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15 May 2006

Introduction

The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, accompanied by Cabinet Ministers, the Premier of the North West Ms Edna Molewa, and senior government officials will visit Bophirima District in the North West province on Friday, 19 to Saturday, 20 May 2006.

The Deputy President will interact directly with the public for the first time in an Imbizo following the successful Local Government Elections of 1 March. Presidential Izimbizo are aligned with Project Consolidate, a hands-on Local Government Support and Engagement programme as well as the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). Central to these Izimbizo is the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process, which enables and empowers communities to participate in confirming local development priorities.

Background

In 2005, and in the previous phase of the Presidential Izimbizo programme, the main focus was the municipal council, its officials and ward committees, with attention paid to Project Consolidate municipalities. The aim was to identify the nature of problems related to less than optimum levels of service delivery. In this current phase, the Presidential Izimbizo programme will still focus on the council and officials. Added to this current phase is the opportunity for direct interaction with communities and stakeholders such as business, youth groups and farmers.

This approach means that through these Izimbizo an opportunity is provided to all three spheres of government, stakeholders and communities to interact in an unmediated manner on matters of service delivery and development.

In this context, this Izimbizo programme also seeks to focus on the three strategic objectives (2006-2011) for local government, which were developed by the Cabinet Lekgotla in January 2006.

These are:

* mainstreaming hands-on support to local government to improve municipal governance, performance and accountability
* addressing the structure and governance arrangements of the state in order to better strengthen, support and monitor local government
* refining and strengthening the policy, regulatory and fiscal environment for local government and giving greater attention to the enforcement measures.

Summarised profile of Bophirima District Municipality

The area of Bophirima is made up of six local municipalities, namely:

* Greater Taung
* Taung, Longaneng, Lykso, Madipelesa, Manthestad, Marubiseng, Mokasali, Mokgareng, Mololema, Motsweding, Norlim, Pudimoe, Reivilo, Sekging, Shaleng, Steekdorings, Tlapeng, Vaalboshoek
* Mamusa
* Albertshoek, Amalia, Avondster, Koosfontein, Mamusa (Schweizer-Reneke
* Kagisano
* Alettasrus, Algiers, Austrey, Barden, Coetzerdam, Egham, Eskdale, Eureka, Ganyesa, Goodwood, Kagiso, Kgokgojane, Klein-Tswaing, Langehorn, Louwna, Madiakgama, Madinonyane, Morokweng, Perth, Piet Plessis, Rusten, Southey, Tsilwana
* Molopo
* Bray, Moloporivier, Pomfret, Senlac, Terra Firma, Tosca, Vergelee, Vorstershoop
* Lekwa-Teemane
* Bloemhof, Boitumelong, Britten, Christiana
* Naledi
* Mansfield,Vryburg, Denonlea, Broedersput, Huhudi, Kameel, Setuat, Stella.

Three traditional communities and traditional leaders are found in the Bophirima District Municipality. They are:

* Barolong boo Mariba ba ga Letlhogile
* Mmusi Abner Lethlogile
* Batlaping ba Phuduhutswana
* Tsepo Frederick Mankuroane
* Batlaping ba Phuduhutswana ba ga Mothibi
* Kgosiemang Isaac Mothibi

Municipalities have five Key Performance Areas by which are assessed and monitored. They are:

* basic service delivery and infrastructure
* local economic development
* municipal transformation and institutional development
* municipal financial viability
* good governance and community participation.

Basic service delivery and infrastructure

There has been notable progress in the District with regard to the provision of basic services. More than 64% of the households have been provided with electricity in the entire District. Clean water is now accessed by more than 75% of the households and more than 10 000 households within the District have access to basic sanitation.

The construction of roads to improve the accessibility of the area and grow the economy of the District is underway. A total of 71,5 kilometres of road have been completed.

Over 2 800 houses have been built so far in the area. Although such progress has been recorded in the District, there are still backlogs with regard to provision of services. With regard to electricity, the District has a backlog of 110 714 households. With regard to refuse removal, the backlog stands at 106 709. The district has a 4 000 bucket system backlog and 115 285 water and sanitation backlog.

Since February 2006, heavy rains have been experienced in the Bophirima District. These rains have caused flooding which has resulted in extensive damage to infrastructure and in communities being isolated. Support was provided to over 6 400 people in the form of accommodation, food parcels, blankets and other essentials. Long term interventions are also undertaken to restore infrastructure that was affected.

Local Economic Development

The economy of Bophirima District Municipality is mainly driven by agriculture, with Vryburg being the economic hub of the region focusing mainly on beef farming and producing maize, groundnuts, sunflower seeds and sorghum.

Government spending is second to agriculture in terms of contributing to the economy of the District. Manufacturing and retail are also key contributors in the economic growth of the District.

The District has a Growth and Development Strategy that provides a basis for future economic planning. 82,54% of the households have an income of equal to or less than R19 200 per year, meaning that 15% of households in the District Municipality live below the minimum living level.

According to the Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) the District plans to:

* prioritise economic growth and job creation
* create an environment conducive enough to attract investment
* foster development based on local potential.

Unemployment currently stands at 77% of the population in the 15 - 65 year age group. Limited exposure to education and training is a considerable barrier to economic progress. Skills development is needed to contribute to the general economy.

