Speech by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, at the full council meeting

10 December 2015

Good morning, goeie môre, molweni, as-salaam alaikum, shalom.

Mr Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the former Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene, for his service on behalf of the people of Cape Town.

We found him a constructive partner in managing the funds we receive from the national fiscus.

I would also like to commend him for standing firm on the principle of sound financial management and resisting unnecessary nuclear deals and demanding that South African Airways (SAA) is responsibly managed.

He did these things against powerful political interests that have cost him his career after being summarily dismissed by the president last night.

Mr Nene, while President Zuma doesn’t care what you meant for the economy, we do and we thank you.

Mr Speaker,

Yesterday, I met with the Auditor-General (AG), Kimi Makwetu.

We had a discussion on the state of our municipal finances and the outcomes from the AG’s latest audit into the City of Cape Town.

We are proud to announce that we have received our third clean audit in a row and tenth unqualified audit in a row.

Thanks to a combination of sound financial management, leadership, rigorous monitoring and open, ethical and transparent government, we maintain our clean record.

The idea of an ‘unqualified audit’ doesn’t always find resonance with people.

Sometimes, people don’t understand the importance of this designation and what it means for them.

The status of a government’s audit essentially determines how well they handle their finances. 

This looks at many things, including abiding by all legal frameworks, whether there are proper financial and monitoring procedures in place and whether individuals behave ethically, to name a few.

And considering that governments manage public funds, these criteria are of critical importance.

Unlike private organisations, governments are not driven by profit, nor do they have the freedom to make what amount to risky decisions based on chance.

Supervising public money means acting as responsibly as possible so that the public derives benefit from their resources.

Government really is a vehicle for turning public resources towards public utility and public gain.

Such financial management allows us to provide services to all of the people of this city, especially the poor.

It allows us to plan and manage budgets that roll out services to informal settlements, provide services for backyarders, and subsidise the poor.

We do this by the most extensive cross-subsidisation of rates from wealthier to poorer residents in the country.

And this policy allows us to deliver even when resources are limited.

Sometimes people get impatient with the pace of delivery or they become impatient with the social circumstances left to us by our history.

I understand those frustrations.

Because as much as we have to abide by the law as a public service organisation, we also have a moral duty to use public resources for the betterment of our society.

We do not exist to make profit.

We exist to serve the public interest.

That is why our sector-leading spending performances, with over 90% capital spend, demonstrate that we do everything we can to spend our money on service delivery.

This includes making sure that we have labour-intensive projects that provide economic relief to our communities who are most in need.

While National Government provides us with R20 million per year for Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects, we spend an additional R130 million mainstreaming EPWP job opportunities in our line departments.

Our excellence in the country in terms of EPWP was acknowledged by National Government at the Kamosa awards.

But when talking about service delivery and spending the money we have to improve lives, sometimes the law and the framework under which we operate is not as responsive as it should be as our experience in the domain of transportation has demonstrated recently.

The City of Cape Town submitted applications to the National Minister of Transport for the assignment of the contracting authority function which relates to this scheduled bus services contract in October 2012, and for the municipal regulatory entity function in May 2013.

The City’s applications for the assignment of these functions to the City were made as determined by the National Land Transport Act, 2009 (the NLTA), in order to give effect to integrated transport.

Despite several letters to the Minister of Transport since lodging these applications, the City has had no response from the Minister about a decision to grant these applications.

The City has been left with no alternative other than to declare a formal intergovernmental dispute in terms of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005 (IRFA).

Our notice of a dispute was made on the basis that the City has, since at least at October 2012 and April 2013, been attempting to obtain the assignment of the contracting authority and municipal regulatory entity functions respectively, but has been unable to receive even a response to the two assignment applications from the Minister of Transport.

The specific functions which the City has formally applied for are the contracting authority function with regard to bus services like those provided by Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd (GABS) within the city and the municipal regulatory entity function for the issuing of operating licences to road-based public transport such as buses and taxis.

These functions are currently both performed by the Western Cape Government Department of Transport and Public Works.

The transport services provided by GABS are subsidised by the National Government using the Public Transport Operations Grant (PTOG).

The City is ready to take over these functions as we have prepared 10-year business plans and related budgets motivating the assignment of the functions to the City, and ensuring that there is sufficient funding and capacity, as required by the Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000.

We have also obtained the approval of these business plans and related budgets from the City’s Council, the Minister of Finance, the National Treasury, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Western Cape Government, and the Financial and Fiscal Commission.

We have written to the Minister of Transport at least four times and once to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

We have also followed up with telephonic conversations in which the minister undertook to obtain the applications from her officials and undertook to duly consider same.

