Issued by Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
National Assembly, 31 May 2001
Madame Speaker;
Honourable Members:
We are confirmed by history as a generation that straddles what went before and that which was envisaged. As we stand in the early morning of the age of democracy, and as we see the ancient sufferings of our people finally bearing fruit, we become increasingly aware of the difficult task that lies ahead. The difficulties notwithstanding, we are sustained in our resolve by the knowledge that we are laying foundations for a society whose contours we can as yet only dimly see.
Madame Speaker, in the last few years, this House used a good part of its proceedings to define into existence a new system of local government. We are now in the process of putting the pieces together, both conceptually and in practice. We do this, mindful of the fact that our task is to bring political decision-making close to the everyday concerns of citizens. We see the transformation of local government as an intrinsic element of the restructuring of the South African state. We also, believe that development must define the agenda for the restructuring of the state. To us Madame Speaker, good governance and sustainable development are twin aspects of a single equation.
Ours is a transformation, which seeks to put us in the best possible position to deal with the persistence of endemic poverty. We have a duty to provide what was lacking, to find remedies for absence.
There ought to be no polarity of views as to what caused these problems. The period between 1948 and April 1994 will go down the annals of history as the five decades of uneven development. As we look at South Africa today, we see a certain geographical congruence between areas, which were hitherto designated either as "black townships" or as "homelands", and the areas in which people live in conditions of abject poverty. These are the artefacts of Apartheid, produced by the National Party at the height of its glory.
Madame Speaker, all of us, members of the ruling party, members of the opposition parties as well as traditional leaders, will be judged by one thing and one thing only: whether what we do helps to lift the masses of our people out of poverty? This is a matter, which this House must debate, and debate honestly. We must be prepared to tell each other the difficult truth in order to advance the course of democracy.
According to the MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK (2000):
The redemarcation of municipal boundaries and the establishment of municipalities where none existed before has given us the institutional mean to tackle this problem. We now have an unprecedented opportunity better to attack poverty, bring economic opportunities to the people, and to extend service delivery to under-serviced communities.
In my interaction with a wide range of municipalities, I have become acutely aware of the increased stress the recent changes have placed on local institutions and resources. This has brought into sharp relief, the necessity for the national and provincial spheres of government to lend systematic support to municipalities.
Madame Speaker, we have an obligation speedily to create certainty in local government. We must settle the issue of how powers and functions are to be distributed between local municipalities and district municipalities. This issue arises out of the constitutional requirement to determine the allocation of powers and functions within the local government sphere. The key issue is to distribute powers and functions between these two municipal categories such that things are done at the most appropriate level. This must take into account issues of both capacity and availability of resources.
The process of determining how powers and functions are to be distributed within the local government sphere is a complex one. This is so because local government is not a sphere existing in isolation. It is part of a multisphered system of government. A system which possesses a complex combination of relative autonomy and symbiotic interdependence. Honourable Members will therefore understand why we are approaching this matter with some care. In this the Ministry is working closely with the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the MECs responsible for local government.
Madame Speaker, by choice parliament elected to mix constitutional democracy and tradition into a cocktail that seeks to give everyone a place in the South African sun. The detail of how the mix is to be done was left to national legislation. That legislation, which is envisaged in Section 212 of the Constitution, is what government has been busy trying to bring into life.
Some in this House, as well as others outside the House have made calls. They are calling on government to speedily move to 'meet the demands' of our traditional leaders. It must be recalled that the debate regarding the role of traditional leaders is not new. As a matter of fact, the debate was spawned by the introduction of our country's constitution, and it was invigorated by the prospective inauguration of the new local government system. This fact alone, explains why this matter is not one that should be resolved bilaterally between government and traditional leaders. It is a matter, which bears on the nature and character of our democracy, and therefore it cannot be transferred away into the peripheries of parliament.
As government, we consistently insisted on two things:
The issue therefore is about determining a role and place for the institution of traditional leadership. As we approach this task, we must bear in mind that in our situation we do not have a homogeneous tradition which a single organisation or party can justly claim to represent. Indeed tradition is characterised by an internal diversity, which must be properly understood before decisions are taken.
As they participate in the current debate, many are making the mistake of failing to distinguish traditional leaders from tradition itself. In the first instance, we must see traditional leaders as human beings who are sometimes prone to be utility maximising. This is not in itself wrong. However, parliament must set a limit to such ambitions as interest groups in society might have. In a democracy, parliament has an obligation to be responsive to the aspirations of the people, but also to socialise all of us to accept that we shall get from democratic society only that which democracy can afford to give us.
Madame Speaker, some parties who were involved in the drafting of our constitution have pretended that they are participating in this debate when in fact they are not. They have confined themselves to blaming government for failing to address the concerns of traditional leaders. With regard to the actual substance of the debate, these parties have chosen to maintain an ominously-dignified silence. Their silence does not elude scientific assessment. It is a silence grounded in strategic motives. They feel safer in hiding the logic of their actions than in explaining them.
I recently met a delegation from the KwaZulu-Natal Church Leaders Group who were asked by Inkosi Mzimela to intervene in what is wrongly described as a dispute between government and traditional leaders. I sincerely believe that in agreeing to intervene, church leaders are moved by concern for our country. However, I do think that it is important for all of us, including religious leaders, to try and understand issues of this world in their proper context.