Municipal transformation and institutional development

The District and local municipalities have displayed a level of stability during the past five years. In municipalities all but two mayors finished their term except in Mamusa and Lekwa-Teemane Local Municipalities.

The municipalities have high vacancy levels which have a direct negative impact on service delivery. Greater Taung has a vacancy level of 62% while Kagisano's is 35%. A low salary offered for the jobs at municipalities makes it difficult for the municipalities to fill vacant positions. However, all municipalities have filled the positions of Municipal Managers.

Capacity to deliver services needs to be increased in Kagisano and Molopo Local Municipalities, but all other municipalities have the capacity to deliver the electricity reticulation function and other services.

The District Municipality and Local Municipalities have adopted the performance management framework and some municipalities are implementing performance contracts, which are linked to targets in the Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan. The District Municipality has an Employment Equity plan.

Municipal Financial Viability

Current Status

All the municipalities within the Bophirima District have increased their operating budgets in the 2005/06 financial year when compared to the actual expenditure incurred in the 2004/05 financial year. The highest increase in operating budget provision has occurred within the Kagisano municipality and the lowest increase in operating budget is that estimated by the Naledi Municipality.

The capital budget of all the municipalities within the Bophirima District have increased in the 2005/06 financial year when compared to actual expenditure incurred in 2004/05 financial year. All the increases comprise at least 50%, while the Bophirima District Municipality, Mamusa, Greater Taung and Lekwa-Teemane have doubled the amount that was expended in 2004/05. This reflects as much a lack of capacity to spend the capital budget in 2004/05 as it reflects a higher availability of funding for capital projects in 2005/06 (Municipal Demarcation Board Assessment of Capacity: Bophirima District Municipality Report, 2005/06).

Intervention strategies

Based on the analysis and the audit reports for 2001/02 to 2004/05 financial years most of the municipalities do need some assistance as indicated below.

* Credit control and revenue management

The four local municipalities that provide services for which consumers are billed will benefit from credit control and revenue enhancement support. In respect of credit control, existing procedures will need to be analysed in detail to determine which processes require improvement. In addition, specific assistance needs to be given to the local municipalities to develop indigent support policies and revenue enhancement strategies to improve their cash flows and debt collection. This strategy will need to be undertaken in conjunction with the budget restructuring referred to below.

* Financial management support

The municipalities that received disclaimers from the Auditor-General will receive assurance in reviewing their financial policies, control procedures, accounting processes and overall system of internal control in order to rectify this adverse situation. The details of the Audit Reports will set out specific details of what support strategy is required.

In respect of municipalities that received qualified opinions, support to rectify the circumstances giving rise to the qualification should be provided.

* Budget restructuring

The four local municipalities that are in need of credit control and revenue enhancement assistance will benefit from structured training in budgeting with specific emphasis on budget restructuring. Structural issues such as containment of personnel costs, ensuring repairs and maintenance are adequate and ensuring that realistic revenue is included in the budget are key areas of budget restructuring support that is required. This may also require a critical review of affordable service levels and a review of how services are rendered. It may also require a review of the sustainability of infrastructure grant funding to ensure that municipalities budget for the increased costs emanating from infrastructural development in their operating budgets.

If this is not done, it is unlikely that the local municipalities will address their financial viability challenges.

Good governance and public participation

Current status on community participation and Ward Committee system

The new councillors are starting to have meetings in their wards since the local government elections. 52 Ward Committees have been established and are functional. Only two Ward Committees, one in Greater Taung and one in Molopo Local Municipalities are not functioning. Monthly and quarterly meetings are held by the Ward Committees and minutes and reports are presented to the Council and Council Committees for further deliberations (Bophirima Presidential Municipal Imbizo presentation by the Speaker, November 2005).

The Integrated Development Plan (IDP) review panel (2005) noted the good relationship between the District and the Ward Committees:

The District indicated that Ward Committees have been trained on matters such as the local government policy framework and legislation, powers and functions, leadership skills, community participation, meeting procedures, municipal service delivery, performance management system, conflict management and the budgeting process (Bophirima Presidential Municipal Imbizo presentation by the speaker, November 2005).

Some of the challenges facing the Ward Committees in Bophirima District include the following:

* vastness of the wards
* insufficient compensation for ward committee members for 'out of pocket' expenses
* limited capacity to carry out ward activities
* lack of office space to perform daily administration and tasks of the Ward Committee
* ineffective communication between the Council, Ward Committees and community (Bophirima Presidential Municipal Imbizo presentation by the speaker, November 2005).

Conclusion

The Presidential Imbizo forms part of efforts to accelerate the implementation of government's Programme of Action (PoA) and improving the institutional capacity of Local Government to deliver basic services to communities as well as advancing participatory implementation of government programmes to create a better life for all.

This Imbizo will present a platform for engagement between government, civil society, business, other key stakeholders and the communities. It will also seek to create a favourable environment for government to implement the three local government priorities for the next five years. These interactions will seek to provide immediate solutions to challenges experienced by Bophirima District, some of which are raised in this preview, that of service delivery and development at local government level.

Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
15 May 2006
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.dplg.gov.za)