JOINT NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE OUDTSHOORN LOCAL MUNICIPALITY

Pretoria; 17 August 2015

The National and Provincial government have agreed to intervene in the Oudtshoorn Local Municipality, in terms of section 139 (1) (b) of the Constitution as a corrective measure of last resort, to bring stability, good governance and service delivery for all residents in the municipality.

The intervention follows numerous attempts by national and provincial government to deal with ongoing challenges faced by the municipality with regard to:

- Political and administrative instability;

- Non-functional council structures;

- Irregular acting appointments in senior positions;

- Water pollution and refuse removal and general breakdown in delivery of services to communities;

-  Irregular appointment of service providers and procurement processes;

- Poor communication with communities;

- Eskom debt and decline of the tourism industry

Mr Kamalasan ("Kam") Chetty has been appointed as the administrator for a period of six (6) months to implement the intervention. He will lead a joint national-provincial intervention team comprising four officials: two with expertise in finance and legal services from the Western Cape Provincial Government and two from National Government to cover other relevant fields, including but not limited to human resource management and engineering services.

In this regard, the Administrator will be vested with all the powers and functions reasonable necessary to ensure that the proper functioning of the Municipal Council of Oudtshoorn is restored. The scope of his work and his support team will cover but not limited to the following:

1. Put people first

The aim is to improve public participation, community outreach and stakeholder engagement in the affairs of the municipality. The Administrator will assist councillors to make ward committee’s vibrant forums for discussing development issues, and increase community outreach programmes, izimbizo and visible leadership on the ground. The capacity of the municipality to respond in a timely manner to complaints, petitions and enquiries. The Mayor will be supported to conduct regular sessions with community, business & labour, and engage the Chamber of Commerce on Spatial development, in particular support to the Tourism Sector – Cango Caves, and other critical economic sectors of Oudtshoorn.

2. Good governance

The aim is create the right relationships of accountability within the municipality, and ensure that there are mechanisms for oversight and reporting on performance. The system of Council committees will be reviewed, and support provided to the Mayoral Committee, MPAC and Chief Whips office in the exercise of their duties. The Speaker’s office will be supported to coordinate constituency work and ensure that Councillors report back to their constituencies. There will be an official forensic investigation into fraud and corruption and the municipality will be supported to act on all forensic reports and internal audit reports. The council will be supported to review all delegations and compliance with all statutory requirements for a functional council.

3. Infrastructure and services

The objective is to address critical community concerns relating to water pollution in the Olifants River, management of the Landfill sites, housing and infrastructure services, and will ensure both quick win improvements as well as building long term infrastructure management capacity. The team will provide support for infrastructure planning, procurement and contract management. This could include managing projects on behalf of the municipality if necessary.

4. Financial management

The aim is to get the municipal budget back into surplus, strengthen internal controls and transparency in the Budget and Treasury Office, and improve long term financial planning, financial recovery plan. Support will be provided to the Budget and Treasury office to recover outstanding debt, and build up financial reserves and address the debt owed to Eskom and other third parties. Furthermore, address the AG report in relation to the post audit action plan and asset management. An analysis of the budget will undertaking to ensure credibility and cash-backed budget is prepared for consideration by council.

5. Institutional development

The municipality will be supported to address critical challenges in the administration, such as the following:

- Review and approval of the Organogram

- Review all appointment of temporary workers

- Review all the acting positions

- Verification of qualifications and compliance with minimum competency requirements

- Change management process aligned to new vision and code of good governance

- Performance management system

- Review cases of misconduct, disciplinary cases and other pending HR cases

National and provincial government calls upon all parties and the community to support the intervention and to work together to bring stability, good governance and service delivery for all residents in the municipality.

Statement issued by the Ministry for Co-operative Governance & Traditional Affairs and the Ministry of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning – Western Cape, August 17 2015