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7 February 2006

GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CLUSTER

Introduction

The purpose of this briefing is to highlight the key decisions taken at the January 2006 Cabinet Lekgotla and the pronouncements of the President in the State of the Nation Address that will be taken forward by the Governance and Administration (G&A) Cluster. These will be presented within the framework of the G&A priorities for 2006.

Lekgotla presentation

The G&A Cluster presentation to the Lekgotla focused on two areas: the capacity of the public service and a review of the first term of local government. The Cluster conducted capacity assessments of various sectors, as instructed by the July 2005 Cabinet Lekgotla. The sectors that were part of the study were Health, Education, Justice and the Economic Sector. The capacity of local government was reviewed in relation to the performance of local government over the past five years and the lessons learnt during Project Consolidate. Comprehensive recommendations were adopted in respect of both areas.

G&A priorities

Subject to Cabinet’s final approval of the draft Programme of Action of the Cluster, the G&A will retain the three broad priorities of 2005:

* Capability needs for the developmental state
* Macro-organisation of the state; and
* Planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation.

Capability needs for the Developmental State

Sectoral capacity reviews

President Mbeki in his State of the Nation Address on Friday indicated that “the audit of a number of national departments has been completed”. The Cluster in collaboration with the departments of Health, Education, Justice and Trade and Industry conducted assessments of key delivery programmes in those departments. The President said that “government will make the necessary interventions to address the issues raised by these assessments”. Some of the key findings and interventions agreed to are listed below:

Crosscutting issues

The study found that:

* There was a need to focus on the remuneration and career paths of professionals in the public service

* some departments spend 100% of their personnel budgets but have more than 20% vacancies, which suggests that they have many unfunded vacant posts on their establishment, possibly as a result of under funding, but outdated organograms may also play a role; and

* there has been slower growth in personnel budgets relative to total budgets (the personnel share of the budget is decreasing) and, given capacity challenges faced by government, a case may be made for this share to increase.

Work on a policy on the remuneration, grading, career path and salary progression of professionals will be developed and completed by August. Cabinet decided that in future revisions to departmental organisational structures could be made only after consultation with the Minister for the Public Service and Administration. The Department of Public Service and Administration (dpsa) will develop guidelines on organisational matters and departments will develop staffing norms in accordance with the guidelines by December. We will review the allocation of the budget afforded to compensation based on the public service expenditure review by August 2006.

Health

In the Health sector the focus of the study was on hospital management, in particular CEOs of hospitals. The study found that public hospitals are highly stressed institutions due to staff shortages, unmanageable workloads and management failures. The situation with nurses is particularly acute. Limited devolution of decision-making power and organisational control has led to a number of problems. Blurred lines of authority and responsibility in province, district and hospital need to be addressed.

Wide-ranging recommendations were adopted to speed up the devolution of decision-making to institutional level where capacity has been demonstrated. A focus on hospital managers in the next six months includes a review of the grading of posts and the development of a tailored training programme for CEOs. The numbers of less-skilled staff will be increased to ensure that health professionals do not do menial work but are able to focus on their healthcare duties. An investigation into the re-establishment of nurses training colleges will be completed by July.

Education

A quantitative analysis showed that Education departments in some provinces were allocated more than 50% of the provincial budgets. In some provinces facing challenges in relation to administrative efficiency, employment in Administration is less than 5% of employment. Across the board there are too few administrative support staff at district level in relation to Educators. There is only one senior manager for every 1069 employees. The vacancy rate among financial and human resource professionals is high.

Cabinet agreed that the Department of Education, with assistance from the Indian Government, conduct an assessment of the role and responsibilities of district/circuit offices and managers and that the establishment of a distinct management echelon for principals be investigated by July. The Department will also develop staffing norms to ensure appropriate ratios of teaching staff to support staff and will take steps to ensure funds are available to give effect to the norms by July. A further evaluation of skills gaps in management will be undertaken and the implementation of the SMS performance management system will be reviewed by July.

Justice

Quantitative findings showed that vacancies for judges and magistrates were higher than average. The Department has a very high proportion of staff employed on contract. Accountability of the courts emerged as a challenge, and the need for improved co-ordination between the Justice System role-players. A shortage of management skills was identified.

