality

Hibiscus Coast Municipality

Aganang Local Municipality

Sekhukhune District Municipality

Groblersdal Local Municipality

Mopani District Municipality

Letaba Local Municipality

Vembe District Municipality

Makado Local Municipality

Steve Tshwete Municipality

Thembisile Municipality

Lekwa Municipality

Albert Luthuli Municipality

Moretele Municipality

Kgetleng Local Municipality

Klerksdorp Municipality

Kagisano Local Municipality

Sol Plaatje Municipality

Siyanda District Municipality

Hantam Municipality

Emthanjeni Municipality

Theewaterskloof Municipality

City of Cape Town Metro

Municipality

Drakenstein Municipality

The findings in this chapter are drawn from individual provincial reports that are

contained in the addendum. Hard copies can be obtained from the Clerk of

Papers of Parliament. This chapter outlines transversal trends and challenges in

a number of thematic areas. This chapter is necessarily broad in its approach

and does not attribute specific examples to specific Municipalities in specific

provinces. The nine chapters present these individual provincial reports and are

available separately as freestanding documents.

The objective of this chapter is to formulate general trends and challenges

emerging from Municipalities visited as well as to comment on their readiness to

implement national government’s priorities as set out by the President in his

State of the Nation Address in May 2004. Critical to this is the state and

readiness of Municipalities to implement the Expanded Public Works

Programme, which depends on the effective functioning of Municipalities.

Generally, Municipalities indicated that they are already in the process of

implementing legislation such as the Municipal Systems Act and the Municipal

Structures. Most are challenged in the implementation of the Municipal Finance

Management Act as well as the Municipal Property Rates Act, which is not in

effect as yet. The capacity of Metro Municipalities to implement the MFMA is

good. Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality, for instance, is already in Phase 3 of

implementing the Act. In many Municipalities the capacity of the finance

department is not adequate and this may hamper the rate of compliance with the

MFMA.

Some Municipalities, as in the Eastern Cape and Free State, indicated that they

are encountering problems with implementing certain provisions of these

statutes.

With respect to specific provisions of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000, many

Municipalities indicated that, for instance, employees especially Municipal

Managers either have not yet signed or will soon sign performance contracts as

prescribed by Section 57 of the Municipal Systems Act.

The process of appointing Municipal Managers is a problem area where

legislative compliance has been lacking. In one case in the Free State, junior

staff members have been considered for the position of Municipal Manager, while

the individual continued to hold other positions. The Mayoral Committee, or the

Council as a whole, were not consulted or involved in the appointment

processes. In many Municipalities, there has been a large staff turnover,

especially of Municipal Managers.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. There is a need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of statutory

compliance by both the national and provincial government to ensure that

the legislative framework is observed and implemented at the local level.

There is a need for focussed oversight over compliance. The key

stakeholders, who need to work cooperatively and on an ongoing basis,

include Treasury, Department of Provincial and Local Government

(DPLG), the provincial departments of Local Government, SALGA, as well

as the NCOP and provincial standing/portfolio committees.

The redesign of the system of local government into a two-tier system continues

to provide challenges. It appears that in some provinces structural problems are

arising due to a lack of clarity around functions and powers, between local and

district Municipalities. Where district Municipalities are weak, or have poor

relationships with local Municipalities, resources located at district level are often

not shared effectively.

Within some Municipalities, there are problems with the relationships between

the offices of the Mayor and Speaker, the Executive/Mayoral Committee, the rest

of the Council and/or administration. In some cases, Executive Mayors take

decisions on their own, or only inform their Executive Committees/Council or only

a few committee or council members, at other times exercise powers and

functions belonging to other officials, acting as technical backup. Since there are

often irregular meetings of the Committee, Executive Committee members are

vulnerable to the decisions taken by the Mayor.

The relationships are often characterised by:

• Ordinary councillors being sidelined from important decision-making.

• Processes, which are centralised at the executive level.

• Lack of consultation.

• Lack of cooperation.

• Lack of or poor information sharing and communication.

• Lack of capacity building.

In some cases, Municipalities do not even enjoy cooperative relations with the

provincial government.

