Budget Speech by Mr Marius Fransman, Provincial Minister for Local Government and Housing, Western Cape.

Vote 12, Local Government 2004/05.

Honourable Speaker,
Honourable the Premier, Mr Rasool,
Provincial Cabinet Colleagues,
Members of the House
Invited guests,
Comrades and friends,
Ladies and gentlemen

Mr Speaker, I am delighted and honoured for the mandate and opportunity to present before this honourable House the budget of the Department of Local Government. Honoured in a sense that, the masses who mandated us to represent then in this House and on whose behalf we speak, look up to municipalities to deliver the service they need.

More so, and relevant to the Western Cape, to make sure that, in using former President Mandela emphatic remark that, "Never? Never and never again", shall the Western Cape be a Home for the Few!

The policy trajectory of this department is henceforth consistent with the national and constitutional objectives. The Western Cape at the municipal level shall be felt as A Home for All!

I stand in front of this House tabulating the 2004/5 policy speech which by nature speaks to the intended division of revenue among programmes of this department which are organised to give the necessary assistance and support to municipalities in order to benefit our people.

I am doing so exactly a day wherein, 28 years ago, our country was plunged into one of its most shameful periods in our blood etched history. One South African poet who was on the receiving end of that brutal era penned down?

Honourable Members, I ask you to join me in paying tribute to the many heroic survivors and fallen heroes of the 1976 Uprisings. Those who braved and survived that brutality have something special in them, and would like to challenge them in making sure that, their activism and bravado is imparted to the youth of the current era.

Mr. Speaker, turning on to the departmental budget, it is my intention to focus on the beacons of hope and the anchors for delivery which have been set by our President and Premier in their State of the Nation and Province addresses and how I and my Department will contribute.

National Beacon

President Thabo Mbeki laid down a very clear policy directive during his May, 2004 State of the Nation Address when he said we must,
"Move our country forward decisively towards the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment, taking care to enhance the process of social cohesion." - President Mbeki, State of the Nation Address, 21 May 2004

The National Anchors

• Ensure that the public sector discharges its responsibilities to our people as a critical player in the process of growth, reconstruction and development of our country;
• Further integrate our system of governance, responding effectively to the requirement of cooperative governance;
• Strengthen our system of local government;
• Build the sense of national unity, united action and new patriotism.
  (President Mbeki, May 2004)

The Provincial Beacon

Opening the Provincial Legislature last month, Premier gave further detail to the presidential policy pointers and said;
"I believe that the single vision that we pursue in the next five years must be to make the Western Cape a Home for All. This is in line with the President's call for social cohesion. This will transcend our Provincial fault lines of racism, sexism, classes and urban bias." - Premier Rasool, State of the Province Address, 28 May, 2004

The Provincial Anchors

• Every single person in the Western Cape has a home here and a role to play;
• For optimal results in the medium to long term it is essential to organize institutional arrangements in a way that makes for a co-ordinated effort between Government and social partners.
• Our overarching objective is to transform Government into the primary instrument of development, harnessing social partners with the aim of fulfilling our contract with the electorate.
  (Premier Rasool, May 2004)

With these beacons and anchors as my guiding lights, I immediately set about analysing the Department of Local Government's strategic focus and I am proud and relieved that after extensive interactions on a wide range of imperatives, the budget intentions I am tabling here are in alignment with the provincial and national goals.

In supporting municipalities, I believe that our responsibilities in this regard are best discharged primarily by a skills offering rather than by financial relationships. In any event, with the disparate needs and resource bases of individual municipalities, it would be hard pressed to provide an equitable financial service to all.

At the core, it is intended that municipalities work close with and respond adequately to the needs of the people, and such responses are not always premised on seeking financial assistance.

Hence forth, finances and planning shall not be an excuse, we have aligned ourselves such that we also rely a great deal on direct interaction and innovative ways of working with and finding solutions to those concerns our people have. I am sure this level of commitment and intent is not to be unexpected as we must at all times be guided by the needs of our people.

Drawing from a wisdom of a stalwart whose footprints across the continent casts a figure of a giant undaunted by the task of providing for the people and ensuring corresponding transformation, Julius Nyerere he said addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, 1997,

I have always passionately believed that municipalities must be centres of delivery, and if I in all humility may suggest a local government beacon then it is that our municipalities must be a bright beacon directing public infrastructural investment for the good of all the citizenry. I see this department and ministry as critical in integrating spheres of government vertically and departments horizontally. In effect, this department is itself an anchor.

