Order! Okay. The request is quite fair. I think the House should agree to this. The question will then be deferred until next week when the Minister will be in the House.
Chairperson, on a point of order: I requested that the question stand over for the cluster next week when I will take the question and not Minister Manuel.
Okay. That's in line.
Measures to improve provincial departments' capacity to monitor municipalities
68. Mrs N M Mdaka (ANC) asked the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs:
What measures does his department have in place to improve the capacity of provincial departments to monitor municipalities in their jurisdiction? NO1287E
House Chair, this question, Question 68, has already been answered - when I explained what we were doing in the provinces. But let me continue by saying that the issue of capacity in provinces is something we have done an assessment on. We have looked at what has to be there. In that respect, we have found that provinces have not promulgated laws around the support to municipalities. That is the first thing we saw as a weakness.
The second aspect was the capacity of departments dealing with local government to be able to give support at that level. In that respect, we are involved in a programme of assisting provincial departments to have the capacity to support municipalities. This is because, in our view, we must not be the first line of defence in supporting municipalities. This must be done by provinces. When provinces escalate an issue at a local level, you find that there is no response at a provincial level. This must come to us at a national level.
In that respect, we are involved in a programme of giving capacity at a provincial level. This is done not only in terms of people, but also in terms of structures. This is because we would be happy if provincial departments were established in every region. This is so that a director knows when he or she wakes up in the morning, that he or she must ensure that the municipalities in his or her own area of jurisdiction are functional and able to discharge their responsibilities. We are discussing this with our counterparts and colleagues. They are in favour of the ideas we are coming up with. Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you, Chairperson. My question, Minister, will be on the Western Cape specifically, because it is led by the DA. Minister, what challenges are you facing in this province, and what are your plans in terms of monitoring this province and this metro, especially the Office of the Premier? You know, they think that here in this province they are independent, because they see this province as their "smallanyana" [very small] heaven. It does not work like that. Christmas comes once a year. Watch out for 2014: You are not getting this province again. [Interjections.] Thank you.
Thank you very much, hon House Chair. On the issue of the Western Cape specifically, I must say that we work very well with the premier, the hon Helen Zille. We also work very well with the MEC. The MEC has committed himself to working with the government, because he has accepted that there is one country and one President. The other government structures are spheres that must be able to feed out to the country. Therefore, it follows that there must be one system in South Africa.
In that respect, I am going to be visiting provinces, with my colleague Minister Baloyi, from 30 September to 30 October, and we will be meeting provincial cabinets, provincial ward committees, traditional leaders, councillors and so on in order to understand what is happening. So, when we talk about giving support and conducting monitoring, you know the situations that obtain, subjectively and objectively, in a province. That is what we will be doing. For now, the Western Cape is co-operative and is working well with us. We are even conducting an assessment currently, and we have not experienced any problems. Thank you very much, House Chair. [Applause.]
Mr Chairman, on a point of order: Is it correct for the hon Minister to give such a positive response about his relationship with the DA in the Western Cape? [Laughter.]
That is not a point of order, hon Ellis. You know that very well.
House Chairperson, I would like to thank the hon Mdaka from the ANC for asking this question, totally in line with the DA's policy. We welcome this question. We also welcome the Minister's reply, because the DA wants provinces to be capacitated. We don't want the centralised approach that we had in the past from the ANC.
Hon Minister, the Western Cape will welcome any proper monitoring and support, because we are not afraid of it. We will work with you, and I am sure that will happen.
I would like to ask the hon Minister the following question: Don't you think we would have had fewer service delivery protests if the provincial departments were properly capacitated in the past?
House Chair, there is always room for improvement in any system. People stop improving when they are six feet under. But as long as you are still alive, you must always strive for the best. Therefore, in that respect, I think that's how we must take on this issue of provinces. We believe that going forward we will be able to ensure that we improve, because we have learned from the lessons of the past 15 years. I think that is how this process of empowerment should be done.
We are very excited that the DA doesn't believe it when we speak well about them. We said, "Let's rise above petty politics and focus our eyes on the ball and not on the person." Even in this case, we don't focus on the party. We focus on the issues. Now, let's build that relationship going forward. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Chair. Hon Minister, there are those who perceive local government to be under threat such that the national government intends taking over and centralising decisions. What is the Minister doing to allay fears in this regard?
Chairperson, I am very happy that this question has been raised by the hon Dudley, because I have had discussions with the leadership of the DA at a particular level. They raised areas where they felt there was that threat: one, the 17th constitutional amendment; two, the single Public Service; and, three, the provincial and local government policy review. They raised these three areas in the main where they had concerns. We have had an agreement that the leadership on this side of the House was going to engage on any issue with the intention of finding solutions. We will be able to explain the rationale for our coming to particular conclusions. If people have better ideas, why can't we take them?
In this respect, Madam Dudley, on everything that you have concerns about, this government is going to engage you or any other party that feels threatened so that we are able to find a win-win situation, not for ourselves but for the country. This will not only be for our parties, but for future generations that will come after us. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Setting up of task teams to investigate and report on recent service delivery protests at municipalities
63. Mr W P Doman (DA) asked the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs:
(1) Whether he has set up any task teams to investigate the recent service delivery protests at municipalities; if not, why not; if so,
(2) whether he has received reports from the task teams; if not, when are the task team reports due; if so, what (a) are their findings and (b) steps have been taken to act on the findings?