Furthermore, there continues to be problems regarding the division of powers

and functions between the local and district Municipalities. This confusion relating

to the division of powers, functions, as well as responsibilities of both local and

district Municipalities creates tensions that hamper the proper functioning of the

municipality, which has implications for service delivery. The amendment, as well

as the implementation, of Section 84 of the Municipal Structures Act (117 of

2000), which transferred the most significant (bulk) municipal services from local

to district Municipalities, is obviously creating problems and confusion.

In some Municipalities, the establishment of the administration has not yet been

completed. The completion of skills audits, assessments, organograms and staff

placements, as well as equity plans, should be finalised as a matter of urgency.

Many Municipalities noted that the rapid transformation of the local government

sphere since 2000 has led to Municipalities having to quickly develop financial

management, project management, personnel and management skills. Not all

Municipalities are therefore working at optimal capacity, particularly in areas with

per-existing poor revenues, weak infrastructure and weak institutions.

The implementation of the Skills Development Act, 1998, and the Growth and

Development Summit resolutions in the form of learnerships must be

accelerated.

There is need for urgent attention to ensure that there are clearer guidelines,

proactive intervention mechanisms and the monitoring of division of powers and

functions, as well as ensuring that responsibilities of both the executive and

administration at the local government are carried out. There is a need to

improve intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance, especially

between local and district Municipalities, provincial and local government levels,

as well as with national government, especially through properly functioning

Intergovernmental Relations Forums. In all municipal areas in South Africa with

District Municipalities, intergovernmental structures must be initiated in order to

facilitate co-operative governance. These structures should convene mayors of

the district and the local Municipalities, municipal managers as well as key

officials.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. Mayors must convene meetings of the Mayoral Committees on a regular

basis.

2. The responsibility of ensuring that powers and functions, as well as

responsibilities as provided for in the respective statutes are appropriate

and fully understood lies with both the national Department of Local

Government and Provincial departments of Local Government. The

NCOP, the provincial committees on local government and SALGA need

to collectively and continuously exercise oversight over the system.

Generally, Municipalities indicated that they are providing free basic services to

their communities and that this is informed by the existence of an indigent policy

and a register. It therefore appears that most Municipalities have made

significant progress in their provision of free basic services, a policy adopted by

Cabinet, aimed at the provision of free basic municipal services to every poor

household in the country. These services, often referred to as "a basket of

services", are solid waste, water, sanitation and electricity.

In spite of such progress, there continues to be serious backlogs in service

provision in many Municipalities. Most Municipalities are not even service

providers of water or electricity. Many depend on Eskom as their service provider

for electricity, but in most instances agreements with Eskom have not been

finalised. In other Municipalities, there are still problems with the installation of

functioning water meters; thus casting serious doubts about claims that free

basic services are being provided.

Most Municipalities have not fully restructured their service provision, with the

exception of certain Metros. Johannesburg Metro Municipality, has, for instance,

established entities to oversee the delivery of water, electricity and sanitation

services. There remains a need to establish the efficacy of these entities and

whether they are viable for other Municipalities.

Similarly, it is not clear how indigent policies or registers are administered or how

often these are updated. Many Municipalities continue to encounter difficulties in

updating their indigent registers; often the onus is left on individual community

members to come to Municipalities to provide the necessary information when

their status or circumstances have changed. There is no profiling within

Municipalities, of what constitute indigents, to determine the socio-economic

status of communities to better inform decision-making or needs analysis to

provide better and quality services to those who are in need. Given the fact that

some ward committees are dysfunctional or there are problems in setting them

up, many councillors are unable to interact with their wards or communities to get

their inputs on services needed or to collect information that can inform the socioeconomic

conditions or status of communities.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. The relevant sector Departments, at both national and provincial level,

need to monitor the provision of basic services by Municipalities, to ensure

that those services meet national norms and standards.

2. A national policy to establish minimum standards for the provision of

sanitation must be drafted as a matter of urgency.

3. The Department of Mineral and Energy and the Department of Local

Government, at national and provincial levels, must ensure the

implementation of agreements with Eskom to provide free basic electricity

to those communities where Eskom is the service provider.

