Date: 24/02/05
Source: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Gauteng Media Briefing 2005
Statement by MEC of Local Government, Ms Qedani Mahlangu
24 February 2005
Our briefing will touch on the issues that we announced last year in the budget speech presented to the Legislature. Key to this briefing is to indicate progress made since then, and reflect on our plans for the new season of work.
Sticking to our mandate as a Department, that of providing support and monitoring to municipalities we undertook an assessment study on the efficiency and effective functioning of municipality. The study covered all areas of functionality i.e. financial viability, institutional capacity, planning and budgeting capacity, service delivery capacity, the ability to communicate and interact with communities, and the extent to which municipalities assist in building local democracy.
The study revealed that the developmental system of local government is gradually maturing. However, we still experience problems of:
* Institutional transformation
* Lack of financial management skill to the extent that some municipalities are struggling to submit financial statements to the auditor
general for the 2003/04 financial year and other obligations required by the MFMA
* Project management skills, hence the difficulty of municipalities to spend appropriately on the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
In providing maximum support to municipalities, we are implementing a two year intervention program. I am pleased to announce that as from 1 March 2005 the Department will roll out Project Consolidate to five affected municipalities.
* Emfuleni LM will be assisted with financial management and institutional transformation
* Mogale LM will be supported with financial management and revenue enhancement strategies and the development of a fully fledged Customer Care Unit.
* Merafong LM will be supported with billing, electricity ring fencing, Local Economic Development, and Customer Relations. * Jo'burg Metro will be supported with billing and Customer relations
* Kungwini LM will be assisted with institutional transformation and financial management Support to other municipalities not included in Project Consolidate will be on water loss, electricity, water and sanitation infrastructure, financial management, project management and internal audit.
446 Ward Committees have been established throughout the province. Some of them are weak and very few are strong, e.g. Ward 35 in Soweto and Mogale City. We are going to prioritise the strengthening and capacitating of ward committees as part of deepening democracy.
Effective from 1 April 2005 the department will be employing 200 Community Development Workers and 120 Cadets will be recruited during the financial year. These new cadre of civil servants have already begun to imbue a transformatory value to the public service. It is closer and works with people in their communities.
The Office of the MEC is spearheading the Imbizo program aimed at ensuring that the Department and the municipalities continue to engage with communities. We have visited several townships and informal settlements. These visits exposed the levels of poverty in our communities. However, the key achievement in this regard is building local democracy and ensuring citizen participation in governance issues.
The fifteen municipalities in the province have lived to the expectations of the legislation with regard to the review and adoption of Municipal Integrated Development Plans for 2004/05. The process is intended to ensure integrated planning, which is informed by the needs of communities. In enhancing planning and development, we aim to coordinate the MIDP with the provincial sector department in order to eliminate duplication and contradiction in project implementation. The provincial-municipal planning process from now onwards will be guided by the principles of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. These we believe would enhance the integration of plans and promote oneness of the province within the realm of the globally competitive city region perspective.
In recent times we have experienced interruptions in the supply of electricity in most of our municipalities. There continues to be water supply disruptions, sewerage spillage and sanitation problems. These are a result of an ageing bulk service supply infrastructure we have inherited. The existing infrastructure cannot cope with level of development that is taking place in the country. There are new settlements emerging in our areas of jurisdiction, and the pace with which they are sprouting is not in tandem with infrastructure development.
These disruptions of service affect both the ordinary person and commercial activity in the economy. As the Premier announced, the Department recently convened a workshop attended by Mayors and Members of Mayoral Committees with relevant parastatals to assess the impact of the disruptions and find mechanisms to address the issue. The workshop agreed to establish Working Groups, which will be led by the Department to understand the full extent of the challenges and design proper strategies to guide municipalities on the infrastructure investment. The notable participants in this initiative are Eskom, Rand Water, NER, DBSA etc. We urge the private sector to work with us on this initiative to overcome the infrastructure challenges.
In alignment with National Act and policy, the Provincial Disaster Management Policy Framework has been developed. This has led to the establishment of the Provincial Disaster Management Forum, Provincial Disaster Management Centre, Forum for Emergency Services, Emergency Response Management Information Systems and Public Information Education and Relations.
We would be launching Provincial Disaster Management Centre this year. We plan to roll out the disaster and fire awareness educational programmes in informal settlements including providing fire extinguishers to identified informal settlements. One of the critical issues we addressing in this regard is the issue of dolomitic land and sinkholes in the province. We are working on comprehensive strategies to manage these risks.
This year is the end of term for democratically elected Councils; therefore we need to inform ourselves on what has worked better, challenges and what needs to be done. Our main challenge is to work towards increasing voter turnout.
In preparation for the elections, we will work in partnership with the Municipal Demarcation Board to deal with outstanding demarcation issues and the Independent Electoral Commission to ensure the smooth running of electoral processes that guarantee free and fair election.