A task team on the harmonisation of salaries of legally qualified personnel will submit proposals to the July Lekgotla. An assessment of the capacity required to implement the Superior Courts Bill will be conducted. Similarly to Education, an assessment of the implementation of the SMS performance management system will be undertaken. A project of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development reviewing the Department’s capacity requirements will be concluded by July. The high number of contract appointments will also be scrutinised and a report will be submitted to the July Lekgotla.

Economic sector

The quantitative study found that vacancy rates in middle management and among Trade and Industry Advisers were high. Skills shortages exist in key policy areas. The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is structured in such a way that there are 21 separate agencies reporting to it. The qualitative review identified the need for greater alignment of objectives, outputs and outcomes among these institutions. Co-ordination across the cluster and alignment of planning across the spheres of government needs to be strengthened.

The dti with support from the dpsa will complete a critical skills analysis and strategy by March. The accountability structures in relation to the entities reporting to the dti will be investigated and aligned with the G&A Cluster’s work on public entities. The capacity to evaluate and improve Environmental Impact Assessments will be reviewed by March 2006. The reflection of national economic policies in Provincial Growth and Development Strategies and Integrated Development Plans will be assessed by July 2006. The G&A Cluster in consultation with the Economic Cluster will conduct an assessment of the capacity of government to implement the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGI-SA) by July.

Public sector capacity development

The Cluster will focus, in the coming year, on addressing those factors that are militating against successful skills formation and the elimination of skills shortages in the public sector. The greatest of these is probably the fact that training is very often of doubtful relevance, rarely focused on carry-through impact, rarely accompanied by post-course support and implementation; and often facilitated or taught by people who have a very limited understanding of the public sector.

In support of Government’s efforts to address these challenges, South African Management Development Institution (SAMDI) has recently commenced implementation of a new approach to teaching and learning in the public sector, aimed at improving internal effectiveness and external impact.

In addition, a comprehensive strategy to improve the quality, cost-effectiveness and impact of training on improving service delivery, comprising of the following six key components will be implemented in the coming year:

* Firstly, increasing supply-side measures in the labour market to ensure a better quality of entrant into public service
* Secondly, furthering equity and laying a base for future skills acquisition by implementing an accelerated programme for the development of basic skills
* Thirdly, supporting enhanced performance of existing public servants by offering programmes ranging from junior managerial levels at one end of the spectrum to world class personally-tailored development and support to the very highest levels of Government
* Fourthly, the organisational and operational base for the delivery of these programmes will be an evolving internationally benchmarked Public Sector College geared to excellent support for the unfolding developmental state
* Fifthly, a new College will be combined with a partnering strategy with expert associates both in South Africa and abroad; and
* Finally, SAMDI will, under the oversight of Cabinet and the direction of the minister, evolve new financing modalities that ensure the sustainability of a Public Sector College’s contribution to the state’s effectiveness and efficiency.

The detailed proposals pertaining to the establishment of a Public Sector College will be taken further through the establishment of a technical task team, made up of representatives of a number of key education and training stakeholders. The team will be constituted by mid-year, and will specifically focus on ensuring that the new public sector training strategy effectively complements existing initiatives in the field.

Monitoring and evaluation

As part of the government’s efforts to improve governance and performance in the public sector, it will be implementing a Government Wide Monitoring and Evaluation System. Our strategy for developing the system recognises its emergent character and avoids a prescriptive approach. Instead, we will ensure that every government entity adopts and implements a Monitoring and Evaluation strategy appropriate to its work and overall strategy. We will use the information generated by these programmes to help government structures improve their performance and to ensure that strategic decision-making is evidence based.

Three work streams have been adopted: the first looks at principles and practices internationally and locally and will lead to the adoption of public service regulations that stipulate what M&E programmes must address and how this should be done. The second area will address reporting systems, formats and information technology and will ensure that account is taken of various related initiatives already under way in Government. The intention is to ensure that departments are not burdened with a plethora of reporting requirements and will factor these into its overall system architecture. The third strand will address capacity building, in terms of training, structure and institutional culture. SAMDI has been mandated by the Presidency to co-ordinate this work stream, and is convening a reference group of experts to guide curriculum development in this regard. Work has begun on developing training material, and the first modules will be launched by July.

Mentorship Programmes

SAMDI has developed a new suite of mentorship training programmes, aimed at ensuring that experienced senior officials are able to transfer their skills quickly and effectively to new entrants to the public service. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is the first Department to benefit from these new programmes, with training commencing on Monday, 13 February 2006.