My portfolio speaks directly to the call from our President to strengthen local government and entrench developmental governance. This is a call which shall be answered in this province. The municipalities in this province, together with provincial and national government, face the challenges of unemployment, underdevelopment and poverty.

This demands of municipalities to be people-centred in their approach to development and to be truly developmental in their management approach and operation.

In the 2nd decade of Freedom, reflecting on the last 10years, we have a historic duty therefore to give new meaning to local governance. The tentacles of apartheid reached deep and it was at this sphere where the divide and rule apparatus was effectively used. Today, we are sitting with towns and cities, reflecting the works of deliberate engineering, with the poor on the periphery and the wealthier conveniently closer to amenities. As one poet once remarked;

The kind of polarised spatial situation that we have in the province cannot be allowed or left to its vices and hope that it will self correct, neither will we be doing justice to it by burying our heads in the sands and wish it way. It requires an interventionist approach to it, especially with regard to service delivery and development.

We might be 10 years into a democratic state, but none among us will deny the fact that, where we live was long demarcated and we did not have a choice, indeed as the poet observed, we still harbour varying degrees of suspicion for the 'others' whom we have not stayed side by side, and perhaps even wish that such is prolonged. These we must honestly confront, as Hubert Humphrey once said,

The Premier raised the question 'of the state of the state' in a very candid manner to answer the question of not only our necessary structural realignment, but also the change in psyche, awakening to the fact that the challenges of the current and the immediate future require radical deep internal changes, in state and its manning apparatus.

The Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara in his work dissecting the bureaucratic mentality lifted three counter revolutionary traits to those who chose to be part of furniture and buildings instead of being the servants of the people, that such is usually from,

1. Lack of inner motivation [to dutifully fulfil function related demands]
2. Lack of organisation,
3. Lack of sufficiently developed technical knowledge [to be able to make the right decisions as demanded].

We have addressed these deficiencies through legislation and programmes over the last decade!

Meaning, we must therefore redefine the stereotype of a bureaucrat from a paper-shuffling individual whose preferred response is to do nothing that involves a decision, to one who embodies Batho Pele, in practice! That is a deeper and a necessary change! A new and a desirable public servant!

I want to say to officials wherever they are, whatever their level, we will be demanding actions, we will establish deadlines to carryout instructions, correctly supervising them and making them reach decision in as short a time as possible. This demands of all 3 spheres of government to operate as a singular caring government that targets the poor and displays the tenets of developmental governance.

Honourable Members,

Let me illustrate by focusing on four broad areas of intervention to ensure developmental governance becomes a reality in all the municipalities in this province in the next 5 years.

Firstly, municipalities are the institutions through which most ordinary citizens experience government in any form. It is here that Batho Pele finds expression and that all people, no matter how poor, should be heard.

Secondly, municipalities have the responsibility to strategically direct public and private resources in support of sustainable development interventions. This specifically includes improving inter-governmental relations to ensure integrated service delivery between the spheres of government and requires the leadership of provincial and local government to work together in delivery on a clear development strategy.

Municipalities are further charged to act as co-ordinator of social and economic investment into peripheral urban areas and rural settlements to address the geographic poverty implications of former apartheid planning. This includes intensifying integrated programmes that target the poor and vulnerable.

Thirdly, municipalities are the primary providers of services to all of the citizenry, rich and poor. However, it has a particular responsibility to those in greatest need to ensure access to the social safety net, in a sustainable way.

This includes access to water, sanitation, solid waste management, affordable and safe energy, transport, education, health services and shelter as well as effective disaster management which act together in strengthening the ability of the poor to manage shocks and stresses and to gain access to a better life.

The developmental perspective is not one of permanent relief provision, but rather a social capital investment. Special attention needs to be paid to increase the physical asset base of the poor which includes access to land, security of tenure and employment opportunities in rural areas, and does not remain marginal.

Fourthly, and lastly, municipalities have to be sustainable institutions with effective legislative, administrative and operational systems. This includes a clear understanding of the external environment and economic reality of their jurisdictional area and making resource allocation choices that support key sectors.

Internally, municipalities need to strengthen their revenue base and improve their strategic planning and budgetary processes to target resources appropriately over the medium term.

