Statement by Gauteng Premier, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, during the Presentation Of Local Government Performance Review 2006 - 2011 

The new local government term, which begins immediately after the 18 May local government elections, marks the start of the third term of a democratic and developmental local government in South Africa. Today we are proud to present to you the record which reflects the performance of the local government during the period 2006 - 2011 which is under review. The full report provides a comprehensive assessment of what has worked well and not worked in the previous period.

What we hope to accomplish through this assessment is a perfection of a local government model focused on redressing the historical apartheid legacy of separate development and exclusion. This local government model should be able to assist in building institutions that are sustainable, financially viable, and well-governed with the ability to implement programmes and deliver services in an integrated manner while allowing for a meaningful participatory process. We have already started this process and we should all work towards perfecting this model across all Gauteng municipalities in order to realise a better life for all.

During the period under review, we have witnessed the creation of accountability and oversight structures to ensure that both the administration and Councillors become answerable to their communities on service delivery matters. We have seen a number of programmes undertaken by Gauteng municipalities jointly with the provincial government which focus on building and enhancing the capacity of our municipalities to deliver on their core mandate.

The creation of viable and sustainable municipalities was taken to higher levels with the introduction, by municipalities, of policies and strategies aimed at increasing their revenue base. The percentage of municipalities who received clean audits has increased and is sitting at 73%.

We have seen improvements in the provision of basic services like water, electricity, sanitation, roads and infrastructure development. The province also initiated a number of support programmes meant to enhance the capacity of our municipalities.

In the period under review all municipalities in Gauteng adopted municipal specific turnaround strategies to enhance their capacity to deliver services on a sustainable basis. The following programmes were implemented:

Operation Clean Audit (OPCA)

This programme has resulted in 11 municipalities out of 15 achieving Clean Audits.

Local Government Turn Around Strategy (LGTAS)

This programme has seen all our municipalities adopting municipal specific turnaround strategies that are meant to strengthen their capacity to deliver services on a sustainable basis.

Revenue Enhancement and Debt Management Programme

This programme is meant to make sure that municipalities are able to raise the necessary revenue to deliver services to communities.

Capacity building programmes focusing on skills training and development

Through the above programmes, we have been able to make sure that a number of programmes directed at critical and scarce skills are developed, including, programmes to ensure retention of competent staff in our municipalities.

These are some of the programmes that have assisted us in placing the local government on the road to working effectively.

In an effort to fulfilling its constitutional obligations, the provincial government declared its commitment to the provision of basic services such as water and sanitation, roads, solid waste, electricity and housing. The provision of Free Basic Services is now for the first time in the history of this country being implemented to benefit indigent residents of Gauteng. In terms of our plans based on the set targets we were able to eradicate the bucket system in all the municipalities. However, due to the influx of people leading to the mushrooming of informal settlements, the municipalities have had to deal with the resurfacing of new cases.  

On the issue of water and sanitation, Gauteng municipalities implemented projects on a massive scale in order to meet the set targets. Gauteng municipalities delivered sanitation to 167 014 households and provided potable water to 228 046 households.

Coming to the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), municipalities in the  province have during the period spanning 2006 to 2009 managed to spend 100% of the infrastructure funds on key programmes. The total infrastructure budget spent exceeded R5 billion.

In the formalised townships, the municipalities prioritised roads and transport infrastructure programme. Through the implementation of this programme, Gauteng municipalities constructed  1026 kms of roads supported by 88 storm-water projects, and eight taxi ranks.

The maintenance of infrastructure keeps our towns and cities running efficiently and remains a critical service for all municipalities to provide. Repairs and maintenance cost 10% of the total expenditure. The amount spent on repairs and maintenance improved from 5.2% in the 2006/07 to 8% in 2009/10.  

Since primary health care is one of our key priorities, we have delivered a total of 24 clinics through the infrastructure programme. Municipalities also continue to complement these through various community outreach programmes and the establishment of additional sites to increase access to Anti-Retroviral Treatment.

On solid waste management, the Gauteng municipalities embarked on improved waste management activities which included waste recycling and solid waste removal. A total of 44 projects on landfill management were implemented.

The human settlement plan ‘Breaking New Ground' has accelerated and radically transformed the patterns of housing delivery in Gauteng municipalities since its inception in 2004.  During the period under review, the implementation of human settlements projects was made possible by the following key programmes:  

Mixed Housing:

This program promotes social cohesion by integrating and de-racialising communities, as it allows for all communities to leave together irrespective of social and economic status. By doing away with the old apartheid spatial planning, a broader and fresher approach to sustainable human settlements is emerging in all municipalities. Under this programme we have delivered such projects as Cosmo City, Lufhereng, Chief Mogale Luthuli Olievenhoutbosch and Nellmapius.

Alternative Tenure:

The Alternative Tenure programme includes Social Housing, Backyard Rental and Hostel Eradication and Affordable Rental Accommodation. Through this programme, more Gauteng residents have benefited.  

Eradication of Informal Settlements:

Informal settlements remain a major challenge for municipalities to manage due to in-migration of people to the province. The plan is either to upgrade those which are suitable or to relocate. By August 2008, a total of 85 informal settlements had already been formalised and 36 were eradicated by 2009.

Urban Renewal Programme:

Urban Renewal Projects continued to provide hope for a number of communities which were economically distressed and dilapidated, by prioritising infrastructure projects. The priority has been on high-impact economic and social infrastructure upgrades, including roads, transport, housing and bulk infrastructure, as well as local economic developments. Our key Urban Renewal nodes are Alexandra, Bekkersdal, Evaton and Winterveldt. The Summary Report has a list of achievements in all the identified nodes.