Municipal Finance Management Internship Programme

In terms of the focus on capacity building for local government officials in order to increase service delivery, SAMDI has entered into a partnership with the National Treasury to provide training against a Level six qualification in the implementation of the Municipal Finance Management Act. This training is focused on the interns who municipalities appoint in terms of the conditions attached to receipt of the Finance Management Grant from Treasury. These interns are seen as a critical leg in building sufficient strategic financial management skills in the local government sphere. However, municipal official will also be able to attend the programme. The training material is currently being finalised by National Treasury, and we hope to begin training by August at the latest.

Anti-corruption

Last year we committed to developing a national anti-corruption programme. This was indeed done and implementation has commenced. As from April 2006, the implementation of the three-year National Anti-corruption Programme, as was agreed upon between the public, business and civil society sectors, will be speeded up when the allocated budget becomes available. The projects of this Programme will focus on ensuring implementation of the anti-corruption legislation in all sectors, advocating the obligations, rights, protection and sanctions of the anti-corruption legislation, ensuring ethical behaviour and standards form an integral part of all dealings in all sectors, and on providing all communities at all spheres sufficient platforms to engage on issues of corruption.

Last year’s second National Anti-corruption Summit provided an opportunity to reflect on our national and broad anti-corruption gains, and this year the dpsa is focusing on monitoring detailed implementation of the Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy and appraising the impact of the national anti-corruption framework. This appraisal will continue till the end of 2007. The outcomes of the monitoring and appraisal will obviously lead to a policy improvement.

This work, coupled with other projects, will inform the development of revised set of norms and standards for the whole of the public sector as is envisaged under our work towards a single public service. By 2008, we will have a broad governance strategy for the whole of the public sector in place.

The revised guidelines on the implementation of minimum anti-corruption capacity in departments at national and provincial levels have been issued last month and will be supplemented by over 20 implementation training sessions commencing in April 2007 and concluding by July 2007. This initiative will establish a cadre of over 400 anti-corruption practitioners for these departments.

At local government level, a local government anti-corruption strategy and implementation plan have been developed by the dplg. For some time now, the 136 local authorities within Project Consolidate have received direct anti-corruption assistance from the dplg through support to put appropriate management policies and systems in place. This work will continue and be broadened with the implementation of the local government anti-corruption strategy.

Leading up to April next year, we will prepare to host Global Forum V on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in April 2007. Global Forum is the premier meeting of governments on fighting corruption and preparations will include a regional anti-corruption conference to inform the Africa position for Global Forum.

In December, we will attend the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations (UN) Convention against Corruption when it convenes in Jordan. At regional level South Africa will continue to provide anti-corruption support to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other countries that have approached us to share our good practice and experience.

Macro-organisation of the state

Single public service

The President in his State of the Nation Address said that “we will continue the work towards the creation of one public service covering all spheres of government, fully conscious of the complexity of this matter and the need to secure the agreement of all the relevant stakeholders.”

As part of the implementation for the Single Public Service work is proceeding under the following three work streams: the integration of the front office (points of service delivery); the integration of the back office (information systems); and institutional integration covering harmonisation of systems, conditions of service and norms within institutions and departments across the three spheres of government that deliver services to the people.

Front office integration

The objective of this area is to present a single face of government which covers the three spheres of government and selected Public Entities that provide services directly to the people.

In this regard ground breaking work has already been done in the following areas: the establishment of multi-purpose community centres; the Batho Pele Gateway portal; the installation of public information terminals in selected post offices; and, Community Development Workers. Work will also focus on the identification of additional services to be delivered through a single window as well as the identification of additional channels through which these services will be delivered including the investigation into the establishment of urban service centres.

Back office integration

Having released the initial e-Government Policy for consultation in 2001, the dpsa continued with the implementation of the Batho Pele Gateway portal, which was launched in 2004 and is accessible from http://www.gov.za. This represents the major part of Phase one of e-Government implementation. Several important enhancements to the policy will be completed in the course of this year. The migration to the robust infrastructure is due for completion on 10 February 2006 with the current English content. The information content of the portal will be expanded to included provincial and local spheres of government. The Gateway information content is being translated into all 11 official languages. By 30 March 2006 the current content will have been translated into Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Setswana, Sesotho and Sepedi. The remaining languages will follow thereafter.