In view of these significant challenges, the Ministry and Department of Local Government will focus their attention on building developmental governance in this province which translates into specific initiatives in this financial year.

In order to entrench leading and democratic institutions, I believe that we should make a serious investment in the development of local strategic leadership. This relates to investment into the personal effectiveness and technical competency of leaders in our municipalities which will target councillors, officials and civil society participants in governance.

Together with organized local government in this province, the Ministry of Local Government will develop appropriate capacity building opportunities to develop the leadership in governance in this province. Existing training opportunities will be extended to senior and middle management and specifically target women in local government to build skilled and confident leaders empowered to govern effectively, and who have an appreciation of the public resources they direct.

Developmental governance demands a deepening of democracy and a culture of stakeholder engagement. The Ministry of Local Government will thus work towards entrenching active dialogue with citizens through ward-based structures in municipalities and together with the department give strong guidance on public participation during the coming year.

Attention will be given to develop and train community development workers to work in partnership with state institutions and civil society to give substance to the notion of working in partnership with civil society.

Community development Workers and Project Managers relating to service delivery of various provincial and national departments

In the State of the Nation Address in May this year, our President, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, called for the deployment of community development workers in all the rural and urban nodes by the end of the calendar year. Community development workers are seen as a public service echelon of multi-skilled workers who will bring government closer to the people.

Potential community development workers will be recruited from municipal wards and placed on a twelve month Learnership Programme. The idea is to base successful applicants in the wards from which they were recruited while working from available government office accommodation. This will also go a long way in addressing equity issues relating to women and their role in local government.

Integrated governance demands of municipalities to unblock local bureaucratic logjams and seamless co-operation between the three spheres of government. Specific attention must also be given to improving inter-governmental relations.

This requires the leadership of provincial and local government to work together in delivery on a clear development strategy. As part of our commitment to improve inter-governmental relations, we have organized the leadership of both the provincial and municipal sphere to come together on 21 June 2004 to discuss the development strategy and practical ways in which we can ensure integrated service delivery and greater cohesiveness in our province. This event is to occur within the 100 days initiative as announced by the Premier.

The strengthening of inter-governmental structures between municipalities and the Ministry of Local Government is also necessary. I will lead a consultative process in partnership with the Premier and WECLOGO on the most appropriate manner to revise and implement a strategy that will ensure sound and cooperative governance.

Specific attention will be given to build local networks of trust and social dialogue between organized business, labour, civil society and government as a deposit towards strengthening the social capital of our province.

Mr. Speaker, municipalities are charged to act as co-ordinator of social and economic investment into peripheral urban areas and rural settlements to address the geographic poverty implications of former apartheid planning. The Integrated Services Rural Development Plan (ISRDP) and Urban Renewal Program (URP) has shown the potential to target poor and marginalized parts of our province and these programmes must and will be intensified.

URP and ISRDP

The design, implementation and monitoring of integrated development projects had long been a challenge to government which is structured departmentally. Hence my appeal, Mr Speaker, for us to see the integrative imperative of local government.

I must point to a weakness I have identified with regard to these nodal projects which will be receiving my attention, that being lack of strategic coordination between spheres of government. This has resulted in lost opportunities to people of the province located and meant to benefit at these points and the province in general.

I will soon take a team starting in Alexandra, in Gauteng, to unearth lessons learnt and deal quickly with our own URP. I will also visit other provinces in due course to do same for the ISRP's and the URP.

On the instruction of the Cabinet, a team has been established, comprising representatives of each department, tasked with the design of new integrated projects in these nodes, and with adding value to existing projects wherever possible.

Accordingly, the Provincial Integrated Development Team was established on 1 April 2004. This is an experimental instrument that ventures gently into the field of matrix management. It focuses on integration and coordination, without transgressing departmental responsibilities.

It also facilitates the involvement of a wide variety of other resource providers, and will promote and reinforce the local coordination of integrated projects. I will analyse this structure, its mandate and strategies in the context of Integrated Governance within the 100day time frame and report.

I shall convene a Provincial Funding Conference in September aimed at sourcing funding from private donors and investors in the nodal projects of the ISRD and URP.

Mr. Speaker, I have previously mentioned the role of municipalities in providing free basic services. In our efforts to respond to the plight of the poor, municipalities have to respond to and target household poverty in their policies and service delivery. My Ministry feels strongly about the development of appropriate policies to deal with the indigent in our society and will provide guidance on ways to deal with this issue this year.

