COGTA & MISA 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan; Flood Response Plan; with Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson acknowledged the fully-fledged presentation document which encapsulates four areas: Corporative Governance, Traditional Affairs, MISA and the current flood disaster in KZN, Eastern Cape and North West. The Committee had requested it be given accountability deadlines for the flood disaster in the three provinces and interventions government is making, led by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA).

The Chairperson noted Parliament has established a joint committee to deal with this disaster and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) forms part of this committee. Some of the Select Committee members form part of this committee and will engage intensively on this.

Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan
Ms Avril Williamson, DCOG Director-General, noted the Department had revised its Strategic Plan 2019-2024 to ensure alignment to its core mandate in line with the review of the departmental operating model and organizational structure. The review of the Strategic Plan was informed by the review of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) by DPME to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic and July 2021 unrest in KZN and Gauteng. The Annual Performance Plan 2022/23 was tabled on 11 March 2022 in Parliament which includes the revised Strategic Plan as annexure.

See document for further details

Department of Traditional Affairs (DTA) 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan
Mr Mashwahle Diphofa, DTA Director-General, outlined the DTA vision:
• To have a community development-oriented institution of traditional leadership.
• This is pursued through ensuring effective governance of the Department itself, promoting safe practices, embarking on initiatives to support a functional institution of traditional and Khoi-san leadership, development partnerships in traditional and Khoi-san communities and promoting the transformation of the institution to conform with constitutional obligations.

He indicated the targets for the three programmes: Administration; Research, Policy and Legislation; Institutional Support and Coordination. The MTEF Estimates were 2929/23 R177m; 2023/24 R179m; 2024/25 R188m.

See document for further details

Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) 2022/23 Annual Performance Plan
Mr Ntandazo Vimba CEO: MISA, presented the outputs, output indicators and budget for its three programmes: Administration; Technical Support Services; Infrastructure Delivery Management Support.

National Integrated Flood Response Plan (April 2022)
Ms Williamson said that an integrated multi-sectoral response and recovery plan has been prepared to outline the integrated efforts by all organs of state and stakeholders. The plan covers:
• Integrated multi-sectoral institutional arrangements with clear roles and responsibilities for the coordination and implementation of response and recovery efforts.
• Disaster risk assessment and risk reduction efforts with continuous monitoring of conditions on the ground, issuance of early warnings and advisories to mitigate against further deterioration.
• Mobilization of funding and other resources by stakeholders and allocations for interventions.
• Enhanced monitoring, oversight, auditing, and reporting to enhance the realization of the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and accountability stakeholders.

Interventions by Department of Public Works and Infrastructure
• Provision of built environment professionals through State-Owned Entities within DPWI for assessment, scoping, costing and implementation of critical infrastructure.
• The focus is addressing damage to 49 go buildings, identification of suitable land parcels to be utilized for resettlement of households left homeless and alternative building to mitigate the effects of climate change.
• The sector has established work streams to fast-track intervention measures.

Recommendations
Ms Williamson noted the recommendations:
• Notes progress on multi-sectoral integrated interventions to deal with the immediate humanitarian relief, stabilization, and recovery as well as rehabilitation and reconstruction phases of the disaster.
• Provides support in advocating for disaster reduction and climate change adaptation measures within communities for sustainability and resilience building in the country.
• Advocates that the principle of building back better is implemented in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase that is informed by risk adverse planning and development.
• Encourages municipalities, provinces, and sector departments to develop, update, review, and submit their disaster management and contingency plans to the NDMC.

Discussion
Mr S Zandamela (EFF, Mpumalanga) complained that the presentations were generic and did not indicate timelines and who will be responsible for what, where and when. It becomes difficult to make follow-ups on the Departments without specific timelines. The presentations were summarized and did not have proper timelines or information on the provinces and municipalities.

Ms S Shaikh (ANC, Limpopo) referred to the lack of clarity and timelines in the presentations. They should follow the NCOP mandate and ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government. They should have provided a breakdown of all provinces and municipalities that are targeted. She advised they follow the Committee recommendations for the quarterly reports as well with a breakdown indicating progress in various provinces and municipalities. It is a requirement in the Municipal Systems Act that they submit the National Consolidated Report on performance of municipalities.