At the centre of the debate are issues of concern to many people, both as individuals and as interest groups. Anybody who wishes to intervene will have to take into account the views of groups as diverse as the Commission for Gender Equality, the National Land Committee, the South African National Civic Organisation, the South African Law Commission, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Local Government Association. I am here just mentioning some of the groups that made submissions to the Portfolio Committee on this matter.
Having consulted as extensively as we could, the Ministry is now ready to report back to Cabinet and to ask Cabinet for authority to submit a Bill to parliament sooner rather than later. The Bill will define a role to be played by the institution of traditional leadership in the interim while we proceed with the consultation process aimed at formulating the White Paper. The White Paper will then provide us with the policy framework for permanent legislation. All this can and must be achieved in the course of this year.
Madame Speaker, the statistics contained in the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Framework (2000), speaks to the disparities for which our country is legendary. They also confirm that the urban areas are the vanguard sector of our economy while the rural areas constitute the rearguard. The wall-to-wall system of local government will guarantee that unlike in the past, the rural areas are not excluded from the modernising current of democracy. Through the Local Economic Development Programme and the Consolidated Municipal Infrastructure Programme, municipalities are seeking to build sustainable communities. In this regard, I am happy to announce that a thirteen module LED Training Programme is being prepared as an element of the broader Local Government Capacity Building Programme. The training programme will be piloted through nine provincial workshops in July and August 2001 where all municipalities will be invited.
The Consolidated Municipal Infrastructure Programme together with the LED Fund constitutes the flagship of the department's developmental work. For the current 2000/01 financial year, a total of R958 million was allocated for these programmes. The expenditure of these funds was a direct capital investment in the municipalities concerned and the implementation thereof provided an economic stimulus contributing to job creation and poverty relief. This can be illustrated by the fact that the LED projects created 3 630 jobs at an average cost of R23 000 per full-time job and these were in excess of 3 million person days of employment created on CMIP projects. In addition, in excess of 600 small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) were utilised.
A further positive factor, which contributes towards further long-term developmental impact, is the amount of capacity building, which was incorporated into the programmes. This amounts to human resource training days in excess of 120 000.
The combined allocations for the next three years increase to R1 069 million, R1 256 million, and R1 524 million respectively. This represents a 59% growth in allocation over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework period.
Meanwhile over 80% of municipalities countrywide have completed and adopted Interim Integrated Development Plan (IDPs). The IDPs are instruments that guide strategic decision-making in municipalities. They also form the basis of formulating municipal budgets as well as a tool for amalgamating municipalities. All municipalities must adopt 'final' IDPs by the end of March 2002. The Department will also be running a nation-wide training programme on the new IDP approach. To date over 220 professional planners have been trained throughout the country at various centres. Over the next three months 560 councillors will be trained, 284 managers, 850 local government sector specialists and 300 national and provincial sector specialists.
The Department's programmes must not be seen as stand-alone entities. They are part of government's two separate but complementary macro strategies, which go by the names: Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS) and Urban Renewal Strategy (URS). Needless to say, the current disparities, be they between formerly white areas and black areas or between urban and rural areas, have a deleterious effect on national unity and social stability. The narrowing of the gap between former white areas and black areas, between urban and rural sector - which is the aim of these strategies - will help to develop our country's economy, stabilise rural communities and provide a material underpinning to what thus far is a nebulous concept of the rainbow nation.
Given its core mandate, the Ministry has been given the responsibility of ensuring that all spheres of government integrate their activities with regard both to the ISRDS and the URS. The ISRDS is now in the final planning stage. Implementation will commence on the 1st of July this year. Hereafter, the strategy has a ten-year implementation programme.
Two national ministers have been assigned to work with each of the provinces and nodes. They will soon be visiting the provinces to interact with the premiers, relevant MECs, mayors and other stakeholders.
A single unit will be established in the Department of Provincial and Local Government to manage and co-ordinate the implementation of both strategies across the whole of government. In this, the unit will work with specialists assigned by the Independent Development Trust.
We are also assisting municipal councils to establish core systems, which are crucial to their ability to discharge their constitutional mandate. To this end, a total of R550 million has been set aside by way of a Transition Fund which is being made available to municipalities from the national fiscus over a three year period. This will cover the transitional cost of establishment.
As you are well aware, Government is committed to ensuring at least a basic level of municipal services to all households. The following free basic services are being discussed and the necessary set of guidelines will be issued to municipalities shortly:
The equitable share grants for the year current 2001/2002 financial year has been raised by R400 million to assist municipalities in the provision of free basic services. Municipalities should progressively use this component of the equitable share for this purpose.
In all the support which government will be giving to municipalities, Parliament has an important role to play. It is in this context that I convey my deep appreciation to the Portfolio Committee for its decision to embark on a Programme of Action to support municipalities. In this work they make common cause with an equally determined Ministry, the Department of Provincial and Local Government, Provincial Departments and MECs of Local Government, the Municipal Demarcation Board and the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit. It is a combination of all these forces, as well as the masses of our people who will make inputs through the Ward Councils, which will yield the bedrock on which the new system of local government will stand firm.
Yesterday Judge President Hlope presided over the swearing-in of the Deputy Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Ms Gertrude Ntombazana Botha. We welcome the Deputy Minister into the fighting ranks of our Ministry and Department. She joins a great team of practitioners who are determined to succeed. The President's decision to enhance our Ministry's capacity to surge forward portends immensely positive long-term consequences for our government, our country and our people.
I thank you.