EHLANZENI

DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY

PROFILE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / 3
1. / INTRODUCTION / 4
1.1 / Overview / 4
1.2 / Municipalities within the District / 5
1.3 / Political and Administrative Leadership and Seat of District / 5
1.4 / Political Representation / 6
2. / SERVICE DELIVERY / 7
2.1 / Household Infrastructure / 7
2.2 / Sanitation / 7
2.3 / Water / 7
2.4 / Electricity / 8
2.5 / Refuse Removal / 8
2.6 / Service Provider / 8
3. / AUDIT OPINIONS / 8
4. / STATE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSESSMENT / 9
4.1 / Overview of findings on assessment in the Municipality / 9
4.1.1 / Governance / 9
4.1.2 / Financial Management and Viability / 9
4.1.3 / Service Delivery / 9
5. / INFRASTRUCTURE PRIORITIES IN TERMS OF THE MUNICIPAL TURN-AROUND STRATEGY / 10
6. / MIG PROJECTS / 11
7. / VULNERABILITY CLASSIFICATION / 14

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Ehlanzeni District has the highest population density in Mpumalanga. The majority of the population lives in formal urban areas, or in villages in the tribal areas. The estimated population density varies substantially between the five municipalities with Mbombela and Bushbuckridge having the highest densities and Umjindi and Thaba Chweu the lowest. There are five local municipalities within the district.

Ehlanzeni has the lowest access to infrastructure amongst the districts in the province. Access to infrastructure in the municipality increased from 49% in 1996 to a higher level of 60% in 2009. The main contributor to the increase in access is electricity infrastructure and to a certain extent sanitation.

The audit outcomes of the District and two of the local municipalities have improved over time and reached financial unqualified status, while the two other local municipalities have remained poor.

The State of Local Government Assessment found that water provision within the district is generally inadequate. In certain areas water is not purified and this results in communities being provided with unclean water. Theft of water through illegal connections is eminent within the municipality. Installed pipes are of low quality thus leakages are often experienced. Several roads in the district are not surfaced.

In terms of its Municipal Turn-Around Strategy the District identified the need for bulk water infrastructure, as well as improving refuse removal.

None of the five local municipalities in the Ehlanzeni District have been classified as in the category of most vulnerable by DCoG in terms of functionality, socio-economic profile and backlog status, but two municipalities are classified in the second most vulnerable group. This profile confirms that infrastructure prioritisation in Ehalnzeni District should focus on the provision of bulk water.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview[1]

Ehlanzeni District Municipality is the most eastern district of the province of Mpumalanga. It is bordered by Swaziland and Mozambique in the east, Limpopo Province in the north, Gert Sibanda District in the south and Nkangala District in the west. It consists of five local municipalities: Mbombela, Thaba Chweu, Nkomazi, Umjindi and Bushbuckridge, which became part of the district after the government decision to phase out cross-boundary municipalities in 2006.

The majority of the population lives in formal urban areas, or in villages in the tribal areas. Ehlanzeni District has the highest population density in Mpumalanga. The estimated population density varies substantially between the five municipalities with Mbombela and Bushbuckridge having the highest densities and Umjindi and Thaba Chweu the lowest. Ehlanzeni District includes both Lowveld and escarpment country.

Agriculturally, the area has much to offer. An abundance of citrus fruit and other subtropical fruits ‑ mangoes, avocados, guavas, paw-paws, litchis, bananas and granadillas ‑ as well as sugar-cane, pecan and macadamia nuts and many types of vegetables are cultivated. Nelspruit, the Provincial capital, is the second largest citrus-producing area of South Africa and is responsible for a third of the country’s export of oranges. The Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Crops is situated on the outskirts of the city.

The Maputo Corridor, linking Gauteng with Maputo harbour, traverses the district along the N4 national road, offering easy access to the area as well as providing export opportunities for companies operating in the area. The Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA), near White River provides further accessibility to this district. The airport, which has direct flights to and from Europe, is a benefit to both tourism and export businesses. The Kruger National Park was re-demarcated in 2006. Previously it formed the now disestablished cross-border Bohlabela District Municipality. The northern portion of the park is now a District Management Area (DMA) of the Mopani District Municipality in Limpopo while the southern portion of the Park is a DMA of the Ehlanzeni District Municipality.