She asked if they could provide timelines on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) interventions within the DTA APP. Was it targeting to achieve this by the end of 2022/23? This is an important report and it should be furnished to the Committee. It will contribute greatly against GBVF especially in rural areas. A concern was raised with this Committee on the establishment of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders in the Western Cape taking into account the Khoi-San communities. There was an engagement with the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL) as well as the President and the Minister. However, it was brought to the Committee's attention that tools of trade are lacking amongst many other matters. The Committee must be informed of the concerns raised and the commitments made by government.

The Chairperson said that there was a requirement for additional budget. He asked if there are cost containment measures in place to address the budget shortfall. However, he appreciated all the initiatives made by government, the private sector and NGOs in addressing and assisting with the effects of the floods. The presentation identifies mitigation measures for climate change – an area which requires strategic thinking. Going forward a more sustainable approach is needed and this requires urgent attention by government. There were no future projections. Has an EWS been developed in case a disaster strikes again?

Mr I Sileku (DA, Western Cape) said that people lost their lives, homes and valuable assets which cannot be taken for granted. Should a similar occurrence happen again in the provinces, will they be able to handle it with a better approach? How are they ensuring they minimize the effect of disasters in the different provinces?

The presentation should have addressed their performance for 2021/22 indicating if those targets were achieved and the reasons if not achieved. It only showed new targets but did not reflect if any historical targets are carried over. He asked if there has been an improvement in audit outcomes and if not, why? How many corruption cases have been reported in 2021/22?

He asked for more detail on the successes and failures of the Financial Management Innovation Partnership (FMIP) and District Development Model (DDM) implementation. DDM has been introduced as an operational model for improving Cooperative Governance aimed at building a capable, ethical developmental state. What are the factors that have been a hindrance to DDM? What have been the lessons learnt from the provinces and municipalities that have been used as pilots since they launched the pilot projects?

Mr Sileku enquired where the smart cities will be. There are lots of cities in the country that are currently struggling, what will government do differently this time to assist them? He asked why the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill is taking so long to be signed by the President.

The 64 dysfunctional municipalities were identified before the November 2021 local government elections. Red flags must be identified before things get worse. What support is given to the municipalities, especially when they fall under a Section 139 intervention? This section empowers a provincial government to intervene when a municipality cannot or does not fulfill its executive obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation. The Department must be honest with the Committee on the current interventions and support given to the municipalities. If the MPAC was fully functional there would not be irregularities in these municipalities. The functions of MPAC are to provide democratic and accountable governance for local municipalities, ensure the provision of services in a sustainable way and to promote social and economic development as well as a safe and healthy environment.

Mr Sileku said that Community Work Programme (CWP) has been providing training opportunities for 3-6 months. It was a good initiative considering our country is confronted by unemployment, poverty and inequality. However, the programme is politicized and mostly councillors are involved in it. If 250 people are trained in a financial year what happens afterwards? Do they go back to being unemployed or do they get employment after training?

He enquired about the Minister’s views if local governments are sufficiently funded. Do they need to lobby for more funding for them? If this is the case what is the Department doing to ensure that it does not happen again? He asked if there is progress in making sure that local governments are professionalized. If local government in the country is not fixed, then it is impossible to deal with unemployment, inequality and poverty.

How much has the Department of Traditional Affairs spent on litigation cases? Did the Department ensure that the integrity of the Traditional Houses is not tampered with and they get the respect they deserve? DTA must be present during court proceedings to ensure that there are no feuds amongst families seeking royal positions.

Mr Sileku asked how municipalities get support from MISA. Are municipalities aware that this institution exists for such purpose? He asked if its targets for 2021/22 were achieved and reasons for those unachieved. What needs to be done to ensure the municipal infrastructure grants are spent? At least 95%-100% of these grants should be spent every financial year to avoid roll-overs or grants being moved to other municipalities. MISA is there to provide support and develop technical capacity towards sustained accelerated municipal infrastructure and service delivery. Municipalities are incapacitated due to the lack of project managers and implementers. For this reason, there is no progress in grant spending in municipalities.

Mr K Motsamai (EFF, Gauteng) was pleased to hear that government still considered the Khoi-San. He reported cases in Rustenburg and Moruleng where Bashiga-ba-Raphafana and Bakgatla-ba Kgafela are fighting for royal positions. They wrote to the Select Committee because COGTA has failed to assist. There are feuds between Bashiga-ba-Raphafana and Royal Bafokeng from Lesotho. The Committee was requested to meet with Bashiga-ba-Raphafana and help to establish the deserving tribe to take the royal position in Rustenburg. The Moruleng community is experiencing the same problem where the Bakgatla tribe from Botswana was imposing its rule in South Africa. Sadly, the Bakgatla in South Africa has no power to retaliate due to lack of support from COGTA. He asked when the Minister and the Committee will go to Rustenburg for urgent intervention.

