Date: 08/12/2003
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Nkwinti: Eastern Cape housing & infrastructure development best practices municipalities


ADDRESS TO PROVINCIAL AWARDS - HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT BEST PRACTICES MUNICIPALITIES OF THE EASTERN CAPE, 2003 CALENDAR YEAR, BY THE MEC FOR HOUSING, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, MR GE NKWINTI, 8 December 2003

Director of Proceedings
Honoured Guests
SALGA'S Leadership
Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen

We are an honoured generation. The fate of millions of South Africans is in our hands, judging by the extent to which so much is expected of us in Local Government with so few developmental resources being placed at our disposal. With this unprecedented honour, therefore, goes an immeasurable moral - political responsibility and pressure.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are a critical part of a process of fundamental socio - culture, economic and political change - revolutionarily referred to as transformation. We are part of a great national phenomenon of transitioning the South African Society from one based on socio - cultural, economic and political discrimination and oppression, premised on race and gender, to one that is united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous. Every success that we achieve, therefore, no matter how small, is a significant milestone contribution to this historical national project, revolutionarily referred to as the national democratic revolution. Corollarily, therefore, every failure, whether due to subjective or objective factors, sets back the national effort towards achieving the objective of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. It sets back the national effort towards creating a better life for all South Africans. Armed with this understanding of the circumstances around our deployment in government, we cannot be tolerant of, and, we must revolt against fraud and corruption; we must reject laziness and poor application of mind with contempt. Those who steal and or abuse resources placed at their disposal to advance this great national cause, are definitely enemies of progress; and, those who are lazy to and fail to apply their minds to the advancement of this great national cause, may not necessarily be enemies of progress, but they are definitely, not fit to remain in the positions they hold in the public service. This great national cause requires commitment, dedication and selfless application.

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have gathered here to celebrate achievements; achievements at two levels - Local and National. Just over a week ago, the Premier's Good Governance Awards took place in the Nangoza Jebe Great Centenary hall, Port Elizabeth. This occasion acknowledged and celebrated performance excellence in the execution of service to the public. the focus of these awards was provincial departmental performance; and, two departments distinguished themselves, namely Education and Health. This was also true of two special observations that were made and acknowledged by the Premier - it was Education. What is significant about these awards and acknowledgements is that both departments are always referred to, in media and other reportages, in the most negative of terms. These pockets of excellence, these significant milestone contributions to the great national effort by the smallest of our people, are not mentioned the least. This subjective negligence cannot be said to be contributing positively to profiling the gains which our people make "in turning the tide around ...... towards a better tomorrow" (President Mbeki).

During the month of October this year, this Local Government community gathered in this city, East London, to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of three of our municipalities, Buffalo City Inkwanca and Amatole District. These were in preparation for the National Vuna Awards for municipal performance excellence, which were to be held on the 3rd Anniversary of the new municipal dispensation, the 5th of December 2003. That evening we announced that Provincial Awards for Housing and infrastructure Development best practice were to be held before the end of the year.

This occasion tonight marks those Provincial Housing and infrastructure acknowledgements and celebrations. We are here to acknowledge and celebrate the significant contribution made by all of us towards the national effort of achieving a better life for all our people. The form which this acknowledgement and celebration takes is that of identifying the best three contributions, in order of significance, given the criteria used this year. In the spirit of the Olympics, they are the best because the rest are good. The set of criteria used for the selection is the following:
(i) Speed, scale and qualify;
(ii) Creativity and innovation;
(iii) Upholding norms and standards; and
(iv) Use of emerging contractors.

Much as we must abide by the annual accounting cycle requirements, which are not appropriate for construction, as they apply right now, we have three much greater challenges in construction in the context of socio-economic transformation, which are:-
(i) Job creation;
(ii) Skills development; and
(iii) Contributing to sustainable economic growth and social development.

That is the significant of today's acknowledgments and celebrations.

