A new Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (Misa) would be established next month to accelerate service delivery and enhance capacity among municipalities, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Richard Baloyi announced this week.

Opening a conference on accelerating infrastructure delivery and capacity enhancement for municipalities on Thursday, he urged over 500 delegates in the public and private sectors to move away from talks to chart a way forward, to the practical delivery of services to communities.

“I will spend more time on delivery and the practical side of things, not just talk about talks which happens in conferences. Turnaround must be measurable and time bound. We should avoid movement without impact. We should ensure the acceleration of service delivery,” Baloyi said.

Through Misa, the department expects to be able to accelerate service delivery through five programmes, comprising: municipal infrastructure assessment and diagnosis of the challenges, to find solutions that are viable and sustainable; provision of municipal infrastructure capacity support; municipal infrastructure implementation support; sector capacity development, including internships for unemployed graduates within municipalities; and effective monitoring and evaluation.

Baloyi told delegates that Misa would seek to coordinate all initiatives and support provided by government through a range of interventions, which include Project Consolidate, Siyenza Manje and other initiatives.

The new agency is expected to fast-track service delivery in municipalities, including 21 rural districts identified during the recent Cabinet lekgotla, and prioritise the accelerated training of municipal technical officials, as well as in-school and out-of-school youth, to ensure the capacity and sustainability of infrastructure.

Baloyi also said that he would launch a campaign working with universities, professionals and the private sector to build capacity among municipalities to accelerate service delivery.