The guiding theme as mentioned by the SCF chairman is that in terms of oversight provision of services is done within the available resources which is guided by the Constitution.

There is a lack of synergy in the manner Provinces addresses road maintenance issues. Although each Province has its own Provincial Road Strategy there appears to be a lack of proper planning especially in IDP processes. Given the limited resources at local government level the fuel levy option should be seriously considered.

The reclassification of roads is an on going process which needs set timeframes as roads are an important conduit in economic activity in municipalities and it also impacts on maintenance of roads. If a municipality wants a particular road to fall under its jurisdiction for maintenance purposes it must apply for reclassification.

A concern raised by SCF is that the fuel levy is general tax which goes to the National Revenue Fund therefore not a dedicated fund for roads hence percentage needs to be redirected to municipalities would be marginal. The MIG levy is another alternative to factor in this consideration.

A concern raise was that municipalities appear not to feature in road policy planning at national level which leads to a fragmented approach to policy development and implementation.

With regards to administration of inspectorate in practice ticketing fees goes to national with no derived benefit to the municipality.

A firm view expressed by SCF is that national government must compensate municipalities for damaged roads as these are used by all transport types. A realistic percentage of the fuel levy should be redirected to the municipalities to cover maintenance programs otherwise infrastructure development would be neglected.

Housing

SALGA responded to questions and issues raised on quality, administration, allocative efficiency and town planning. A turnaround strategy was mooted that would have parallel processes running so that applications for building houses, developments etc. This would prevent delays due EIA’s, provincial / municipal red tape that would result in better approval times for infrastructure planning, township development. Related to this is the question of rural areas in particular wards and how these are accommodated in town planning. SALGA reiterated that there needs to be a holistic process of town planning investigation so that municipalities would know exactly where to build houses, how and ensuring that the necessary project management skills is available. Rural areas are accommodated in terms of the Spatial Development Frameworks of each Province and in various associated IDP processes.

Previously Environmental impact assessments created impediments to quick approval. This issue is being addressed by the relevant departments so not to create bottlenecks to housing delivery. Although currently there is refocus on how all role players can fast track delivery in this vein the Intergovernmental Forums under the auspices of the Premiers office plays an integral role in driving a coordinated approach to housing delivery.

R 50 million is being set aside for capacity building for certain targeted municipalities who demonstrate ability to build houses by the National Department of Housing.

If municipalities are not accredited to build houses it impacts in terms their role in disaster relief management as they cannot deal effectively if a disaster happens in their locality. However, they do manage the process in conjunction with provincial as it occurs in their jurisdiction.

SCF raised the issue of the inadequacy of temporary housing structures erected in the case of disaster management relief. Often these structures are shoddy with poor workmanship.

Of particular interest is assessment of municipalities for accreditation purposes. How exactly is readiness determined? SALGA responded to referring to Section 78 of the Municipal Systems Act which states that municipalities must prove that capacity exists to deliver the service. Simultaneously municipalities are required to build the necessary capacity to be ready for accreditation. In a broader perspective it is difficult to deploy funds for an anticipated function SALGA referred to the people housing project if whereby people built the houses by themselves they would ensure that the quality would be better.

Welfare Services

The issue of how financing of social welfare services is linked to indigent programmes of municipalities was mentioned. A practice which has developed is that often municipalities when using funds from the Provincial Equitable Share (PES) to fund basic services use the PES thresholds. However, municipalities with stronger fiscal capacity view these thresholds at to low hence divergence creeps in. SCF made reference that depending on the threshold used it could impact place a financial burden on pensioners as they end paying for services.

Environmental Health Service (EHS)

This type of service aims to ensure compliance, enforcement with various environmental laws. However, the question was raised whether this was a basic service in terms of the minimum basket of services offered to communities. What is lacking is a proper audit of EHS, where is it provided and what are the funding level like. It appears that Metro’s are able to fund there services, with District municipalities have the financial capacity to do so but at most municipalities these remain largely underfunded.

Health environmental hazards in townships is not always reflected in municipal budgets. This issue needs to addressed in the IDP process so that in future it is catered for.

• Ward boundary conflicts and how this impacts on funding. It was mentioned that classification of roads was done in the within the old demarcation guidelines and if application for reclassification is not done some municipalities would be burdened with high maintenance costs or neglect because of inability to fund maintenance programs. This subsequently impacts on local economic development.

• Incomplete, shoddy workmanship, resulting in huge write offs of funds as some contractors cannot be traced. There needs to better management of the contracting process and funds release. Also quality control indicators need to be built into the process which should automatically be part of the project management programme.