The silence and inaction is even more difficult to understand given that the National Development plan, the National Transport Master Plan and the National Transport Strategic Framework are in full support of the assignment of the functions to municipalities.

After years of no responses, the Minister finally wrote to me last week to inform me of proposed amendments to the NLTA.

There is no indication about when these amendments will be tabled before Parliament as it is not yet on the roll.

The City’s application for the contracting and assignment authority is essential to our plan to integrate and enhance public transport.

This will lead to lower travel costs and improve travel times and integration of various modes of public transport.

We cannot allow progress to be stalled by these delays in making a decision on our applications or the Minister’s failure to take a decision based on the possibility of the Act being amended.

The current legislation still prevails until such time as the new legislation comes into force, which is not a certainty. 

Thousands of commuters are in need of a cheaper and more effective transport and the implementation of an integrated transport network can no longer be delayed.

Mr Speaker, a better transportation system will improve our energy usage which will make our city more sustainable.

And on the question of sustainability and climate resilience, we remain metropolitan thought leaders.

Last week, the City of Cape Town’s Water Conservation and Water Demand Management Programme (WCWDM) was announced as the winner in the Adaptation Implementation Category in the 2015 C40 Cities Awards in Paris.

We are extremely proud of the City’s WCWDM programme which has been instrumental in establishing Cape Town as a national leader in reducing water demand and losses.

This award reaffirms the City’s international recognition as a leading city in the global efforts to address climate change.

This programme is also a concrete example of the manner in which cities are in a unique position to drive initiatives on the ground that prepare us for the projected climatic changes, particularly an expected reduction in annual average rainfall.

I was greatly honoured to receive this award on behalf of all residents of Cape Town who have worked with us to reduce water demand and implement water conservation measures.

I would like to extend my gratitude to our officials in the City’s Water and Sanitation Department for the many years of dedication and commitment to ensuring that we manage our water resources and infrastructure efficiently.

The City of Cape Town has taken a proactive and long-term approach to water management and has worked conscientiously to reduce water demand.

Through effective resource management and a shared responsibility with residents over a 15-year period, the WCWDM programme has resulted in a reduction in demand or water savings of more than 30%.

This is despite significant development and the more than 30% increase in population in Cape Town since 2001.

This project has resulted in massive carbon emission savings due to the City’s ability to avoid infrastructure expansion which would have been required if water consumption had not been reduced.

Indeed, this award shows how we are adapting to the realities of our climate and our environment as the world negotiates our climate future.

Climate change is a global challenge that will require an unprecedented level of international cooperation to prevent the planet from warming more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The 2 degree-level is what global scientists have calculated to be the point at which a dangerous destabilisation of the earth’s climate system will really start to be felt.

The projected impacts range from extreme weather events to an increase in vector-borne diseases and devastating impacts on biodiversity and the world’s food production system.

These impacts will differ across the globe, with many of the poorer countries tragically suffering the most from a problem that they had the smallest role in creating.

It is therefore vitally important that an agreement is struck in Paris at COP21 that gives the world a sense of hope that this issue is finally being addressed and given the global political priority it deserves.

Already progress is being made in Cape Town in that we have seen our electricity usage decrease in the city as a whole from its 2007 level, while still enjoying economic growth of over 3%.

Interestingly, it is projected that the greatest growth in emissions will come from our transport sector over the next 25 years and tackling this will require, among other things, changes in our urban form, coupled with major interventions to increase vehicle occupancy, ensure more efficient vehicles and increase public transport usage.

The City’s Energy 2040 Strategy, which sets carbon targets, has been adopted by Council.

Reaching these targets will require a major effort from all stakeholders.

On the electricity front, Cape Town is determined to move ahead with procuring power from renewable energy independent power producers so that we can reach our target of sourcing at least 10% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Mr Speaker, in conclusion, next week we will observe the Day of Reconciliation.

This is a chance for all of us to reflect on how we can build a society based on freedom, fairness, and opportunity.

In that regard, we will be continuing our programme of honouring our Freeman of the City, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in his lifetime with a reconciliation day walk.

I urge all councillors to lead their communities at this event and turn out for the Arch.

After that, I wish everyone a safe and restful festive season and urge all our members to recharge themselves for the final push of this term of office.

And finally let me thank all councillors for their hard work this year. You have done the people of Cape Town proud.

Thank you, baie dankie, enkosi.

Issued by Zara Nicholson, Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor: Patricia de Lille, City of Cape Town, 10 December 2015