Our national minister, Mr Sidney Mufamadi, has spoken of the qualitative and quantitative challenges we face in this regard in his budget speech on 1 June 2004.
" the increase in social spending has resulted in an imbalance between social expenditure and investment in growth, which is not right. As a matter of fact, social expenditure is currently threatening to crowd out other forms of expenditure. Needles to say, this has ominous implications for provincial budgets."

Guideline document for the formulation of an Indigent Policy by Municipalities

Honourable Members,

Whilst we are proud of the fact all municipalities in the Western Cape have an indigent policy, these policies were introduced fairly randomly in each municipality

It is probable, therefore, that some municipalities may have given an appropriate level of services to the indigent while other municipalities may have exceeded such appropriate levels, thus placing an undue heavy tax burden on their ratepayers and consumers. We are well aware of the potential adverse effects that unnecessarily steep increases in rates and taxes have on economic development, loss of jobs and increased poverty.

My Department, therefore, requested Prof Loots to compile a guideline document for the formulation of an indigent policy to be used by municipalities in the Western Cape. This guideline document is an attempt to assist municipalities to formulate an indigent policy that is financially affordable, sustainable and will simultaneously enhance uniformity. Work on the document is almost finalised and will be submitted to Provincial Cabinet for consideration and approval in due course.

I made a remark above with regard to the inadequacy of equitable share allocations to municipalities who provide free basic services to indigent households. My Department pro-actively submitted proposals to the National Minister for Provincial and Local Government for the revision of the equitable share formula. President Mbeki, in his State of the Nation address on 21 May 2004, said that a major review of the local government equitable share allocation and formula will take place within the next six months.
I am hopeful that the team that is responsible for this review will take cognisance of the proposals submitted by my Department in this regard.

Status of Free Basic Services by Municipalities

One of the main objectives of local government is the provision of municipal services that are viable, affordable and sustainable. There is an increasing percentage of households who cannot afford to pay, but who are depending on these services for a better quality of life. The Provincial Government's iKapa elihlumayo: Hope, Delivery & Dignity for the Next Decade has made a commitment of bringing dignity to households living in poverty. It is therefore our aim to ensure that at least a basic level of services is provided to them, free of cost. However, The challenge for municipalities is to heed the words of the national minister and recognize our collective responsibility to growth and economic investment.

In the Western Cape, all municipalities have already implemented free basic services in terms of Council resolutions. To date, the main focus has been on the provision of free basic water and free basic electricity. In the Western Cape all 30 municipalities provide a certain amount of free water to their indigent households. Let me therefore congratulate our municipalities in the Western Cape with the dedicated efforts they have put into finalising and approving their policies to be able to provide free basic services to our communities.

The National Department recently embarked on a project to implement free basic sanitation services, starting from 1 July 2004, to our indigent communities. This is a national policy we strongly support and therefore play an active role, through our dedicated involvement on the national task team, to support municipalities with the implementation of this strategy, as far as it is feasible.

Our municipalities are currently finalising their budgeting processes and I am proud to announce that 25 of our municipalities indicated that they will provide, over and above the free basic water and electricity, also, free basic sanitation and free basic refuse removal to the indigent households in their communities, as from 1 July 2004, onwards.

Congratulations to our colleagues and municipalities with the urgency and commitment with which they addressed the provision of free basic services to our people. Let's recognise your efforts in making life indeed better for millions of our people. This is but one of our efforts to construct a new order that is more responsive to the needs of our people.

The challenge to address our service backlogs might look better than in other provinces, at a glance. However, the reality is that pockets of underdevelopment remain. The Department of Local Government will this year specifically work together with municipalities to target the more than 27 000 remaining families that do not as yet enjoy the benefits of free basic services.

Consolidated Municipal Infrastructure Programme (C- MIP) / Municipal Infratructure Grant (MIG)

Municipal infrastructure is the cornerstone of the core business of municipalities. My Department will endeavour through the focused use of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant to target remaining infrastructure backlogs.

