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Programmes
Local Government Strategic Agenda (2006 - 2011)
In 2006, the Department of Provincial and Local Government co-ordinated the implementation of
the five-year Local Government Strategic Agenda.
The agenda aims to ensure that the three
spheres of government focus on a systematic and
co-ordinated local-development programme that
can be monitored periodically.
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Integrated development plans (IDPs)
In terms of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act 32 of 2000) [PDF], all municipalities are required to prepare IDPs. Integrated development planning is a process by which municipalities prepare five-year strategic plans that are reviewed annually in consultation with communities and stakeholders.
The aim is to achieve service-delivery and development goals in municipal areas in an effective and sustainable way. National and provincial-sector departments, development agencies, private-sector bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and communities all have a key role to play in the preparation and implementation of municipal IDPs.
The Department of Provincial and Local Government advises role-players on how to co-ordinate and improve development planning, and provides platforms for knowledge-sharing. It has developed a supporting intergovernmental planning framework, which provides greater clarity as to the type and role of appropriate planning at each government level. The IDP Nerve Centre was established to provide an information co-ordination
service to strengthen intergovernmental planning.
A national engagement process of all IDPs was
conducted in 2007. An IDP format guide was
distributed to all municipalities.
The department initiated a national assessment
process, looking at the IDPs of all municipalities.
This intergovernmental effort resulted in the
increased adoption rate of IDPs. The adoption rate
in the 2006/07 financial year was 98%. These IDP
engagement processes are contributing to intersphere
co-ordination and integration.
By mid-2007, in addition to the 17 national
intergovernmental structures which had been
established since 1994, all the provincial
governments had established their own premier’s
co-ordinating intergovernmental forums.
These were constituted in terms of Section 16 of
the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Framework
Act, 2005 (Act 13 of 2005) [PDF].
All 46 district municipalities had established their
district intergovernmental forums in terms of Section
24 of the IGR Framework Act, 2005. The process is an
integral part of an institutionalised mechanism for
monitoring the implementation of the governmentwide
five-year Local Government Strategic Agenda.
Provinces have made progress towards establishing
provincial monitoring and evaluation (M&E) units in
the offices of the premiers and the provincial
departments of local government.
By mid-2007, work had been completed in eight
of the 13 pilot areas for the application of the
National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP)
principles, and draft reports were being finalised. A
draft communication plan for the NSDP had been
prepared. Planning for extending the NSDP
application to 10 districts/metros had been initiated.
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Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG)
A process of reallocating MIG funds between
municipalities (as provided for in the Division of
Revenue Act, 2006 [Act 2 of 2006] [PDF]), has been
adopted with the primary intention of using
available funds in the most efficient manner to
eradicate backlogs in municipalities that have
demonstrated capacity to spend. At the same time,
various measures to strengthen the ability of poorspending
municipalities to better spend their MIG
funds are being instituted.
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Local Economic Development (LED)
An LED framework was launched in August 2006,
along with a practical toolkit supporting its
implementation. By March 2007, 37 districts and all
metros had adopted LED plans and assessments of
the integration of LED plans and provincial growth and development
strategies (PGDS). The state of
preparedness to implement LED had also been
completed.
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Project Consolidate
In 2004, Project Consolidate, a hands-on support
and engagement programme focusing on targeted
municipalities, was launched. This project was
informed by a growing concern that although some
municipalities were able to discharge their
responsibilities, some required additional technical
and institutional support.
Project Consolidate resulted in mobilising and
deploying technical support, service-delivery
facilitators, engineers and project managers to the identified municipalities. This initiative introduced a
new culture and method of working by national
departments, provinces, the private sector and
NGOs to provide direct and sustained support to
municipalities.
One area of concern is municipal financial viability
and management. By mid-2007, 12 municipalities
had been identified as pilot sites for efforts directed
at improving municipal billing systems.
Since this intervention, revenue collection in
these municipalities had increased by an average
of 21,4%. This total increase in revenue amounted
to R1,6 billion over a period of 12 months. The
increased revenue allowed the municipalities to
provide new services. It also improved the ability of
municipalities to predict revenue flows.
By 30 November 2006, 42 Project Consolidate
municipalities were being supported through this
initiative. The aim was to reach 70 municipalities
with 90 deployees by the end of June 2007. A total
of 291 infrastructure projects, valued at R1,5 billion,
were receiving implementation support.
The infrastructure projects focus on among other
things, water, sanitation and roads. By mid-2007,
51 retired engineers, 45 graduates and 99 students
had been deployed at 75 municipalities. A total
of 130 municipal employees had received hands-on
training. Development and infrastructure
implementation support was being given to
R2,2 billion worth of projects.
Attention is also being given to improving
internal controls, developing Local Government: Municipal Finance
Management Act, 2003-compliant asset registers,
and developing tools and procedures to facilitate
the compilation of annual financial statements.
Following this intervention, all the backlogs of
annual financial statements up to the 2004/05
financial year have been eliminated. Significant
skills transfer has taken place, benefiting the
lower-level finance staff in municipalities. Practical
tools and guides to enable sustainability have been
developed and provided to participating
municipalities.
Source: South Africa Yearbook 2007/08
Editor: D Burger. Government Communication and Information System
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Last modified: 10 April 2008 13:35:41. |