1.2 Local Municipalities in the Ehlanzeni District

The details of the five local municipalities within the District is tabled below:

Table 1: Statistics of the Ehlanzeni District and Local Municipalities

Municipalities within the District / Area (km2)
in 2009 / Area (km2) after 2011 Local Government Elections & % change / Population / No. of
Households / Poverty
Rate
Ehlanzeni District Municipality / 27,895.57 / 27,895.57 / - / 1,549,666 / 393,260 / 57.00%
Bushbuckridge Local Municipality / 2,589.39 / 10,249.70 / 295.83% / 517,807 / 126,506 / 79.84%
Mbombela Local Municipality / 3,411.96 / 5,394.43 / 58.10% / 535,290 / 139,461 / 58.55%
Nkomazi Local Municipality / 3,240.49 / 4,786.99 / 47.72% / 343,288 / 79,456 / 65.73%
Thaba Chweu Local Municipality / 5,719.06 / 5,719.06 / - / 88,888 / 28,691 / 38.30%
Umjindi Local Municipality / 1,745.39 / 1,745.39 / - / 61,405 / 19,054 / 43.48%
Ehlanzeni District Management Area (Kruger
Park) / 11,189.29 / To be incorporated into the local municipalities. / 2,989 / 91 / 57.00%

1.3 Political and Administrative Leadership and Seat of District[2]

Political Leadership: Executive Mayor: Ms L Shongwe

Administrative Leadership: Municipal Manager: Adv H Mbatha

The head office of the District is located in Nelspruit.

1.4 Political representation[3]

Table 2: Local Government Election 2006 / Provincial & National Elections 2009 comparison:

Leading Parties in the Election / Local Government Elections 2006 / Provincial Elections 2009 / National Elections 2009
Party / Party Votes and % / Ward Votes and % / Councillor Seats / Party / Votes and % / Party / Votes and %
Party / Seats / %
1st / ANC / 243,335 / 86.2% / 237,072 / 82.4% / ANC / 54 / 87.1% / ANC / 477,778 / 89% / ANC / 489,782 / 89.4%
2nd / DA / 20,079 / 7.1% / 19,473 / 6.8% / DA / 6 / 9.7% / DA / 25,950 / 4.9% / DA / 29,007 / 5.3%
3rd / PAC / 8,121 / 2.9% / 7,252 / 2.5% / APC / 1 / 1.6% / COPE / 14,876 / 2.8% / COPE / 15,132 / 2.8%
4th / ACDP / 3,244 / 1.1% / 3,257 / 1.1% / PAC / 1 / 1.6% / APC / 3,283 / 0.6% / APC / 2,805 / 0.5%
Other / 7,451 / 2.6% / 20,601 / 7.2% / OTHER / 62 / Other / 10,778 / 2.0% / Other / 11,378 / 2.1%
Totals / 282,230 / 100% / 287,655 / 100% / 100% / 532,665 / 100% / 548,104 / 100%

Figure 1: 2011 Local Government Election results and seat allocations:

The ANC is the leading party in terms of proportional DC40 Seats in Ehlanzeni, with 24 seats of 28 seats.

2. SERVICE DELIVERY[4]

2.1 Ehlanzeni District Municipality Household Infrastructure

Ehlanzeni has the lowest access to infrastructure amongst the districts in the province. The graph above shows that access to infrastructure in the municipality increased from 49% in 1996 to a higher level of 60% in 2009. The main contributor to the increase in access is electricity infrastructure and to a certain extent sanitation.

2.2 Sanitation

With regard to access to sanitation, the district municipality’s household access to hygienic toilets has gone up from 24% in 1996 to 42% in 2009. The improvement in access to sanitation in general in the Municipality is mainly due to the increase in the use of pit latrines with ventilation which went up from 5% in 1996 to 20% in 2009. About 45% of the households use pit toilets.

2.3 Water

In terms of water infrastructure, there has been a decrease in the number of households having access to piped water above RDP level in the municipality from 71% in 1996 to 67% in 2009. While this is the case, households’ access to water below RDP level increased from 10% in 1996 to more than 20% in 2009. Still, there are more than 10% households without piped water in the municipality.

2.4 Electricity

In 1996, household access to electricity connections was at 42%. Since then, access has increased drastically reaching 81% by 2009. The increase in electricity connections is the biggest infrastructure achievement in the municipality.

2.5 Refuse removal

There has been an increase in access to formal refuse removal service from 1996 to 2009 in the Municipality. Access has gone up from 21% in 1996 to 34% in 2009. Personal refuse removal which stands at around 60% remained the same over the years. The high levels of personal refuse removal must be taken in the context of low settlement densities, where on-site disposal or backyard burning of waste is sometimes appropriate.

2.6 Service provider

Ehlanzeni District does have authority and does perform potable water function. There is however, limited capacity available to perform refuse removal function.