By July 2006, government will adopt a comprehensive e-Government programme, which covers a governance model, strategy, architecture, and implementation plan for the single public service. The focus is on e-Government and information and communications technology (ICT), which will create a platform for services to be delivered through a single point of contact. The back office integration will be informed by the identification of a basket of key services that will be provided through the single window.

To further support the uptake of e-Government across the public sector, government has committed to undertake a catalytic project for substantial implementation in 2006. Intense consultations are taking place with stakeholders at this stage before the final decision will be made by April 2006.

Institutional Integration

By November 2006, draft legislation to create an enabling environment for the single public service will be developed. The draft legislation will be the basis for further consultation within government.

The draft enabling legislation will focus on three broad areas: human resource management and development; organisational and institutional matters; ICT and e-Government across the public service.

Community development workers

The Community Development Workers programme is one of government’s initiatives whose objective is to ensure that government services reach their intended targets.

Community Development Workers play an important role in the creation of linkages and improved co-ordination between the three spheres of government and with all the community development stakeholders and organs of civil society.

One of the critical linkages at a local level through which service delivery needs to be improved is the ward committees. During the initial stages of the implementation of the CDW programme, there were tensions as a result of a misunderstanding of roles and relationship. These tensions were resolved though workshops that involved CDWs and ward committees. Provincial units are also rolling out workshops to introduce the CDWs in their communities, to their fellow public servants in other government departments as well as to the municipalities in which they are deployed.

Project Consolidate

The CDWs are trained and multi-skilled. Their training involved practical project management, as well as exposure to direct work experiences. A number of them were equipped with laptops to run a pilot e-Gateway project in Gauteng during 2004/05. The pilot project has experienced some difficulties. In 2006 the pilot project will be extended to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

KwaZulu-Natal has installed an information management system. Gauteng and the Western Cape are in the process of installing theirs. Nationally, discussions with SITA are underway to provide a national information management system. Access to computers will be through MPCCs, Local Municipalities, Post Offices and other locally based government offices.

Nationally, 3000 Community Development Workers have completed their learnership. Four provinces (Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape) have already integrated these CDWs into the public service (total 690)

Building on the achievements made thus far, this year will be a year of consolidation. It is our belief that the fundamental institutional framework is in place. The broad objectives for this year are to:

* Community Development Workers are integrated within the broad government initiatives of building a better life for all

* Community Development Workers are fully integrated within the broad public participation programmes by improving co-ordination between their programmes and those of the Ward committees.

* They play a critical role in achieving the objectives of Project Consolidate.

* Community Development Workers play a critical role in initiating projects that will work towards the realisation of the Local Economic Development objectives at municipal level.

* There is integration of the Community Development Workers Programme with the improvement of frontline staff development with the objective of achieving the Batho Principles.

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) was commissioned during 2005 to conduct action research on the effectiveness of the CDW learnership training. The research was conducted in four provinces, though the sample is representative. The final report was completed in November 2005.

The key challenges identified are the definition of roles as well as the responsibilities of the various stakeholders. Continuous endorsement at a political level is also emphasised in the report to give the programme continuous legitimacy. Marketing and communication of the programme is also emphasised to make work easier for the CDWs.

The CDW programme is seen as part of a service delivery plan, as recommended by the research report, and is embedded in the IDPs at municipal level. Mentorship is provided for, as well as direct supervision at local levels. The curriculum will be revisited on an ongoing basis.

Activities that are planned for this year include:

* The roundtable to review the programme implementation and its impact. Date to be confirmed
* A community-based government workers conference to consolidate and enhance coordination of all government and community developments initiatives. The conference will be held on 22 May 2006.
* A publication of case studies based on the work the CDWs have done during 2005 will be produced by May 2006.

Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS)

It is worth noting that elements of the HANIS projects have been implemented. Amongst others, this includes the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) which is the integral component of HANIS. AFIS was designed for the electronic storage and retrieval of fingerprints. In addition, HANIS relied heavily on the electronic conversion of manual data known as the Back Record Conversion. During 2005, the Department implemented a Back Record Conversion Project, which entailed capturing, digitisation and storage of manual fingerprint records onto the AFIS database. As at the end of December 2005 the number of stored fingerprint records on the AFIS database amounted to 11 097 101. The Back Record Conversion, which will be completed before the end of the year will allow for online verification and identification data to the benefit of both public and private institutions.