For more information contact: Nanagolo Leopeng
Tel: (011) 355 5012
Cell: 082 373 1181
Issued by: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial Government
24 February 2005
Source: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Mahlangu: Gauteng Media Briefing 2005
Statement by MEC of Local Government, Ms Qedani Mahlangu
24 February 2005
Our briefing will touch on the issues that we announced last year in the budget speech presented to the Legislature. Key to this briefing is to indicate progress made since then, and reflect on our plans for the new season of work.
Sticking to our mandate as a Department, that of providing support and monitoring to municipalities we undertook an assessment study on the efficiency and effective functioning of municipality. The study covered all areas of functionality i.e. financial viability, institutional capacity, planning and budgeting capacity, service delivery capacity, the ability to communicate and interact with communities, and the extent to which municipalities assist in building local democracy.
The study revealed that the developmental system of local government is gradually maturing. However, we still experience problems of:
* Institutional transformation
* Lack of financial management skill to the extent that some municipalities are struggling to submit financial statements to the auditor
general for the 2003/04 financial year and other obligations required by the MFMA
* Project management skills, hence the difficulty of municipalities to spend appropriately on the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
In providing maximum support to municipalities, we are implementing a two year intervention program. I am pleased to announce that as from 1 March 2005 the Department will roll out Project Consolidate to five affected municipalities.
* Emfuleni LM will be assisted with financial management and institutional transformation
* Mogale LM will be supported with financial management and revenue enhancement strategies and the development of a fully fledged Customer Care Unit.
* Merafong LM will be supported with billing, electricity ring fencing, Local Economic Development, and Customer Relations. * Jo'burg Metro will be supported with billing and Customer relations
* Kungwini LM will be assisted with institutional transformation and financial management Support to other municipalities not included in Project Consolidate will be on water loss, electricity, water and sanitation infrastructure, financial management, project management and internal audit.
446 Ward Committees have been established throughout the province. Some of them are weak and very few are strong, e.g. Ward 35 in Soweto and Mogale City. We are going to prioritise the strengthening and capacitating of ward committees as part of deepening democracy.
Effective from 1 April 2005 the department will be employing 200 Community Development Workers and 120 Cadets will be recruited during the financial year. These new cadre of civil servants have already begun to imbue a transformatory value to the public service. It is closer and works with people in their communities.
The Office of the MEC is spearheading the Imbizo program aimed at ensuring that the Department and the municipalities continue to engage with communities. We have visited several townships and informal settlements. These visits exposed the levels of poverty in our communities. However, the key achievement in this regard is building local democracy and ensuring citizen participation in governance issues.
The fifteen municipalities in the province have lived to the expectations of the legislation with regard to the review and adoption of Municipal Integrated Development Plans for 2004/05. The process is intended to ensure integrated planning, which is informed by the needs of communities. In enhancing planning and development, we aim to coordinate the MIDP with the provincial sector department in order to eliminate duplication and contradiction in project implementation. The provincial-municipal planning process from now onwards will be guided by the principles of the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. These we believe would enhance the integration of plans and promote oneness of the province within the realm of the globally competitive city region perspective.
In recent times we have experienced interruptions in the supply of electricity in most of our municipalities. There continues to be water supply disruptions, sewerage spillage and sanitation problems. These are a result of an ageing bulk service supply infrastructure we have inherited. The existing infrastructure cannot cope with level of development that is taking place in the country. There are new settlements emerging in our areas of jurisdiction, and the pace with which they are sprouting is not in tandem with infrastructure development.
These disruptions of service affect both the ordinary person and commercial activity in the economy. As the Premier announced, the Department recently convened a workshop attended by Mayors and Members of Mayoral Committees with relevant parastatals to assess the impact of the disruptions and find mechanisms to address the issue. The workshop agreed to establish Working Groups, which will be led by the Department to understand the full extent of the challenges and design proper strategies to guide municipalities on the infrastructure investment. The notable participants in this initiative are Eskom, Rand Water, NER, DBSA etc. We urge the private sector to work with us on this initiative to overcome the infrastructure challenges.
In alignment with National Act and policy, the Provincial Disaster Management Policy Framework has been developed. This has led to the establishment of the Provincial Disaster Management Forum, Provincial Disaster Management Centre, Forum for Emergency Services, Emergency Response Management Information Systems and Public Information Education and Relations.
We would be launching Provincial Disaster Management Centre this year. We plan to roll out the disaster and fire awareness educational programmes in informal settlements including providing fire extinguishers to identified informal settlements. One of the critical issues we addressing in this regard is the issue of dolomitic land and sinkholes in the province. We are working on comprehensive strategies to manage these risks.
This year is the end of term for democratically elected Councils; therefore we need to inform ourselves on what has worked better, challenges and what needs to be done. Our main challenge is to work towards increasing voter turnout.
In preparation for the elections, we will work in partnership with the Municipal Demarcation Board to deal with outstanding demarcation issues and the Independent Electoral Commission to ensure the smooth running of electoral processes that guarantee free and fair election.
For more information contact: Nanagolo Leopeng
Tel: (011) 355 5012
Cell: 082 373 1181
Issued by: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial Government
24 February 2005
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