Ms C Visser (DA, North West) said that CoGTA’s Six Point Plan is not implementable especially for local municipalities in rural areas in the northern provinces. Looking at citizen engagements, these are non-functional; citizens complain all the time. The last time they had a budget or Integrated Development Plan (IDP) engagement was more than 10 years ago. Basic services are disastrous if not non-existent. They do not have refuse removal. They have a collapsing electricity infrastructure that explodes all the time and there is load shedding. They do not have water and proper sanitation. Wastewater treatment plants decant into the rivers. She asked when last the directive was consistently issued to a municipality as a way of management preventing sewer going into their natural resources.

These are real challenges at hand; not financials. How will they get the financials right when they are faced with serious corruption in government? She spoke of a Hawks case in Mamusa Local Municipality in Schweizer-Reineke involving three Woolworths credit cards with R90 000 spent monthly. This was corruption by high-profile former ANC councillors and mayor that took R1.2m out of the municipality’s equitable share. People in local municipalities are suffering and subject to inhumane conditions. As so many plans over the past 25 years were not implemented, will plans for sustainable municipal governance be implemented and if not, will there be consequence management?

Taking North West as an example, there were no municipal interventions, the administration staff were not skilled and therefore could not stay long on the job. They were always hiring new people but there was no integrity to employ skilled people. Municipalities need expertise from MISA. Some do not even have high voltage electricians anymore. Municipalities need to be assisted with systems that are functional. The COGTA reports must be tailor-made for the NCOP and not just a general overview of the municipalities.

The Chairperson appreciated the information shared by government as it gave them clarity. It helped the Committee to strengthen its oversight work. They were able to interact in a proper way knowing COGTA plans and priorities. Taking this process forward in the current financial year there must be sessions on the 2021/22 Annual Reports. This meeting was mainly to deal with the Annual Performance Plan priorities for 2022/23 but the information was lacking. However, he suggested those sessions on their outputs as contained in their annual reports will allow the Committee to get a better understanding of the Departments and MISA are succeeding in their mission or not.

The Chairperson referenced the non-implementation of Section 48 of the Municipal Systems Act that deals with the Performance Management System. The COGTA Minister on an annual basis should submit what is called a state of municipalities report to Parliament. It must give the performance indicators of each municipality, their performance, limitations and if they are functional or dysfunctional. The report serves as a tool to enable them to make a proper assessment of the state of the municipalities in the country. He sincerely implored the Minister to submit this report to the Parliament.

He was pleased that the Department addressed all the CWP concerns. The Minister had addressed the Department getting a qualified audit opinion but in the current audit report they received an unqualified audit opinion. He advised them to sustain this good record. However, on the same note, it cannot be correct to rejoice about it when the municipalities are not performing well. Most of them are not getting unqualified audit reports. They need to develop a clear plan to support and help these municipalities to obtain clean audits. For many years, the Intergovernmental Monitoring, Support and Intervention Bill has been in the pipeline. The Committee needs to know why it is taking so long. The Department must tabulate an action plan indicating a timeline and formally present the Bill to Parliament.

He strongly rebuked the Department about the Traditional House in the Western Cape. No province is an island and the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act affects the entire country. The Khoi-San originated in the Cape. Processes must be undertaken by the Department to ensure the Western Cape is in line with other provinces.

Around 2000 former President Mbeki established the Nhlapo Commission of Inquiry to investigate traditional leadership disputes in respect of the kings and this matter was settled. Disputes on traditional leadership at other levels were delegated to provinces. Most provinces have not completed their work such as the North West. He implored DTA to resolve these including the ones taken to court.

The Department issued its report just before the elections about the state of municipalities in the country. They reported 64 municipalities are dysfunctional. They have requested MISA to intervene in supporting those municipalities with technical assistance. He requested MISA to respond with a plan indicating the support provided and how far they are.

He appreciated the Department for playing an important role in coordinating and drafting the regulations for the Covid-19 pandemic. He encouraged COGTA to have a mitigation plan ready when flood disasters arise with early warning centres at provincial disaster centres which are fully functional and well capacitated with resources.