During the 2003/04 financial year the full CMIP allocation of R183, 76m was expended on providing municipal infrastructure to poor households. The CMIP made a significant contribution to poverty alleviation and job creation in the following ways:

• The infrastructure created has facilitated the delivery of free basic services to poor households
• The construction of the infrastructure has created the following job opportunities:
• Women, 42 805 person days
• Youth, 117 212 person days
• Men, 481 842 person days

I must admit that a lot more of downstream opportunities still go begging on some of these projects thus missing out on kick-starting viable and long lasting business. I will be making an analysis of each and interacting with municipalities to point out opportunities and establish links to build the necessary capacity.

During the coming financial year (2004/2005) the CMIP is being merged into the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) programme. Other programmes that are being merged into the MIG at this stage are:

• Local Economic Development Fund
• Water Services Capital Grant
• Community Based Public Works Programme
• Urban Transport Grant.

The Department of Local Government will be implementing the MIG on behalf of the Department of Provincial and Local Government. This role will include the establishment of a Provincial Municipal Infrastructure Task Team (PMITT), which will be responsible for coordinating the activities of all role players involved in Municipal Infrastructure provision.

The Western Cape MIG allocation for 2004/05 is R244, 97m and will fund existing CMIP and Department of Water Affairs and Forestry commitments. This funding will be targeted at providing services to poor households and the infrastructure projects will be implemented in accordance with the Expanded Public Works Programme.

• Projects to be funded include:
• Water
• Roads and Storm water
• Street lighting and Electricity
• Cemeteries, Sport Facilities and other community services
• Sanitation
• Solid waste Disposal
• Public transport Facilities

In the above regard, I will this year also initiate investigations into the state of municipal infrastructure in this province and to focus attention on the competencies of municipal personnel to tackle their infrastructural challenges.

Mr. Speaker, in speaking to ensuring an adequate social safety net and the conditions of the poor, we have unfortunately also seen the ravages of fires and flooding in our informal settlements. As part of our commitment to addressing this issue, the Department of Local Government will target opportunities to expose residents in these areas to preventative methods of avoiding such catastrophic events and to work with municipalities to improve disaster management initiatives in these areas within the next 100 days.

Disaster Management Strategy

On Sunday, 14 March 2004, a fire destroyed more than 1000 informal structures in the Joe Slovo settlement, leaving 4000 inhabitants affected and mourning the loss of six friends and relatives. This only few weeks after another devastating fire occurred in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay. This cycle of destruction which severely affects the lives of our people and which is exacerbated during winter time by slow rising floods must be broken.

The Provincial Department of Local Government in conjunction with the Provincial Departments of Housing and Environmental Affairs and Planning, as well as the City of Cape Town, has initiated a co-ordinated approach to reduce the disaster risk caused by fires and floods in informal settlements throughout the Province. A two pronged approach is followed by addressing the short term as well as the medium to long term aspects and a draft strategy will be available before the end of June.

In the short term, measures should focus on the:

• Causal factors of the fires and flooding;
• Identification of high risk areas;
• Warning system;
• Prevention and mitigating measures, i.e. safer building methods, spacing of structures and provisions of basic fire fighting equipment;
• Public awareness and capacity building and
• The involvement of communities.

However, in the medium to long term we aim to reach a situation where disaster management is neither a regular nor predictable line item referring to informal settlements. Disaster management should be predicated on dealing for "unforeseen eventualities ", not a response to inadequate housing.

Mr. Speaker, no amount of money flowing through institutions with weak developmental or implementation capacity will result in good development outcomes. We have to ensure strong and sustainable institutions with the capacity to develop their own legislative, administrative and financial systems, adequate human resources and infrastructure, increased skills and competent staff to meet development challenges, strong political, strategic planning and managerial leadership and an expanded knowledge base, if we are to sustain development interventions in the longer term.

This therefore talks to a systemic approach, i.e. developing people alongside your infrastructural development and investment. This year I envisage a thorough capacity audit as we deal with remaining issues of local government transformation. Progress regarding municipal restructuring in this province has been steady and laudable, but we are not there yet.

Management Support Programme

The Department shall continue this year to ensure dedicated municipal finance management expertise in weaker municipalities and to secure revenue streams through stringent credit control. We will also be working closely with Treasury on the implementation of the Municipal Finance Management Act.

The department's ultimate objective through the implementation of the Management Support Programme is to assist municipalities to become and remain financially viable entities through the appointment of dedicated, professional service providers and to ensure that effective, sustainable skills transfer does indeed take place.