3. AUDIT OPINIONS

Table 3: Audit Opinions of the District and Local Municipalities

Municipality / Audit Opinion 2005/6 / Audit Opinion 2006/7 / Audit Opinion 2007/8 / Audit Opinion 2008/9 / Audit Opinion 2009/10
Ehlanzeni DM / Financially unqualified with other matters / Qualified / Financially unqualified with other matters / Financially unqualified with findings / Financially unqualified with no findings
Bushbuckridge LM / Adverse / Disclaimer / Qualified / Financially unqualified with findings / Financially unqualified with findings
Mbombela LM / Qualified / Disclaimer / Qualified / Qualified / Financially unqualified with findings
Nkomazi LM / Qualified / Qualified / Disclaimer / Qualified / Qualified
Thaba Chweu LM / Disclaimer / Disclaimer / Qualified / Disclaimer / Disclaimer
Umjindi LM / Qualified / Financially unqualified with other matters / Financially unqualified with other matters / Qualified / Disclaimer

Source: Auditor-General 2009 and 2011, see. www.agsa.co.za

The trend of audit outcomes from 2005/6 to 2009/10 for Ehlanzeni places the district municipality at an outstanding position. For instance, only in 2006/7 Ehlanzeni district failed to obtain an unqualified audit outcome. In the case of Nkomazi and Thaba Chweu, their audit opinions from 2005/6 to 2009/10 indicates a short fall in the management of resources as the two municipalities had not improved to financially unqualified audit outcomes.

4. STATE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSESSMENT

4.1 Overview of findings on assessment in the municipality

4.1.1 Governance

Poor interaction between the Executive Mayor and the Speaker impacts on the business of the municipality. The Executive Mayoral Committee is divided along the regional lines Bushbuckridge, Nkomazi and Nsikasi. These divisions results in the budget processes being driven along regional lines while allocation is influenced by those who are more articulate than influenced by developmental priorities. More often the municipality deviates from the IDP and budget without the approval of the Council. The capacity of councilors is a concern to the municipality as majority of them do not perform according to expectations thus they require to undertake some capacity building programmes. The Council has a very limited oversight role.

4.1.2 Financial Management and Viability

The database of creditors is not yet computerized. There is a tendency to implement most projects towards the end of the financial year so as to meet legislative requirements this however puts pressure on managers. The Fraud prevention plan is not fully implemented.

4.1.3 Service Delivery

Water provision within the district is generally inadequate. In certain areas water is not purified and this results in communities being provided with unclean water. Theft of water through illegal connections is eminent within the municipality. Installed pipes are of low quality thus leakages are often experienced. In view of roads several roads in the district are not surfaced. Considering LED there is no official in province that deals with LED and the district does not have Tourism Strategy. The district believes that an informal border post at Nkomazi could improve tourism in the area if it is formalized. Lack of a tertiary institution in the province is held responsible for semi skilled and unskilled number of people within the district as well as in the entire province. Local businesses are said to be appointing service providers from outside the district area therefore there is no skills development happening within the district.

5. INFRASTRUCTURE PRIORITIES OF THE MUNICIPAL TURN-AROUND STRATEGY

The Ehlanzeni District Municipality identified a number of priorities for basic service delivery in the Ehlanzeni Municipal Turn-Around Strategy.

Table 4: Infrastructure delivery in terms of the MTAS

Access to water and sanitation / Access to Electricity / Integrated waste management
Challenges / There is no baseline data, updated status quo for the District in terms of Bulk Water Master Plan & Source Development based on approved engineering principles.
No service level agreements for provision of bulk with all five (5) LMs
No budget for funding bulk provision to support municipalities
Determine financial models for cost recovery and funding as well. / No data base at District level in terms of determining the backlogs as well as other sources of energy / WMPs to be upgraded of all 5 L.M.s EDM to develop an IWMP.
Certain sites needs to be closed, upgraded, decommissioned or start operation.
No sites comply to the minimum requirements.
New sites to be established.
Total break-down of waste management in most areas.
Municipal Actions / Make provision in FY 2010/11 and appoint specialist Service Provider to undertake study
SLAs to be developed to provide support to LMs for bulk development/insufficient source
Develop Bulk BPs and submit to DWA and other funding agencies / Develop energy master plan by 30 June 2010 in FY 2010/11 / L.M.s to appoint service providers for WMP and EDM for IWMP. Make provision for R 100m on FY 2010/11 budget .
Other support and interventions / Funding from BIG, (DWA) / Data required from the Dept of Energy and Eskom and LMs / LMs to take ownership of plans and to budget.

6. MIG PROJECTS