Ministry response
CoGTA Minister, Ms Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, replied that the Local Government is not directly funded. They have discussed with Treasury the strategy to rescue the local governments. It would be beneficial if all the parliamentary committees were involved. The assumptions about municipalities having their own revenue were not correct. Some of the municipalities became dysfunctional due to lack of revenue. Metros and big cities are at an advantage of collecting more revenue than other municipalities. Those based in rural areas with no economic development have no revenue. They are failing to budget for maintenance and repairs. The Department negotiated with Treasury to use 15% of Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funds of which 10% will cover maintenance and 5% asset planning. The Department had received a disclaimer audit opinion for 2018/19. They might not have received an unqualified audit report yet; however, they have not received a disclaimer in the past two-year period.

COGTA response
Ms Mohanuoa Mabidilala, COGTA Chief Director: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, replied that the Bill was submitted to the State Law Advisors for certification. It had been submitted to the Presidency to be subject to the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS) and the process concluded in February 2022. They have received pre-certification and anticipate the Bill to be tabled in Parliament in July 2022.

The Department, together with National Treasury, Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), Stats SA, and South African Local Government Association (SALGA), has developed a new set of performance indicators for monitoring purposes. These indicators will empower the Minister to review the Municipal Performance Management System. The Department and National Treasury are developing proactive monitoring of these indicators.

COGTA, MISA, National Treasury and other sector departments are supporting the identified 64 dysfunctional municipalities. National Treasury stated that 34 out of the 64 municipalities are financially distressed. COGTA, National Treasury and SALGA requested the provinces to subject these municipalities to an assessment and propose the right intervention method. In-depth analysis was done on Mangaung Metro and Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality by both CoGTA and Finance Ministers. It was established that both fell under a Section 139 intervention. There are three national interventions in the country. Assessments were done and Kwa-Zulu Natal had the highest number of interventions. The Department has undertaken an assessment of the interventions to present to the court by July 2022. It will then finally present the tabled support structure to Parliament.

Dr Kevin Naidoo, CoGTA, replied that the Committee processed the Municipal Structures Amendment Act last year and introduced Section 79A. This section made it mandatory for all municipalities in the country to establish a municipal public accounts committee (MPAC). He listed the three things that the MPAC must do for the Department:
• review the Auditor-General’s report and comments of the management committee and the audit committee and make recommendations to the municipal council
• review internal audit reports together with comments from the management committee and the audit committee and make recommendations to the municipal council
• initiate and develop the oversight report of the municipality in terms of Section 129 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

The MPAC is responsible for looking at unauthorized, irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in municipalities. The Department has developed various tools including a series of videos to assist MPAC to unpack their work functions. Calendars were posted for MPAC to follow the right schedule on a monthly basis. The Department needs to institutionalize the work of these Committees. The MPAC may wish to monitor other Committees to see how they are performing their oversight function and how the Municipal Council is adhering to ensure Councillors comply with the Code of Conduct for Councillors.

Coalition governments are the result of citizens voting in the elections. A coalition government results in a lot of instability and the matter was raised in their Portfolio Committee as a concern. Research was undertaken by SALGA and the Dullah Omar Institute and the following recommendations were made:
• Regulatory Framework according to the Structure Amendment Act.
• Have Collective Executive Systems and Mayors in place.
Section 13 provides guidelines and types of legalities. The Minister set guidelines on the type of municipality however it must begin at the Constitutional court.

Mr Jurgens Dyssel, Senior Manager: Legislation, Policy and Compliance Management at National Disaster Management Centre, replied that the NDMC and the South African Weather Service (SAWS) developed an Impact-Based Severe Weather System to warn the general public of possible impacts that could occur as a result of hazardous weather. The system could be used in cases such as KZN to warn people that possible severe flooding is on the way. There is an ongoing task to improve the network of these systems in minimizing disasters from hazards such as floods and veld fires in dealing with the vulnerability of communities exposed to the event. According to NDMC, the capacity assessment in municipalities is to be targeted of an annual basis. They provided support to suitable municipalities to improve capacity. It is an ongoing process and they are working continually with the provincial and municipal centres to improve.