Section 154(1) of the Constitution places an obligation on National and Provincial Government, by legislative and other means, to monitor, support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions. Accordingly, this province supports and assists municipalities focusing on the enhancement of their financial and administrative capacity for sustainable service delivery, through funds allocated by the National Department of Provincial and Local Government to provinces by means of the annual Division of Revenue Act.

The programme is aimed at achieving the following main outcomes/objectives:

• Independent municipalities which are able to function in a positive cash flow situation.
• Increased effective and efficient service delivery to the community.
• Municipalities that adhere to all the statutory requirements set for them.
• Through the rendering of support, the effective completion of key transitional activities.
• Cash funded budgets to ensure financial independence.
• Effective sustainable skills transfer, and
• Ultimately successful municipalities.

For the current financial year (2004/05) an amount of R13, 867million has been made available to the Department. Management Support Programmes will be implemented at 8 municipalities.

These are:

• Cederberg
• Kannaland
• Witzenberg
• Drakenstein
• Beaufort West
• Laingsburg
• Prince Albert and,
• Cape Aghulas.

My Department has come a long way in stabilising municipalities by means of the management support programme. Examples of "best practices" can now be show-cased at municipalities where the programme was successfully implemented. These municipalities include Knysna and Breede Valley.

The reason for the successes achieved at these municipalities can, inter alia, be attributed to the implementation of multi-year turn around plans, dedicated work by the service providers, buy-in from the officials and Councillors, constant monitoring by the department, regular municipal steering committee meetings and the proper transfer of skills, thus ensuring that capacity is retained.

With effect from the 2005/2006 financial year the Local Government Capacity Building Grant will be paid directly to the district municipalities. The district municipalities will be responsible to make allocations to the local municipalities in their area.

I am concerned that if the funds are paid directly to the municipalities from the next financial year, it will hamper the current strategic support to municpalities by my department.

Although the responsibility of the Provincial Government to support municipalities is entrenched in the Constitution, CMIP funds, for example, have for the last few years been allocated directly to the district municipalities.

Slow progress with the implementation of these projects is the order of the day and past lessons show that political mandates and other agendas do indeed influence the allocation of funds to local municipalities and also the pace at which approved projects are being implemented.

I intend to take this matter up at the level of the Local Government MINMEC and will ask that it be included in the agenda of a following meeting for an in-depth discussion and resolution.

In our efforts to improve inter-governmental planning and budgeting it has become clear that each sphere of government should have a strategic planning and budgeting ability. This includes skills related to strategic planning (IDP in the municipal arena), project management, the ability to monitor performance, medium term budgeting and having strategic information about programmes being implemented and the impact of those completed.

Support through the provincial IDP Support Programme, district level PIMMS centres as well as the Management Support Programme shall be focused on strengthening its management ability and target those municipalities experiencing difficulties in this regard.

Powers and Functions

Regarding the debate on this matter, Mr. Speaker I have already engaged the President of the Western Cape Local Government Organization, Cllr Clarence Johnson, and with his support forwarded a circular to all the Mayors and Municipal Managers requesting that the present status quo regarding the rendering and funding of services, be maintained. The resolution of this complex matter needs time, cool heads and unity of purpose which must benefit the poorest of the poor in a pragmatic manner.
In this regard, the message is clear, people do not have to distinguish between roles and responsibilities of the various spheres of government, they see us as one, therefore effective and sound responses are required from all.

With regard to social and economic development, I wish to indicate my intention to work with my colleagues in Cabinet responsible for social services and poverty alleviation as well as economic development to strengthen municipalities' ability to engage in matters of social and economic development.

This will extend to ensuring that local economic development units in district municipal areas are operational and local citizens gain access to appropriate business opportunity information in municipal areas. To plan ahead and respond to this, I intend to appoint a service provider to identify critical indicators that speaks to the demands, challenges and needs we have to provide for.