The Metros visited displayed relatively well-developed infrastructure, for instance,

most properties are metered and have water borne sanitation. Outside the

metropolitan areas, however, and particularly in informal settlements, households

continue to use the Ventilated Pit Latrines (VIPs) and a number still use the

bucket system. Most are not metered.

In many Municipalities, including the Metros, aging infrastructure requires

ongoing maintenance in order to minimise interruptions to electricity supply to

residents.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. The infrastructure required to phase out the bucket system and the use of

pit latrines must be developed by Municipalities. Optimum use should be

made of funds allocated from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, through

the ring fencing of funds for this purpose.

2. All provincial departments should carry out an audit of the extent of

infrastructure backlogs and determine the cost of reducing those backlogs.

In this regard, the study on infrastructure backlogs by the Gauteng

Department of Local Government may provide guidance.

Municipalities were positive about the Municipal Finance Management Act

(MFMA) of 2004, as it is seen as an important mechanism that will help address

financial issues in an integrated manner. Yet, municipal finances continue to

pose a serious challenge for the local government sphere. Municipalities face a

range of problems; including billing, debt collection, and financial reporting and

asset management. The credit worthiness of many Municipalities is problematic

and therefore they are not able to raise loans from banks.

It is clear that not all Municipalities are fully capacitated to comply with the

MFMA. Most indicated that they have started to implement some of the

provisions of the MFMA and that some of the required financial systems have

been put in place (e.g. audit committees, tender committees, revenue collection

and credit control measures, multi-year budgets, performance management

systems, etc.).

Tender Committees are constituted by Section 57 of the Municipal Systems Act

(2000) managers, comprising the Municipal Manager as the chairperson,

together with other municipal managers. Councillors or politicians are not allowed

to serve on these Committees in terms of the MFMA. The problem encountered

with these Tender Committees is that there are no proper appeal mechanisms,

often leaving these committees to review their own decisions. There are

allegations of corruption relating to procurement or awarding of tenders within

Municipalities, and since many of the Municipalities do not have anti-corruption

policies, Municipalities are not proactively or effectively attending to the

allegations of corruption.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. Audit committees must work towards the goal of ensuring that

Municipalities receive unqualified reports.

2. A review of current tender processes, including the advertising of tenders,

awarding and the appeal of decisions, is needed, to assess whether the

processes are fair and adequate.

Municipalities across the provinces struggle with revenue collection. A number of

Municipalities have begun to employ private companies to collect arrears for

services and, so far, there appears to be marginal success and improved

recovery rates in such Municipalities. However, the use of such private

companies should be carefully monitored to ensure that they conduct their

business in the best interests of the Municipality.

In many Municipalities a significant number of households are indigent, which

has the immediate result of reducing the revenue raising capacity of those

Municipalities, since the indigent cannot pay for services.

The debt inherited by many Municipalities following the demarcation process, is

substantial. In most cases such debt has not yet been rescheduled or written off.

It appears that Municipalities require assistance to do so.

There is no uniform policy regarding credit control or collection of revenue, with

many Municipalities still being owed particularly by government departments.

There are problems with billing, collection of money for rates and services

provided by the Municipalities. Many Municipalities depend largely or exclusively

on the equitable share as their source of revenue.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. Treasury, at national and provincial level, should provide guidance to

Municipalities on the management of inherited debt. Negotiations on the

writing off of debt must be conducted. Alternatives, such as selling the

debt off to the private sector, must be employed.

2. In areas where there are low levels of economic activity, Municipalities

must be assisted by the provincial government to develop growth and

development strategies to ensure the economic development of the area.

3. A national indigent policy is needed; a holistic policy that synchronises the

criteria to enable those who qualify as indigent to receive a range of

services that may include a social grant, basic services and so forth.

4. There continues to be a need to align the financial years and processes of

national, provincial and local government.

5. A national policy on credit control must be finalised, which should take

cognisance of the indigent.

6. A national policy on anti-corruption must be finalised.

7. The ongoing review of the equitable share formula must take into account

poor Municipalities and be biased towards them.