Mr Pieter Pretorius, COGTA Deputy Director-General: Corporate Services, replied that unlike the Expanded Public Works Programme, the CWP is more of a short-term programme. There are requirements for CWP participants to exit the programme. As long as the participant is unable to find alternative income opportunities, they can stay at CWP. They will be working for two days a week earning a monthly stipend. Part of the new CWP model is to change that and focus more closely on the work the participants do as well as the relevance of training that enables them to exit the CWP and find better opportunities and more sustainable income. Most of the participants have been in the programme from the beginning and have not exited. However, there are cases where certain individuals have exited to find temporary employment opportunities and later return to CWP. The ability to exit participants is dependent on the economy. However, if the economy starts growing post-Covid-19 they hope more participants will be able to find permanent jobs or alternative employment which will allow them to bring in new participants to the programme.

Ms Avril Williamson, DCOG Director-General, replied that during 2019/20 DCOG obtained a qualified audit opinion. For 2021/22 they are awaiting the results of the audit. They will then provide an update on the achievements against the targets of the Department. Local Government is at the epicentre of development. DDM is seen as an instrument the Department used to assess means of unblocking some of the service delivery challenges that destabilize local governments. At a local level it will assist them to attain:
• Specifics around planning, budgeting, and implementation.
• Narrow the distance between the people and government.
• Strengthen the coordination people need to begin to bring the business together.
• Institutions of stakeholders at local level to look at engaging citizens differently.

One of the key components will be dealing with the triple challenge of unemployment, inequality and poverty using the economic growth pillar that sits within the DDM.

DCOG will revert to the Committee on smart cities. They have identified the three cities where they will be based; however, they will later present it formally to the Committee.

Department of Traditional Affairs response
Mr Mashwahle Diphofa, DTA Director-General, replied that during the second year of the three-year MTEF they will focus on GBV training in the Local Houses. There are 32 districts where the Local Houses of Traditional Leaders are based. They have targeted the 32 districts to raise awareness and hold training workshops on GBV. This work will be broken down into different quarters of the year ensuring that at the end of the financial year all areas are covered. They have established Provincial Houses in all provinces with the exception of Gauteng and the Western Cape. Gauteng has only two recognized traditional leaders which made it impractical to establish a provincial house. For accountability purposes, Gauteng now forms part of the National House. Western Cape does not have a recognized traditional leader. However, there are individuals who identified themselves as Khoi-San leaders. They were not previously recognized because there was no legislation that formally recognized them until the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act came into effect. They must go through a process of recognition by applying through the Department. The receivers of the applications of Khoi-San Leaders in the Western Cape are mandated to go through them, investigate and make a recommendation for their recognition. Once this process has been completed, Western Cape will be required to establish a Provincial House.

Tools of trade are a concern that has been raised before to enable them to work such as:
• To provide them with support staff such as drivers and administrators for their offices to function properly and mobile communication platforms such as phones and computers.
• Provision of vehicles to be able to fulfill their responsibilities.
• Allocation of budget for administration to assist in purchasing of stationary, travelling, hosting people coming to their centres, as well as benefits such as a pension fund.

Mr Diphofa replied that what was done in the past was to facilitate the development of a draft tender to indicate the tools of trade that can be provided to the institution of traditional leaders. However, the challenge is the costs involved that must be carried by the province. There must be a careful consultation to avoid handing over approval that cannot be implemented due to unreasonable costing exercises. There is an Inter-Ministerial Task Team chaired by the Deputy President that deals with different categories of issues that the institutions of traditional leaders have raised. The Department, Presidency and Treasury handle a consistent set of proposals that can be consulted on and implemented once approved. Tools of trade will be handled by the CoGTA, Treasury and Presidency workstream.

The MECs and Deputy Minister Bapela led the process of engagement to look at a range of issues affecting this sector. They have tabled the Traditional Leadership disputes. An agreement was reached that these should be considered and dealt with, such as matters served before the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims that was concluded where the other party is still unhappy. Government cannot intervene in this case and only a court of law can review the Commission ruling. For matters which did not serve before the Commission but still required further investigation, the law provides authority to the Premier to appoint the committee that can proceed with the work. Should the other party be dissatisfied with the process then the courts take over. There might be a need for an oversight engagement with the traditional communities concerned that will be guided by the committee. It will be important to include the Provincial Government because whatever the outcome the Provincial Government has the authority to implement.

He replied that the recognition of Senior and Principal Traditional Leaders is a competence of the President. The headmen and headwomen are at Premier level. The whole process is generally led by the committee. The litigation will be primarily at the level of the province, the respondent will be the Premier. The litigation expenses for 2020/21 were R1.6m spent on litigation and the respondents would be the President and the Minister. For 2021/22, they are still awaiting the results pending the audit; however, R1.8m was spent on litigation.