Mobile Units bringing services closer to the people

Home Affairs Department has distributed mobile units into all the Provinces in a pursuit to brining services closer to the people. These Mobile Units seek to give a concrete expression to the realisation of an age of hope in building a national effort for faster and shared growth. The Mobile Units will create a possibility for the citizens to access such services like application for birth certificates, identity documents, marriage certificates, passports and other documents provided for by Home Affairs. We are keenly aware that these interventions are not adequate but these mobile units will help in giving concrete resonance in building a better life for all.

Quota work permits

The Department of Home Affairs wishes to announce that the professional categories and occupational classes in terms of which quota work permits may be issued have been determined. The quotas will appear in the Gazette on Friday, 10 February 2006. Foreign nationals who meet the requirements for these permits may apply at a foreign mission abroad or at an office of the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa.

These quotas were determined in consultation with the Ministers of Trade and Industry, and of Labour. These quotas are determined using the National Critical Skills list – a flexible mechanism designed to assist in recruiting certain skills into South Africa. This permit is designed to make it easier for holders of certain skills or qualifications to come to South Africa.

It should be pointed out that the quota work permit is just one of a whole “menu” of permits which allow foreigners to work and conduct business in South Africa. Unlike other work permits, a quota work permit may be issued to an applicant before he or she has secured employment. The holder is admitted to South Africa so that he or she may seek employment in that specific category or class. The permit does not guarantee the holder of the permit a job, merely the opportunity to compete for work in South Africa on an equal footing with South African citizens and permanent residents.

Permanent Residence

At the same time the Department will also publish regulations to determine the yearly limits of available permanent residence permits for each for each sector of industry, trade and commerce, in the category “residence on other grounds” in terms of section 27(a) (ii) of the Immigration Act, 2002 as amended. In order to qualify for such permits the applicant must have received an offer of permanent employment. The job must have been advertised and no suitably qualified South African or permanent resident was available to fill it.

Batho Pele

Plans are underway to extend the roll out the Batho Pele Change Management Engagement Programme that aims at improving service delivery in Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. Cabinet has approved various measures to improve service delivery including requirements that public service officials wear nametags when on duty and that there must be proper signage at service delivery points. The Department of Home Affairs has launched the name badges, and promoted enhanced external communication with the public in improving service delivery.

Two Batho Pele Learning Networks will be hosted by DPSA during 2006 in various provinces. The purpose is to take Batho Pele to new levels through dialogue and sharing best practices. The Service Delivery Watch (unannounced visits), is a project whereby Ministers and other political office bearers (Premiers, MECs and Municipal Mayors) make unannounced visits to various service delivery points to assess the state of public services provision. Previous observations made indicated that the queue management, name badges, general conditions of buildings including proper signage and help desk staffing arrangements need to be attended to.

Public Service Week (PSW) is one of the flagship programmes that take place annually throughout the public service. PSW will be celebrated in November this year and local government will be an integral part of the initiative. The Khaedu Programme (a TshiVenda word meaning ‘challenge’) normally also forms part of Public Service Week and aims at giving managers from national and provincial departments the opportunity to experience first-hand the challenges at the coalface of delivery. This would in turn enable them to draft policies that are informed by realities on the ground. The Programme will be rolled out to Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Eastern Cape and also extended to local government so as to complement Project Consolidate during this year.

“Know your service rights and responsibilities campaign” will be launched soon. The purpose of this is to make citizens aware of their rights and service standards they should expect in respect of service delivery as well as the ways in which they may seek redress.

The Service Delivery Improvement Plans/Service Standards project is underway and aims at the development and implementation of a regulatory framework that would, amongst others, provide for the rollout of service standards and Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIPs) in the Public Service. It will also provide for the possible enforcement of departments to comply as a means to track and improve service delivery. This project will be implemented in partnership with the Premier’s Offices. This project and other Batho Pele initiatives such as Project Khaedu and Public Service Week will be extended to local government in line with the single public service initiative.

Planning and implementation

Local government

Introduction

This year marks the beginning of the second term of our Local Government since the introduction of the new Local Government System in 2000. Over the past five years, important lessons have been learned about the implementation of the policy and legislative framework for local government. More recently, Project Consolidate and Municipal Izimbizo Program have brought capacity, accountability, governance and policy related issues into sharp focus.