• There is a difference between the obligation and the power to do in terms of legislation.

• Disbursement of housing subsidies and whether the administration could be improved at provincial level. Should there be an annexure to DORA on this issue. This would a useful gesture as it would highlight performance issues around housing subsidies etc.

• Setting of time frames for functions and powers framework for roads, housing etc.

• Poverty targeting and the linkage to various indigent programs of municipalities. There needs to be a categorization policy established so that a minimum basket of services will give effect in terms of target coverage.

• Funding flows in relation to temporary housing. Usually National Treasury has contingency reserves from which funds can channeled in respect of various disasters which could occur. This relates to infrastructure repair so that areas are not economically crippled as a result of damages.

• There needs to be closer cooperation between SCF and various Provincial Legislature committees and National Treasury in conducting oversight in terms of spending efficiency. Related to this is the quality of spending, optimization of budgets and whether measurable objectives are achievable.

• Disbursing structures must comply with applicable legislation such as the PFMA, MFMA etc. It is unacceptable that continuous breaches of these Acts occur. Departments must be more proactive in sharing information so as to prevent the SCF from probing into financial management of various programs. However, as long as there is lack of capacity at middle management level in municipalities the turnaround that is required for enhanced financial management compliance would be slow. It is important that the National Treasury intervene with necessary training interventions so as on a continuous basis upskill chief financial officer and treasury officials at municipal level especially in regards to the MFMA.

• How is money disbursed to contractors who build houses, quality aspects of process management which appears to be poor? More stringent criteria should be factored into evaluation process for awarding tenders for state schemes.

• The need for more interdepartmental coordination in building and planning of hosing developments. Although money has been dedicated for housing lags occur due to lack of synergy between Provincial and Local level regarding divergent waiting lists, lack of proper audits on waiting lists, duplication often occurs where people are on both provincial and local list. There is a need for a single waiting list which will alleviate concerns around people jumping the queue and receiving favourable treatment.

• How would accreditation of municipalities to build houses speed up the delivery process as there seems to much overlap between provincial and local government in this area. Unless a definite timeframe is established for assignments of powers the situation of unfunded mandates could persist and the delivery stalemate would continue.

• There appears to be lack of oversight by SALGA on transport and housing in some provinces. SALGA needs to play a more proactive role in a monitoring capacity to detect municipalities in distress and who need intervention. Although Project Consolidate covers this aspect, more work is required especially for those municipalities not covered by the intervention strategy.

• Intergovernmental relations needs to be enhanced as there cases whereby Provinces do not pay their dues and municipalities reciprocate. These intergovernmental forums happen to infrequently at Provincial level which makes it difficult to plan remedial measures effectively in instances of non performance by municipalities. The point is that detection happen too late making a turnaround strategy ineffective in the near given the level of dysfunctionality in operations.

SALGA’s input regarding the FFC recommendations is supportive but emphasizes the need for a cautionary approach given the developmental challenges facing local government in South Africa. Allocated more responsibility to the local government sphere should be accompanied by realistic funds transferal so that municipalities can give effect to their constitutional mandates placed upon them.

One important aspect that needs to be addressed is that right skills mix is required at local government level given the pressures for delivery. These range from project management skills, engineering, financial management and auditing and corporate governance issues in general. Unless these specific technical skills competencies shortages are addresses the situation could arise that even if adequate funds are shifted to local government there would little improvement in service delivery.

The absence of single civil service makes it cumbersome to deploy staff from national and provincial to local government as a stop gap measure. The Ministry of Public Service and Administration is currently working on a single government service strategy which allow deployment of staff across all sphere of state. This however, does require multi-skilling and where technical expertise resides at other levels this must used at local level.

What is evident from the deliberations is that as part of SCF oversight activities there needs more focused scrutiny of Provincial –Local government financing arrangements and more continous engagement with SALGA is required. Where claims of SALGA not being active in oversight needs to be addressed. There should be improved monitoring mechanisms so that municipalities in despair can be detected early enough and appropriate interventions sought.

The relationship between FFC and SCF remains crucial in doing back up research for policy recommendation purposes which gives strategic informed and inputs which add value to entire policy oversight process. Similarly the partnership with National Treasury in building the capacity of SCF via workshops and training for members is invaluable as it equips members with critical analytical skills necessary for conducting oversight activities.

SALGA continues to play an integral role of informing the SCF on state of local government, however, this discourse needs to be more frequent than fleetingly.

Closure