BUDGET VOTE SPEECH FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, PRESENTED BY MEC PAUL MASHATILE, AT THE GAUTENG PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE ON 24 MAY 2016

The Honourable Speaker of the House and the Deputy

The Honourable Premier of Gauteng

Members of the Executive Council from Gauteng and other provinces

Honourable Members of Parliament

Honourable Members of the Legislature

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

  1. Introduction

This year marks the fifteen years of a new dispensation of democratic local government in South Africa. The evolution of local government in our country has seen exclusionary-type structures that were designed to serve the minority being fundamentally transformed to be able to serve the majority.

As we present this Budget Vote today, we are doing so against the backdrop of our continent celebrating Africa Month as a mark of remembering where our continent comes from. As you are aware members, Africa was colonized by different European countries for many decades. The colonization had devastating political, social and economic effects, the consequence of which we are still undoing.

Our people were stripped of their dignity, they were enslaved and they were dispossessed of their land amongst other dehumanizing acts. It was only through wars of resistance and liberation struggles that Africa was freed from the shackles of imperialism and colonialism. People of the continent rose up to claim what legitimately belonged to them.

From Ghana in the ‘50s to South Africa in the ‘90s, one country after the other, countries of Africa were freed. It became Uhuru – a moment of liberation and self-determination!

The advent of democracy in our country meant reasserting the principles of democracy where the majority who are generally black and African in particular. Local government was not spared. Hence, we have been hard at work to build a local government system that serves the interests of all our people.

Fifteen years later, all people in our country are living in spaces that have a local authority that is democratic, non-racial and geared to serve everyone without regard to race, gender and political, social or economic class. The legitimacy of these municipalities is beyond reproach as councils are constituted by representatives that have been elected through a democratic process. The composition of these councils are a true representation of the will of the people. Indeed, the People are governing!

In celebration of this historic milestone, CoGTA has commissioned a 15 year review of Local Government which will be published before the Local Government elections are held later this year.The Review aims to “tell the story of the evolution of Local Government in Gauteng since 2000”, over three electoral terms (2000-2006, 2006-2011 and 2011-2016). The “story” will highlight the key markers/themes/milestones of each term of the journey over the 15 years, and how the various municipalities have responded / not responded and performed; and then to make recommendations for consideration in planning for the 2016-2021 local government electoral cycle.

From transitional structures in the ‘90s to enactment of pieces of progressive legislation like the Local Government Act, Systems Act and Structures Act, the face of local government changed fundamentally and when the first democratic local government elections were held in 2001, this ushered in a system of local government that is community-centred and legitimate.Challenges notwithstanding, local government in Gauteng is working. We are delivering services to all people, taking into account that we are also delivering to an ever-increasing numbers who migrate into our province and this poses a new dynamic in our ability to deliver services. The recent positive ratings that some of our municipalities are receiving bears testimony to the fact that we are effectively executing our mandate.

The ratings demonstrated the important role cities played in the national and regional economies. Ekurhuleni contributed 25% to the province’s economy and six percent to the national GDP, while the City of Joburg contributed 16% to the GDP. These accolades should serve as an incentive to all our municipalities to do even better.

  1. Back-to-Basics Programme

Madame Speaker, municipalities in Gauteng are hard at work ensuring that our people have equitable access to basic services and our cities and towns are run efficiently.We have seen great improvement in the way services are delivered and how municipalities are run throughout our province. Even though two of the twelve Gauteng municipalities were said to be at risk last year, the said municipalities (i.e. Westonaria and Randfontein Local Municipalities) that incidentally are both situated in the West Rand District Municipality, which is experiencing severe economic collapse due to the declined mining economy, are showing signs of recovery.

In line with the Back-to-basics programme, there is marked improvement in the system and governance and we are now putting more focus on the financial viability of these municipalities to ensure their long-term sustainability.

Honourable Members, I am proud to report that our Department undertook this project successfully with results showing through, amongst others, the decline in the number of protests and the positive feedback we are receiving from communities. It is against this backdrop also that the better ratings that the Cities of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni are receiving from rating agencies that the progress we are making must be viewed. Congratulations to Councillors Parks Tau and Mondli Gungubele and their teams for a job well done!

Given the successful execution of the first phase ofthe Back-to-Basics programme, our Department is currently implementing Phase 2 of the programmebased on the ten (10) point plan. The ten point plan seeks to achieve the following:

  • Improving performance through building effective systems and resilient institutions of Local Government;
  • Working smarter and innovatively to increase impact;
  • Focusing on 20% of actions that will deliver 80% of impact;
  • Moving municipalities at “risks” of dysfunctionality to the next level; halt “at-risk” municipalities from becoming dysfunctional; and maintain well performing municipalities at that level;
  • Establishing programmes to address generic systemic problems – e.g. weaknesses in human resource management, supply chain management, infrastructure procurement and financial management;
  • Mobilising multi-departmental teams at provincial and national levels to tackle municipalities at risks of dysfunctionality; and
  • Strengthening community engagement and local government accountability to citizens through innovative platforms (e.g. social media, community radio)

In order to mobilise stakeholders and role-players for the successful implementation, the plan was recently presented to the SALGA Provincial Members Assembly where it was well received. We will continue to work with the current leadership of municipalities and will continue doing so beyond the upcoming local government elections.