But, the question remains - How can we be sure that we are truly contributing to the great national effort? Put differently, how can we avoid fragmentation and, consequently, inefficiency and ineffectiveness in our efforts to contributing towards achieving the great national goal? In the specific local government sense, within the context of the great national agenda, our objective is to build a developmental local government. As a Province, we defined developmental local government in terms of six core developmental areas, namely:-

(i) Social development;
(ii) Infrastructure development;
(iii) Sustainable Environmental management;
(iv) Community Empowerment;
(v) Economic Development;
(vi) Facilitation and implementation of sustainable service delivery

At the centre of all this is community development, which includes public participation in general and ward committees in particular. Consistent public participation is fundamental to democracy and developmentalism. And, neither can be achieved though quick-fix nor priceless means. These six developmental areas, which define our Provincial Model, fit very well within the following six parameters' framework which locates our work in the great national agenda, namely:-

(i) Resolutions of the President's Co-ordination Council (PCC);
(ii) Resolutions of the Growth and Development Summit (GDS);
(iii) Resolutions of the Premier's Coordinating Forum (PCF);
(iv) The Municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and the Provincial Growth and Development Programme (PGDP);
(v) Municipal legislative environmental framework; and
(vi) Financial management and accountability systems.

This is the agenda that we set for the MUNIMEC, when we inaugurated it at the kick-start of SALGA's Local Government Week on 01/12/2003. This agenda will be central to the basis of performance assessment of municipalities by the Department for Housing Local Government and Traditional Affairs, henceforth. It is expected that municipalities will align their own programmes, including performance agreements of their staff with this agenda.

Programme Director, let me conclude by injecting a sense of humour to address. This I do in honour of our national achievement, through Buffalo City Local Municipality, which has been adjudged not only the best performing municipality in the country in 2003 but, is as well the first to walk away with the first best National Vuna Awards honours at inception. There are two honours here, being the best and being the winner of the award at its inauguration. Buffalo City, you have done our Province proud! The Premier will be the happiest person this Christmas. Well done Buffalo City!

Before I inject the sense of humour, I must read Buffalo City a serious paragraph from a book written by one Charles Landry, which goes with the title "The creative City: A Tool for urban Innovations." The section is "New Indicators for creative Cities: why Indicators?" (p239 - 240).

"Conventional aggregate indicators of economic, social or environmental conditions in national reports, such as Gross National Product (GNP) do not describe urban dynamics well or translate easily down to the city level. They are of little help in monitoring a city's capacity to be creative or to learn.

Indicators simplify and communicate complex information and their primary purpose is to guide an evaluation process by helping policy-makers act and they assess measure and monitor the impact of decisions.

Indicators are important for several reasons:
* The debate about what should be an indicator triggers discussion as to what is important to a city;
* It gives the city a goal and action plan by making explicit which target it wants to reach and so create aspirations;
* It provides an opportunity to assess strengths and weaknesses and how these might be addressed;
* Quantification gives legitimacy to activities.

In the context of creative city, which by definition has to be a reflexive, learning city, evaluation is in and of itself perhaps the central process - if a city is to learn from its experiences, it must be committed to effective and ongoing evaluation processes; it must reflect, consider and reconsider, it must think and rethink.

You cannot think about being a creative city without integral evaluation mechanisms. The first indicator of a creative learning city is whether it evaluates its performance as a creative learning city.

The process of generating indicators to assess a creative city is simple, flexible and logical. It means clarifying objectives, setting up indicators, choosing methods of recording progress and awareness that the task of indicators is to measure as well as possible and relevantly to the city under review. Indicators are likely to be completely objective, although they will strive to be.

Data needs to be looked at in four different ways:
1. Subjective measures of subjective phenomena, for example, how safe do people feel?
2. Objective measures of subjective phenomena, for example, how much do people spend weekly on taxis because they are afraid of walking home at night?
3. Subjective measures of objective phenomena, for example, to what extent are people satisfied with lighting in the neighbourhood or the frequency of public transport?
4. Objective measures of objective phenomena, for example, how frequent is the bus service or how many events has the arts centre put on?

Objective data can be quantified and measured, while subjective data can only be assessed and judged.

In planning for indicators a city must make it explicit what it wants to achieve through greater creativity, and understand the general picture of a creative, learning and innovative city and the way it can be stimulated in the specific context."

Now I conclude by reading a paragraph from a novel by Milan Kundera, which goes by the title "Testaments Betrayed" - Profanation, p8.

I thank you! Enjoy your Christmas Season! May the best municipalities bathe in the pleasures of their achievements and success, but take care not to drown of bust in them.

God Bless!

Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecprov.gov.za)