Gauteng municipalities are also significantly improving the lives of communities through the 20-Prioritised Township Programme (20PTP) to ensure that marginalised, "townships" are included as integrated suburbs within the Gauteng cities and towns.

Touching on energy and electricity provision, the municipalities in Gauteng continue to provide free basic electricity ranging from 50 kWh to 100 kWh per month. In the areas supplied by Eskom, 98 % of indigent households are receiving Free Basic Electricity, with the remaining 2% still to be delivered. A total of 570 762 new electricity connections were made in Gauteng metropolitan municipalities. The province has developed the Gauteng Integrated Energy Strategy, which will promote the use of alternative energy and recyclable materials. Progress has been made in the installation of solar water heaters, especially, in Ekurhuleni and Tshwane.

The hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup certainly contributed in addressing the strategic priorities and growth and development strategy of the Gauteng Province. Employment was created through infrastructure projects. Training of construction workers, volunteers and many workers across board took place. Skills were developed and small enterprises were supported and expanded. 

The fast tracking of the freeway improvement plan, the opening of the first phase of Gautrain, and the introduction of the Bus Rapid Transit system, demonstrated the effectiveness and the efficiency of the road and transportation systems in the Gauteng province. 

The re-demarcation of boundaries brought with it some challenges and benefits. Areas such as the north west part of Tshwane (Mabopane, Garankuwa,Hammanskraal, and Winterveldt) and some parts of Mpumalanga (Bronkhorstspruit) were re-incorporated into Gauteng. The boundaries for the City of Tshwane, Metsweding District Municipality and Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality were also redefined, leading to the discontinuation of Metsweding, Kungwini and Nokeng tsa Taemane. All these processes are almost complete and have been achieved without any turmoil.

Coming to the Community Development Workers (CDWs), a total number of 464 CDWs has been assigned to work in wards across all municipalities; 65% or 300 of these are deployed in the metropolitan municipality wards, and the remaining 35% or 164 are deployed in other municipality wards. They have been instrumental in referring cases to appropriate sector departments and generally improving service delivery.

The Gauteng Provincial Government initiated Project Consolidate in order to support all municipalities. This support programme has assisted in the development of core systems, processes, policies and procedures for each municipality. It has also assisted in unlocking key infrastructure development projects with a total impact of over R5 billion.

We also embarked on an extensive skills audit exercise in a number of municipalities which confirmed that the main challenge is the scarcity of critical skills. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and South African Institute of Civil Engineering (SAICE) deployed over 72 accountants and engineers in municipalities. Employment opportunities, for over 300 unemployed students and graduates, were achieved. At least 66% of professionals have been retained by municipalities. Various training initiatives benefited over 6 000 officials, Councillors and unemployed youth.

At the end of the 2000-2005 local government term of office, a review of the governance systems and structures was carried out. As a result of this review process, Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) were introduced across all municipalities. In addition, a pilot programme was initiated in the City of Jogurg to replace Section 80 Portfolio Committees with Section 79 Oversight Committees.

In order to keep pulse on consumers of our services, the Gauteng Provincial Government, along with all the municipalities, conducts citizen and customer satisfaction surveys on a regular basis. Between 2005 and 2011, the province conducted a minimum of two surveys. The surveys focus on basic service as well as the quality of life.

- According to the Department of local Government Survey of 2007, the aggregated results suggest that the proportion of residents satisfied with electricity was 56%, 58% for sanitation, 70% for water, and 71% for refuse and waste removal. In addition, 31% of Gauteng residents felt that there was improvement in government performance in 2007 compared to 2005.

- On satisfaction levels for electricity supply the results suggest that half of the consumers in municipalities are satisfied and another half indicated that municipalities are performing below par.

On water supply the Gauteng residents are generally satisfied - average topping 60%.  

On sanitation the satisfaction levels are reasonable or moderate, averaging 60%. 

On refuse and waste removal the satisfaction levels are also significantly high, averaging above 60%.

Turning on issues of revenue generation, the Municipalities generate their income from a combination of property assessment rates, tariffs, services (i.e. electricity, water and refuse removal), as well as allocations from national and provincial governments. Other sources of revenue include license fees and fines.

Charges for municipal services are the largest source of revenue for municipalities in the last five years. Water and electricity purchases and the revenue generated from such services show a steady increase over the past five years. Revenue collection still remains a problem due to non-payment of services by some consumers.

The analysis of the capital expenditure by Metros for the period under review reflects the budget of R40 billion on capital projects and expenditure of R37 billion (92%). 

A large portion of the expenditure budget was on infrastructure for roads, pavements, bridges, storm water, electricity and sanitation. In addition, several metros benefitted from the World Cup stadium construction projects. Capital expenditure on community assets improved tremendously over the last three financial years. 

District municipalities budgeted R389 million for capital projects and R209 million was spent on infrastructure assets. 

As stated above the government implemented several support programmes to assist municipalities to better manage their finances. The emphasis on clean audits and good governance encouraged those municipalities that have a history of obtaining unqualified audits to work on maintaining these good results. Municipalities that obtained negative audit opinions were instructed to develop plans to improve their finances and meet accepted accounting standards.

In conclusion, the guiding principle and strategic objective of local government is to eradicate the legacy of apartheid planning. The 2006 local Government Priorities were crafted with this in mind. This review therefore provides an assessment of the progress made in implementing the strategic agenda of local government in Gauteng.

As we take a collective effort to account to citizens, we are proud of the significant progress that has been made over the last five years. The review provided a basis for the incoming leadership in local government to consolidate gains made and improve in areas of weakness. What Gauteng needs now is a strong and active citizenry that will help Gauteng to progress and grow for the benefit of the entire country, South Africa.

Issued by the Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government, May 10 2011

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