Date: 24 June 2004
Source: City of Cape Town
Title: N Mfeketo: Speech delivered at Council


Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen

Today marks the last Council of our financial year. A year that hasn’t been easy. A year in which we had to overcome numerous obstacles.

But, as I said when I presented the budget, we have turned the tide.

The basis for rapid and meaningful delivery has been laid.

Our new financial year will be a year of consolidation, growth and delivery. Of that I am certain.

Everywhere I go these days I see cranes. The City is experiencing a development boom like never before – in Helderberg, the CBD, the Waterfront, Atlantic Seaboard and Blaauwberg.

But that is not all. In our presidential urban renewal projects – Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain - progress is visible, and plans are advanced to begin the massive task of upgrading our informal settlements.

Once again the focus is on Cape Town as a prime destination for conferences and tourism. Cape Town is stepping into a different league – growing into a world-class player. This is an opportunity we must grasp with both hands.

But, as City leaders and Capetonians, how do we make sure that all our residents live and work on this global stage? From Bishopscourt to Guguletu, from Somerset West and Lwandle to Masiphumele.

This is our real challenge – to make this a city for everyone that lives in it.

Everything we do is underscored by the principle that this is a City that belongs to all its people. We have a Constitutional obligation, but also a moral one that says that we have to develop all our people, all our areas.

A full bench of the Constitutional Court reminded us that organs of government have a duty to be proactive in ensuring that past injustices are addressed. I make no apology for this.

As the High Court pointed out when it dismissed the rates Action Group’s case against the City’s sanitation and water charges, that we are a country in transformation. The judgment noted the profound challenges at local government level. “It is here that acute imbalances in personal wealth, physical infrastructure and the provision of services are most patent.” The judge said that the City is under a constitutional and statutory duty to address these matters, and to do so “purposely and effectively”. Not as a matter of charity or generosity, but as a constitutional obligation.

A few weeks ago, I stood here and presented the Budget. The budget based on sound principles and on the long-term future of our City. I also made several commitments to residents. I am pleased to announce that task teams have been established to deal with each one. We are in the process of consulting our partners – in government and the private sector – and in several areas we have a plan in place and delivery is already happening.

The reaction that I have received since I made these commitments has been very positive. I have also received encouragement from many quarters. This includes firm support from the provincial government, and in particular the Premier Mr. Rasool. This shows our commitment to co-operative governance – we are one city, one province, geared for delivery.

I will be reporting back on these commitments on a regular basis.

However, as Commitment 2 is on our doorstep, I want to go into some detail here. As you know, this is the critical task of ensuring that all 164 informal settlements have rudimentary basic services by the end of this month.

I am pleased to announce that we are on track to ensure that by 30 June communal standpipes for drinking water will be available to approximately 90% of accessible settlements, communal sanitation facilities to over 80% of these settlement and that refuse collection will be available to 95%.

To facilitate the fast track provision of these emergency services the special task team managing the upgrading of informal settlements was strengthened by the secondment of additional internal staff and supported by engineering and facilitation consultants.

We are tackling the challenges head-on. When we ran out of toilet supplies in Cape Town, we sourced supplies in Kimberley. We are currently installing toilets at a rate of 150 to 200 per day.

Delays have occurred in obtaining the owner’s consent to access to some of the 39 settlements located on private land.

Negotiations with landowners who are withholding permission are continuing. If their consent is not given, services will, where practical, be provided on the periphery of such settlements.

We are also considering all legal options available to make sure that we deliver.

Very dense settlements have made is difficult for crews to get in and do the work. In such cases services are being provided as practically as possible.

With the right to services come responsibilities. Communities must ensure that the services and facilities, which have been installed, are optimally utilised and protected. I urge Communities to work with Council and report misuse of these. Communities also have to ensure that settlements are contained and that houses are not built in such a way that compromise safety.

Despite these difficulties, I am confident that we will attain an overall success rate of close to 90% by end June and complete the servicing within the next month. The work will not stop then. The supply of emergency services is the foundation for the provision of further infrastructure and development.

Structurally, the administration is also gearing itself for delivery at all levels. There has been an encouraging mind shift where officials are now coming up with solutions rather than problems. I am very pleased by this.

The organisation is ready to respond to the opportunities that are arising. We are committed to cutting red tape, speeding up our processes and completing the restructuring of the organization. We will soon announcing a new organizational structure for the city and the details of an implementation strategy. This finally brings us to the point where the seven former administrations merge into one city, focused on delivery in its widest possible meaning.

We are also at the dawn of a new era in local government with the implementation of the Municipal Financial Management Act on 1 July. I am pleased to say that we are compliant to a very large extent with this new Act – one of the only cities that can say this.

This new system will also help us monitor our spending. There has been a historical pattern of under spending in the Municipality - as the New GAMAP system will highlight. Alarmist allegations that our spend is only 30% is completely untrue.

At the end of the financial year various parts of our administration will have spent between 73 – 97 %. We know this is not good enough and at the end of the next financial year the picture will be very different. Our aim is to spend 95% plus of our funds in a systematic & targeted way.

This is also a good time to look at what we have achieved elsewhere.

For me, one of the highlights of the past few months was hosting the Olympic Flame Torch. It was wonderful to see how Capetonians in all areas came out to support the magnificent torchbearers – women and men, of all ages, who represent the best of what it means to be a South African. We may not have won the Games, but we certainly did our city and country proud. I want to commend Councillor Mlanjeni for her and her team’s efforts in ensuring the success of this International event.

The City has actively participated in the national restructuring of the Electricity Distribution Industry, in partnership with the Department of Minerals and Energy and the EDI Holding Company.

Our commitment to this process is reflected in today’s meeting agenda, with a report that recommends that our City enter into a Cooperative Agreement with the Electricity Distribution Industry Holding Company for Cape Town to participate as a major shareholder in the RED for the Western Cape Region, which is proposed to be the largest of the six national REDs.

In her budget speech to Parliament two days ago, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka confirmed that her department will meet the deadline set by the President in his State of the Nation Address, for the establishment of the first RED by June 2005.

In a recent assessment of the readiness of municipalities to participate in REDs, Cape Town and eThekweni emerged tops in terms of the assessment criteria. And today it is my pleasure to announce that Cape Town is and will be no 1! This morning the Minister announced that Cape Town has fulfilled all the criteria to host South Africa’s first RED. Our participation in RED will add to the financial viability of Cape Town and ensure a high quality of electricity supply.

I would like to thank Councillor Saleem Mowzer for his and his electricity teams’ dedication in ensuring Cape Town’s readiness to participate in RED 1.

Thank You and I hope that you enjoy the recess. When you come back there is lots of hard work waiting.