In the local government sphere as a whole, operational expenditure, including

personnel expenditure, has been increasing. In one Municipality, the reason cited

for the sharp increase in operational expenditure was the perception of an

unfunded mandate.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. The reasons behind the trend of growing personnel expenditure must be

investigated. Appropriate measures must then be taken to reverse the

trend of increased operational expenditure.

2. An investigation should be done on the impact of the amalgamation

process on Municipalities and its contribution to these expenditure trends.

3. Where necessary a skills audit should be completed to ensure appropriate

staff placement within the administration.

4. SALGA should continue to monitor the non-alignment of functions with

revenue.

While many Municipalities pointed out that they have developed LED policies,

many are encountering problems. These policies are often wish lists, with

projects that are not properly planned and costed, aligned to their budgets and

IDPs. There is a lack of uniform policy, project planning and access to financing

or funding sources. Smaller Municipalities do not have broad economic base and

these present particular challenges. There is need to profile the socio-economic

state of all Municipalities so that there is valid data that can be used for targeted

interventions and assistance. Local Economic Development plans should take

into account the resources available in a particular area, for instance, tourism

and agriculture.

It is therefore recommended that:

Provincial governments need to provide more clarity on the nature of the

LED programme, its initiatives, strategies and implementation framework.

In the period following the December 2000 elections, Municipalities were required

to compile interim Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). It appears that

Municipalities have improved on these interim IDPS.

Most Municipalities indicated that they have linked their IDPs to their budgets, as

required by the Municipal Systems Act. Similarly, there are indications that

Municipalities in drawing their IDPs they also have aligned these to their

respective Provincial Growth and Development Strategy and the National Spatial

Development Strategy. However, there seems to be an over-reliance on

infrastructure development. There is a need to place equal emphasis on the

social, economic and capacity enhancement projects.

In spite of claims by many Municipalities that their IDPs are linked to their

budgets, there were also reports that refuted this and showed that in many

Municipalities, there is, in fact, a lack of funds to implement IDP projects. It

appears that Municipalities sometimes use funds to maintain infrastructure and

not to implement IDP projects, for instance. This also highlighted a need for

greater alignment of IDPs with Provincial Growth and Development Strategies,

which will streamline funding and allow greater co-ordination of projects.

• Availability of funding to implement priority projects.

• Weak project management skills within Municipalities.

• The consequent use of consultants to draft IDPs.

• Weak capacity for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation.

• Lack of political participation in the IDP drafting process.

• Lack of participation by sector departments within provinces.

• No performance management systems are in place.

• Lack of adequate community participation.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. During the next review, IDPs need to be realigned to take into account the

EPWP. The priority projects therefore need to incorporate labour intensive

elements and focus on job creation.

2. While community participation in municipal processes is essential, it is equally

important for the Municipality to maintain an educational strategy to inform

communities about the Municipality’s priorities, challenges and constraints.

Mechanisms to ensure timeous feedback to communities should be

developed.

3. The annual IDP review process is important, so that Municipalities can

consult with communities and related stakeholders on their changing needs

and priorities.

4. The contribution of all spheres of government to the financing and execution

of Municipal IDPs must be strengthened.

Many Municipalities in or close to metropolitan areas indicated that they are

ready or have started to implement EPWP related projects. Those Municipalities

that have either been declared nodal areas or identified for future URP/ISRDP

projects are ahead of most in terms of projects already being implemented and

having accessed funding.

However, many Municipalities, especially smaller Municipalities who do not have

broad economic base or are depending on institutional grants such as the

Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), are falling behind. It appears that these

Municipalities, across the country, are not ready to implement the EPWP. Many

are implementing job creation projects but without the labour intensive

component and with limited emphasis on skills transfer.

It will be difficult for Municipalities to find projects that comply fully with EPWP

conditions because there is still a need to train stakeholders who must participate

in the implementation of EPWP compliant projects. Some of the MIG committed

projects as well as those that are being committed are labour intensive even

though they have not been declared EPWP. Stakeholders will require training

before they can be in a position to use the system. This might complicate

reporting. The delay in the establishment of Performance Management Units

(PMUs) might negatively affect progress in the implementation of projects. Some

of the fields in the Project Registration form require information that might be

difficult to get hence it might delay the submission of forms.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) must conduct training

on labour intensive methods in order to capacitate Municipalities to

implement EPWP projects, specifically. Other SETAs should continue

working to capacitate Municipalities on other essential skills.