Mr Diphofa continued that Deputy Minister Bapela met with the 'Baphafane' community for a day and went through the entire documentation with them. The matter included the handing over of land currently occupied by the Bafokeng community which was supposed to be signed before handover between Paul Kruger and former Chief of Bafokeng. The land belongs to the 'Baphafane'; the Bafokeng found them occupying the land. The 'Baphafane' addressed the matter with them; however; it does not fall under the DTA as it is a land issue. The matter was referred to the Department of Land Affairs. They hold any communal land in trust for communities throughout the country. They advised 'Ba-Ga-Phafane' to lodge the matter with that Department and follow the process until such point they are not pleased then approach the courts. Since the matter does not fall under DTA, follow-up should be made with the DLA.

Mr Diphofa explained that the Bakgatlha-ba-Kgafela matter is being investigated at the provincial level through CoGTA and the Premier’s Office. An administrator has been appointed to the displeasure of the other community which is in SA. One community is divided by the border and this investigation has not yet been concluded by the province. The administrator is appointed to investigate further. NHTL cannot interfere until the matter is escalated to it. Oversight visits by the Select Committee may take place to finalize the dispute. Other disputes are family-related. However some new disputes are related to natural resources. The Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela disputes are related to the mining resources available in the area. However quite a number of other communities across the country have disputes related to mining and agriculture.

Family disputes mainly arise about who is the rightful heir to the throne and not whether they are an established community or not. The Nhlapo Commission resolved issues of kings and queens as well as the Provincial Commissions. The Department of Traditional Affairs will continually observe and engage probably if the disputes become too many to be handled by the provinces. The older mechanism of resolving disputes might be reinstituted; however, they will be guided by the Department and law.

MISA response
Mr Vimba, MISA CEO, responded that the breakdown according to provinces has been submitted to the Committee Secretary as requested. The insufficient budget was for the new assignment associated with the coordination of Eastern Seaboard Development. COGTA has considered additional resources for MISA. There is however no challenge of a shortfall. MISA has district support teams in all the districts. They have teams of technical personnel deployed that support a number of prioritized municipalities within a district. Municipalities are selected through a combination of assessments done by DCoG, MISA and National Treasury. Municipalities write to MISA for specific requests and they are responded to.

They more than achieved the target for MIG expenditure and they had spent 91% by 30 June 2021. In the current year, they are sitting just above 60% of expenditure. MISA supports municipalities to spend MIG appropriately. The Presidential Employment Stimulus R24m funding was allocated to MISA late in the financial year. They have made a request to return the funds. The amount was not reflected in the allocation of the current financial year. MISA is amongst those who supported the 64 dysfunctional municipalities. MISA provided the report to the Committee as requested on the support provided and still to be provided.

Ministry response
Deputy Minister Thembi Nkadimeng advised that there is support given to administration indicating the professional requirements needed to apply for a job at the municipality. The Department assisted the municipalities in setting up the competencies for Director and Manager with the intention of rolling out the Performance Management System in municipalities beyond Section 56 and 57 managers. There are programmes led by the Department of the Premier, SALGA and the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) to ensure capacity development for councillors who are public office bearers. Various programmes are rolled out including those by institutions of higher learning. For the two previous financial years, this allowed councillors to register with institutions of higher learning for various development programmes. Councillors can also obtain a certificate through a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college.

The Department, National School of Government and SALGA have started a programme at the start of 2022/23 to train all MPAC committees consisting of a chairperson and nine committee members. This was to ensure an ethical code and the enhancement of MPAC in municipalities. It is mandatory for municipalities to submit their Section 52 financial performance reports on a quarterly basis to MPAC for further interrogation. It is mandatory for the MPAC chairperson to submit those reports to Parliament after assessment. In its circular at the beginning of the new municipal council five-year term, COGTA said that all chairpersons must undergo training.

The Chairperson explained that due to time constraints there will be no answers to the questions on the flood disaster. The matter will be dealt with extensively by the Joint Ad Hoc Committee set up by Parliament.

The Chairperson thanked everyone for their participation. He extended his gratitude to the Deputy Ministers for always availing themselves to attend meetings and share information. The Committee Report has received a full report on the APP and the budget. It will consider the adoption of its Committee Report on the APP and Budget in the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.