  1. Merger of Municipalities to create a strong and capable Local Municipality

Our vision of a world class city region is alive and we are making great strides to bring it to fruition. Since the last local government elections held in 2011, we have been hard at work to assess whether the configuration of our municipalities allows us to effectively execute our mandate. It is against this backdrop that a decision was taken and a submission was made to the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to change the boundaries of some municipalities in Gauteng.

After much engagements, it is heartening to report that the merger of Randfontein and Westonaria Local Municipalities is going ahead and much progress has been made. In order to ensure successful implementation, an amount of R15 million for the current financial yearand a further R10 million has been set aside over the MTEF to support the merger. The new municipality will be called Rand West City Local Municipality. In support of the merger the department plans to provide support to the municipalities in the design and development of their organizational structure.

  1. Corruption-free Local Government

Madame Speaker, let me restate our position that we remain committed working with local government to fightcorruption in collaboration with EthicSA.This anti-corruption project is targeting the following seven municipalities i.e. City of Tshwane; City of Joburg; Randfontein/Westonaria; Ekurhuleni; Lesedi; Midvaal and Emfuleni over a 4-year period to strengthen their ethics and anti-corruption capacity.

  1. Operation Clean Audit

Madame Speaker, through cooperative efforts between the different spheres of government and the function of CoGTA in the province, we will endeavor to achieve 100% clean audits for all municipalities.

  1. Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) support

Honourable Members, CoGTA has taken upon itself that in the process of expanding our infrastructure through MIG and USDG, systems will be put in place for effective utilization within the provision of the grant funding. We are hopeful that both MIG and USDG will assist in taking the Human Settlements mega projects forward.

  1. Job creation

Honourable Members,Gauteng government continues to view local government as the critical player in job creation that will assist in achieving the objectives of the Tshepo 500 000 programme as we continue to deal with the resilient triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. As CoGTA we will contribute 750 opportunities to the Programme.

We have been allocated R2 million forthe Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) in the financial year 2016/17. In relation to the Community Worker Programme (CWP), we will continue with programmes that were initiated in the past financial year targeting 19000 participants this year.

  1. Voter Education

As Members are aware, the local government elections will be held on the 03 August 2016. In line with the Gauteng Voter Education Strategy, CoGTA has developed and implemented voter registration plans and campaigns which contributed in the province being in the top two of new registered voters. We were able to engage young people through a visible campaign that encouraged a patriotic activism to sustain our democracy. Given these achievements, we will follow through with our campaign to ensure that those who are registered will go out and vote.

As Members are aware, there is currently a court matter underway at the Constitutional Court regarding the need or lack thereof of voters providing their addresses when they register. The outcome of this case will have far-reaching implications for all of us as already we could not hold bi-elections in some of our municipalities as a result of the said. As the province, we are watching the developments in the Concourt will keen interest. Steps however have been taken to mitigate the risk of not having ward councilors by directing a ward councilor in Tshwane, for instance, to also act as a ward councilor where there is a vacancy.

After the elections this August, our department plans to conduct induction training for 50 women councilors, IDP training will also be provided to 100 councillors whilst the orientation of ward committees has also been planned.

  1. #Save water Campaign & Rain Water Harvesting Campaign

Honourable Members, CoGTA is currently engaging the Department of Water and Sanitation to ensure that local government mainstreams the #Save Water Campaign.

  1. Provincial Disaster Management Centre

Madame Speaker, we are gearing ourselves to deal with matters of provincial disasters should they happen. In this regard, we have acquired a building to establish the Provincial Disaster Management Centre which will be occupied on the 1st of June 2016.

With this progress in mind, we will develop systems related to known patterns of disaster and financial reserves that would enable us to respond effectively and expeditiously should any disaster strike. In this regard, we will be working with other departments and the Office of the Premier to ensure that we have an inclusive disaster management strategy.

  1. Traditional Affairs

Honourable Members, we will continue working with the institution of traditional leadership including identifying weaknesses in our cooperative governance with them and ensuring that they receive effective support aligned to cooperative relationship with the provincial government.

  1. Improving Service Delivery through the Ntirhisano Programme

Madame Speaker, through our participation in Ntirhisano Outreach Programme, we have not only brought government closer to our people but he have also given voice top our communities about issues affecting them negatively and as a platform to raise concerns. Ntirhisano has made our government a truly people-centred government and will provide a positive spin-off for local government.

  1. Conclusion

Overall, the budget allocation for my department is as follows:

  • Total budget – R 418, 763 mil
  • Capital budget allocation – R123862 mil
  • Administration budget – R 28105 mil

I thank you all!

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