2. The project management skills within Municipalities must be developed,

using and developing the Project Management Units (PMUs) as a

resource.

3. The national Department of Public Works must take responsibility for

conducting an awareness campaign on the objectives and expected

outcomes of the EPWP.

4. Municipalities must establish steering committees representing relevant

sector Departments and senior municipal officials from district and local

Municipalities in a municipal area, to drive the implementation of the

EPWP.

Capacity is a pre-condition for proper functioning local government and in order

for Municipalities to discharge their constitutional and legislative mandates of

quality and sustainable service delivery. However, capacity is more than training.

Capacity includes institutional capacity, management capacity, skills

development, financial capacity, etc. Although there continues to be some form

of capacity building programmes and assistance received by Municipalities, this

is not necessarily focused or targeted to meet the specific needs of

Municipalities. Many Municipalities indicated that they are experiencing

difficulties related to capacity or lack thereof. Some Municipalities are

encountering capacity problems relating to human resources, project

management and financial management, in particular.

Community participation, which is a critical component of local government,

remains one of the challenges facing Municipalities. Although Municipalities

indicated that ward committees have been established and that they are

receiving support, it appears that many are not functioning. Community

participation is also affected by the nature of relations within the municipality’s

executive and administration. Where there are problems within the executive and

administration of the Municipalities, community participation is affected

adversely.

It appears that, in Municipalities where there are higher levels of participation, the

service delivery needs of communities tend to be better identified, which makes

targeted service delivery possible. Ward committees expressed the need for

further administrative and financial support. In addition, the fact that Ward

Councillors are part-time provides further difficulties.

It is therefore recommended that:

Ward committees should be provided with adequate administrative and

financial support.

Discussions should begin on whether Ward-Councillors should continue to

work in a part-time capacity.

It was widely acknowledged by Municipalities that SALGA has a pivotal role to

play in capacitating and training Councillors and municipal officials as well as

assisting Municipalities to comply with their statutory obligations. Most

Municipalities cited the participation of their officials and Councillors in SALGA

training programmes. Nevertheless, in its own meetings with SALGA, delegations

noted the severe capacity challenges with which SALGA is currently faced. In

many provinces this shortage may be attributed to the fact that the leadership of

SALGA also hold senior, full-time posts in Municipalities.

It appears that in many cases there are inadequate mechanisms to ensure

thorough communication and report-backs from SALGA back to municipal level

and vice versa.

The role of SALGA is not clear in some Municipalities. Concerns have been

raised about the nature of relations between SALGA and Provincial Government.

Better relations between SALGA and Provincial Government are necessary in

order for these stakeholders to conduct oversight and provide capacity to local

government. However, in many provinces SALGA is facing capacity challenges.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. The internal capacity of SALGA’s provincial’s offices must be more fully

developed, both in terms of human resources and financially. This will

enable SALGA to maximise the opportunities available to represent local

government in legislative processes at national and provincial level.

2. The provincial legislatures, in general, and provincial Portfolio Committees

on Local Government, in particular, must continue to foster strong

relationships with SALGA’s provincial offices and must adopt a cooperative

stance in any relevant oversight work conducted.

3. SALGA must devise mechanisms to monitor the appropriateness and

effectiveness of its training programmes.

In the provinces of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal, the relationship

between traditional leaders and the Council was examined. It was found that in

most cases the relationship is co-operative. Traditional leaders make input in

Council meetings through Imbizos, Indlu Yenkosi and in their traditional

institutions.

Amakhosi’s falling within the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality felt that it was

crucial to unite at local level to be more organised. Workshops to empower

themselves are often conducted and the aspects of workshops include

leadership, team building, etc. They are remunerated by the project. There are

problems when Amakhosi are divided but there was an appeal for unity amongst

Amakhosi. The issue of consultation between the councillors and Amakhosi in

relation to projects created problems and political alienation. There was also an

appeal for a budget for amakhosi’s.