Cabinet Lekgotla approved three strategic priorities to ensure that challenges facing Local Government are eradicated. The three priorities are to:

* Provide mainstreamed hands-on support to Local Government to improve municipal governance, performance and accountability;
* Address the structure and governance arrangements of the State in order to better strengthen, support and monitor Local Government; and
* Refine and strengthen the policy, regulatory and fiscal environment for Local Government and give greater attention to the enforcement measures.

Five years of Local Government

A qualitative analysis of the past five years of local government indicates that there has been steady progress in broadening access to basic services. Government’s success in service delivery over the last 10 years was premised on a commitment to massively increase its infrastructure base. Through the Consolidated Municipal Infrastructure Programme (CMIP) and the Municipal Infrastructure Grant alone, government invested over R10.3 billion in basic municipal infrastructure since 2000.

Overall, there has also been an improvement in the delivery of Free Basic Services in most provinces. For example in the Limpopo Province, all municipalities are providing free basic water, while 21 out of the 26 municipalities are providing free basic electricity. In the Eastern Cape free basic water is provided in all 39 municipalities, while 31 are providing free basic electricity.

Over the MTEF period a steady increase in funding for basic services and infrastructure is earmarked. For MIG, an incremental budgetary allocation is earmarked as illustrated below.

Table: 1

2006/07: R7.4 billion
2007/08: R8.3 billion
2008/09: R9.3 billion

The rollout of basic services and infrastructure is however also characterised by a number of challenges, some of which include: continued use of the bucket sanitation system, poor water storage and treatment systems, infrastructure backlogs in rural and informal settlements and lack of municipal technical capacity to plan for and manage infrastructure investment and service delivery.

The vital role that local economies have played in contributing to growth within the national economy and GDP cannot be overlooked. The nine largest cities account for 63% of the total GDP of the country. The relationship between urbanization and economic growth trends can also be viewed as an opportunity that municipalities can seize. Current data shows that of the 53 district and metropolitan municipal areas in the country, the economies of 13 grew consistently above the national average of 2,5% per annum over an eight year period (1995-2003).

An assessment of the key challenges facing our municipalities indicates, inter alias, that:

* A number of municipalities are still grappling with establishment issues;
* Skills deficiencies continue to exist in municipalities, especially those in rural areas;
* Accountability mechanisms for managers need refinement and greater enforcement, and
* In some instances performance management systems are still to be implemented.

Project Consolidate

In April 2005, government rolled out Project Consolidate as a practical, appropriate and national programme with the intention to strategically intervene and support 136 municipalities facing challenges. These municipalities were identified after an intensive profiling exercise highlighting areas such as capacity constraints, service delivery blockages and challenges in good governance and community participation as needing immediate hands-on support.

The roll out included the deployment of Service Delivery Facilitators to identified municipalities. The aim of this initiative is to help municipalities that are lagging behind to accelerate the pace of dealing with their own backlogs. Furthermore, during 2005, Project Consolidate exposed a variety of institutional challenges in the local government sphere.

As we move forward with Project Consolidate, in the next term of local government there is a need to mainstream our hands-on support in five Key Performance Areas, namely:

* Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure;
* Institutional Development and Municipal Transformation;
* Municipal Financial Viability;
* Local Economic Development; and
* Good Governance and Public Participation.

The focus will be on all 283 municipalities to ensure that while we capacitate those that are lagging behind; we do not neglect the rest.

Through Project Consolidate, government has already been able to make positive impact in many parts of our country where hands-on support was required.

These successes include, amongst others, the:
* Implementation of comprehensive recovery plan in Kannaland local municipality in the Western Cape;
* Bucket system eradication in Klerksdorp, Ratlou, Greater Taung and Kagisano local municipalities;
* Development and implementation of the financial recovery plan in Emfuleni local municipality

The next five years of Local Government:
National and Provincial Government capacity to support municipalities

Our assessment of the last five years has indicated that both key national and provincial government departments are either not capable or positioned to provide structured and dedicated support to municipalities.

The recent Cabinet Lekgotla agreed that National and Provincial government departments must prioritise support for municipalities through streamlining their operations to focus on and provide appropriate resources and capacity to the relevant provincial departments in order to support municipalities. They must also reflect concrete support action to municipalities in their Strategic and Business Plans.