Mr. Speaker some important initiatives to strengthen the cables that hold the anchors:

• Training and Capacity Building (R 7 460 000):

Municipal Executive Programme (MEP) Training programme for municipal managers Training programme for municipal female managers Training programme for municipal middle managers IDP Capacity Building workshop C-MIP capacity building

R 350 000 R 60 000 R 100 000 R 200 000 R 50 000 R 6,7m

• Promotion of intergovernmental relations (R 430 000):

Provincial framework for assignment of provincial functions to municipalities and developmental local government Implement a structure for promotion of co-operation with the City of Cape Town Annual conference of all three spheres of government Develop a framework for co-operation with WECLOGO IDP Conference

R 200 000       R 30 000 R 120 000 R 80 000

• Support Programmes (R 15 924 000):

URP and ISRDP Implementation of PIDT Public Participation document Woman in Local Government Conference Vuna awards Revise monitoring tool in line with the new MFMA Promote the guidelines for the implementation of a sustainable indigent policy that caters for free basic services C-MIP / MIG project preparation Financial and other management support programmes

R 200 000 R 12 000 R 150 000 R 80 000 R 100 000   R 15 000   R 1 500 000 R 13 867 000

• Legislation (R 800 000):

Provincial Act on Local Government Rationalisation of Provincial Local Government Legislation An assessment of the Cango Caves Ordinance and determination of the way forward

R 500 000 R 100 000 R 200 000

• Disaster Management (R 6 700 000):

Building capacity to give effect to the new Disaster Management Act and specifically the objectives of prevention and mitigation - Completing the study on a disaster management framework in the Province Financial contribution for a helicopter for fire fighting - Financial contribution to the Life Saving Association - Establishment of Provincial Disaster Management Centre -

R 50 000   R 50 000   R 1 500 000 R 200 000 R 4 900 000

My commitment

And then Mr. Speaker, last but not the least, my own commitment in the first 100 days of my tenure as Provincial Minister for Local Government:

1. An outreach initiative to all municipalities and municipal councillors in the Province (21 June 2004) to:
    
• Formally introduce the Premier of the Western Cape and Provincial Minister of Local Government.
• Afford the Premier and the Provincial Minister the opportunity to articulate their vision for the Province and Local Government and the role of Municipalities in making the Province a home for all.
• Affirm the Provincial Government's absolute commitment to address poverty and seek the buy-in of Municipalities and Councilors irrespective of political differences.
   
2. To conclude certain investigative work which is ongoing at present, the Products of which will contribute to the "Home for all" theme. These are:
    
   • A prevention and mitigation framework for fires and slow flooding in informal settlements, currently in preparation by a multidisciplinary task team.
   • Guidelines for municipalities on how to structure their indigent policies in a sustainable manner.
   • Stabilizing the Kannaland Municipality to ensure an acceptable level of services to its residents until full rehabilitation can take place.
   • A communication framework and programme in respect of the municipal infrastructure grant to ensure that Provincial departments and municipalities clearly understand:
     • The purpose of the grant
     • The requirements and workings of the grant
     • The role each sphere of Government has to fulfil
     • The role the grants must play in fighting poverty and making the Province a "home for all".
   • An assessment of the position of former rural settlements and farm workers within the present wall to wall "municipal system" with regard to quality of services and development, by an intergovernmental task team.
      
3. To commit the Provincial Government and its municipal allies on the following matters within the first 100 days as a launching pad for the next five years.
    
   • Common understanding on the unity of purpose regarding the division of powers and functions between the Province and municipalities and the need to concretise each sphere of Government's pragmatic contribution to " a home for all".
   • An independent audit of the effectiveness of the Ward Committee system. It's shortcomings and proposed remedies to hear the voice of the people why the Province is not " a home for all". This will receive considerable attention.
   • A joint venture between the Departments of Housing, Local Government, Municipalities and the National Department of Housing to assess the present blockages which makes optimal provision of housing problematic.
   • An assessment of the capacity of Municipalities to provide and administer housing and housing projects on which a capacity framework and programme can be crafted and implemented.

Finally

My Department and I are committed to respond to the call of the President and the Premier to remove impediments to growth and development. We intend to be in the field, working with municipalities and taking them through a process of learning-by-doing towards a truly developmental local government.

Of critical importance in the current phase would be to ensure that the challenges and interest of the marginalized sectors of our population and the designated groups receive due monitoring and effect. This is with particular reference to women in senior management especially in municipalities, the disabled in formal employment regardless of the sector. We shall also explore the formulation of partnerships with municipalities among other African countries in the spirit of NEPAD, separate detail on this would be made available in the near future.

I wish to express my gratitude to the officials within my Department, which, in the short time I have been with them, have shown me their passion and commitment to our task ahead in seeing Developmental Local Governance, in Action."