It is therefore recommended that:

• A budget should be allocated for the amakhosi to execute their functions,

for instance, the budget must address compensation for the cost of

attending meetings.

• Government should involve the amakhosi when dealing with issues such

as land use.

• The role of the amakhosi within the Constitutional and legislative

framework, it was argued, should be amended to allow for greater

decision-making.

• There is a need for the swift establishment of local traditional councils.

The Community Development Workers programme has been rolled out in most

provinces and many CDWs have been deployed in Municipalities.

The long-term viability of many Cross-Boundary Municipalities is questionable.

Yet it appears that there is little interaction between affected Municipalities and

the Demarcation Board.

In Gauteng it was found that the cross-boundary District Municipality,

Metsweding, and its two local Municipalities, are without a sustainable economic

development plan and this impacts negatively on service delivery and job

creation. In such a case the NCOP has recommended that the provincial

government assist the Municipalities to develop a growth and development

strategy, aligned with the Gauteng Provincial Growth and Development Strategy,

to ensure sustainable economic development in the district.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. The participation of communities in the finalisation of the demarcation of

Cross-Boundary Municipalities is important, so that the merging or

incorporation of such Municipalities serves the interests and needs of the

affected communities.

2. The viability of these Municipalities must be determined and in this regard

there must be frequent interaction between the Demarcation Board, the

Municipalities themselves and the Department of Provincial and Local

Government.

In many Municipalities there are real tensions between the different political

parties in Council. In some cases, these tensions are divisive and have a

negative impact on the functioning of Council. Often these tensions extend to the

relationship between Councillors and officials. Accusations of interference in the

administration of the Municipality are levelled against Councillors while it was

noted that officials often disregard Council resolutions. These tensions are

exacerbated in cases where Councillors lack the relevant skills and experience.

In Metro Municipalities, particularly in Gauteng province, which has the highest

number of Metros, there appears to be limited party political tensions.

It is therefore recommended that:

1. Councils should devise mechanisms to track resolutions and monitor the

implementation of decisions.

2. There should be clear guidelines on the roles and responsibilities of

Councillors and officials, as well as the Councillors, Mayor and the

Municipal Manager and between the Mayor and the Speaker’s office.

Regard should be had to the relevant legislative provisions on these

responsibilities, for instance, the provisions of the MFMA.

Many Municipalities raised concerns with the delays in the process of securing

approval for development projects. Such delays were attributed either to a lack of

capacity or the Environmental Impact Assessment processes, which are often

seen as cumbersome.

It is therefore recommended that:

A discussion be convened between DPLG and the national Department of

Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the unintended consequences of

environmental laws, particularly the Environmental Impact Assessment

requirements.

Many issues were raised during Provincial Week meetings that do not fall within

the purview of the local government portfolio or the themes that were considered.

It is recommended that they be taken up for consideration in future, either by the

relevant Select Committee or the appropriate sector Department. Two such

issues are: the provision of Municipal Health services and the social grants

payment system.

In this regard, it is recommended that:

The joint Health and Local Government MinMec process to discuss the

implications around municipal health services must be speeded up.

There is a need to improve the payment system for social grants, to

eliminate queues and provide adequate facilities at the payout venues.

We recommend that relevant departments take note of the priority areas

identified in the report, where their assistance could be most effective in the short

to medium term. In overcoming these and many other challenges, delegations

also identified a number of necessary steps to be undertaken by local authorities

towards improving the image and performance of local government:

• The need to improve the image of the local government, Municipalities

and councils to address issues such as corruption, nepotism, fraud,

amongst others.

• The need to work toward the ultimate objective of creating non-partisan

institutions in the country.

• The IDPs and EPWP projects need to be fast tracked in some

Municipalities.

• Water resources in specific areas need to be allocated and distributed

fairly to all communities within the jurisdiction.

• To conscientise communities on the need to pay for services rendered so

that Municipalities lower their debt burdens.

• To ensure that municipal officials and communities engage in relevant

dialogue to facilitate better services for all.

• To improve intergovernmental relations to ensure maximum delivery of

services.

• To capacitate, skill and enhance participation of councillors within SALGA

structures.

Report to be considered.