Another priority is that dplg working with other government departments is finalising a Local Government Competency Framework, which will see an improvement of the regulatory environment regarding the appointment, performance and evaluation of Municipal Managers and other senior managers.

The municipalities will also be given support to accelerate the filling of vacant technical posts at municipal and senior management level.

The need to improve basic service delivery and infrastructure investment in municipalities still remains a fundamental priority of this government. National and Provincial government and key State Owned Enterprises will ensure that key service delivery targets are achieved in the areas of water, sanitation, the eradication of the bucket system and the provision of Free Basic Services will also increase support.

National and provincial government will also in the short-term support District and Metropolitan municipalities to prepare draft Integrated Development Plans (IDPs). To assist the incoming municipal councils, government support programmes will turn IDPs into more implementable development plans for all three spheres of government to strategically respond to community needs.

During the next five years, government will ensure that service delivery targets are achieved. These are:

* Ensuring that all communities have access to clean water by 2010;
* Ensuring that all houses have access to electricity by 2012;
* Prioritising the eradication of the bucket system in during 2006 and 2007;
* Development of a national Municipal Infrastructure Investment Strategy that will be a roadmap to achieving universal access;
* Prioritising technical hands-on support to less capacitated municipalities, the realigned (previous cross-boundary) municipalities and the 21 rural and urban nodes;
* Finalisation and implementation of the National Framework for LED (including policy guidelines and strategies) in alignment with the ASGI-SA across rural and urban municipalities in order to amongst other priorities improve the market and public confidence in municipalities;
* Extending and mainstreaming project consolidate hands-on support to municipalities; and
* Improving the capacity of Provincial Departments, particularly those responsible for Local Government, to execute their provincial responsibilities and roles and better support municipalities especially in relation to Project Consolidate.

Public Participation

As part of the efforts to strengthen this system of local government, in the next term, a conscious effort to capacitate ward committees the sphere closest to the people, special efforts will be made in this regard.

Although a great amount of work has been done in establishing Ward Committees for an enhanced Public participation and deepening social mobilisation, it emerged during Municipal Izimbizo Programme that there is a need for a targeted support towards Ward Committees to ensure that they function better. Focus will also be on improving communication between councils and communities.

It is, but not exclusively against this backdrop that Government will be launching a Handbook for Ward Committees as well as a Ward Committee Resource Book at Mogale City municipality in Gauteng on Friday, 10 February 2006.

In addition to these efforts, the dplg will roll out a Communication and Social Mobilisation initiative to all Project Consolidate municipalities. This programme includes improving the communication capacity of Ward Committees and Community Development Workers (CDWs) with their communities.

These are just but a few of initiatives to ensure that capacity at all levels of government are increased, and service delivery is accelerated.

While key service delivery milestones have been achieved, the first term of democratic local government has been one of the most complex projects of state transformation since 1994. The tasks of local government have proven to be more complex and protracted than initially anticipated. Project Consolidate has sharpened our understanding of the problems and challenges in the local government sphere and has led us to the conclusion that we need to mainstream hands on support to local government in general over the next five years. Project Consolidate would have ceased to exist as a time bound measure directed at particular municipalities.

Local Government Elections

The government has in terms of the Local Government Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998) declared that the local government elections would be held on 1 March 2006. The Department of Home Affairs continues to provide Identity Documents to equip South Africans with the right to vote.

Our staffs also continue working overtime in order to process and issue identity document to their rightful owners. We have also noted that some of the applicants who have applied for their documents have not yet come to collect.

The Department of Home Affairs has also extended working hours including opening up offices on Saturday to improve access and availability of services. Home Affairs has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the South African Post Office to assist with the distribution of Identity documents.

African Peer Review Mechanism

South Africa is coming to the end of the first step in implementing the African Peer Review Mechanism. In the past few months the Peer Review Mechanism has been introduced to the country and extensive consultations have been undertaken. Our National Governing Council has overseen the national roll out, including the appointment of Provincial Councils and their implementation of extensive provincial processes. Ward Committees, Community Development Workers, civil society organisations and community groups have all participated and made valuable contributions.

The next step will be to draft a Country Self-assessment Report with a Programme of Action and present it for consideration at the second consultative conference to be held on 7 April. The final country self-assessment report will be submitted to the APRM Secretariat by the end of April.

Enquiries:
Clayson Monyela
Cell: 082 806 7405

Issued by: Department of Public Service and Administration
7 February 2006