What steps has the Makana Local Municipality taken to ensure that the communities of (a) Alicedale, (b) Seven Fountains and (c) Eluxolweni in the specified municipality have access to water and proper toilets.
Makana Local Municipality forms part of the Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. It is the local municipality which governs the town of (Makhanda) as well as the towns and villages of Alicedale, Seven Fountains, Eluxolweni others. The Municipality has been slacking in the provision of basic service for several years, and this has been aggravated by persistent drought conditions and ...
Whether, she will advise if it is allowed that the mayor of the Namaqua District Municipality in the Northern Cape, (name furnished) is not only the mayor of the specified municipality, but also a councillor in the Kamiesberg Local Municipality; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, according to which legislation;
(2) Whether a person can qualify for two government salaries at the same time; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. Yes, a councillor from a local municipality may be apppinted in terms of Section 23(1)(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998 (“the Act”) to directly represent the local municipality in the district municipality in which it is a part of.
2. The remuneration of councillors is dealt with in terms of the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act 20 ...
(1) With reference to her reply to question 710 on 29 March 2021, in which she merely outlines the legal framework for her mandatory intervention in a municipality in terms of section 139(7) of the Constitution of the Republic, 1996, and the judgment in the Unemployed Peoples Movement v Premier, Province of the Eastern Cape and Others, which found that the Provincial Executive had failed to adequately intervene in terms of section 139(5) and that there were grounds for a mandatory intervention, what are the reasons that she has not yet intervened in the Makana Local Municipality in her official capacity.
(2)whether she considers her intervention in dysfunctional municipalities where provinces have failed to intervene as a discretionary function; if not, what are the reasons that she and her department have failed to address the financial crisis of local government in the numerous municipalities that are unable to meet their financial obligations through mandatory national interventions; if so, on what legal and/or statutory provisions does she rely in reaching that conclusion;
(3) why does no regulatory and/or legislative framework exist for interventions, despite the promise of the Intergovernmental Monitoring, Support and Interventions Bill as far back as 2013?
1. The department is guided by the constitution and the rule of law when it comes to interventions. The interventions invoked in terms of the two subsections (4) and (5) of section 139 of the Constitution are mandatory financial interventions, and the provincial executives must invoke these subsections if the municipalities satisfy the criteria outlined in those two subsections. The only time when the ...
(1)What are the causes and/or reasons for the prolonged closure of the waste disposal sites in Springs, Ekurhuleni;
(2) whether the employees and/or contractors are still being paid despite the prolonged closure; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) (a) on what date will the specified sites be reopened and (b) what steps will be taken to provide waste disposal facilities to residents in the area in the short term?
1. The response was sourced directly from the Provincial Department of Cogta and the Municipality.
The Rietfontein Landfill site, situated in Kwa Thema, is the only waste disposal site in Springs, Ekurhuleni that has faced a prolonged closure.
Operations and Maintenance at the City of Ekurhuleni landfill sites are outsourced on a three year contract basis. The contract for the Site Operator (service provider) ...
What interventions does her department plan to put in place to regulate church attendance and other public gatherings, in light of the growing number of coronavirus cases in the Republic?
The interventions put in place to regulate church attendance and other public gatherings in light of the growing number of coronavirus cases in the Republic, entails amongst others prohibiting gatherings, restricting the duration of gatherings or the number of people that may gather at any given time and reinforcing the health protocols and the social distancing measures that must be followed when gathering.
The ...
Given that the contracts of Community Work Programme implementing agents have been extended with six months, (a) what is the reason that there are delays in the payment of stipends to participants in the specified programme and (b) has she held anyone responsible for the specified delays?
1 (a) The delay in payment of several participants for April 2021 was due to the process of re-registration of participants for the 2021/22 financial year as well as 2 days of downtime of the payment system hosted by an external payment provider. Payments to some participants were delayed in the month of May 2021 due to a payment data-file error that resulted in ...
Whether, in light of the one-year anniversary of the implementation of the different levels of lockdown in the Republic, the Government has ever conducted and/or outsourced a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of every lockdown level in order to determine whether the costs of the various lockdown levels outweighed the benefits or not, where such costs and benefits are defined in terms of years of life lost and gained, respectively; if not, why not; if so, what are the further relevant details of the analysis?
No, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) did not conduct a cost-benefit analysis relating to these aspects as the underlying economic and medical considerations that will inform such an analysis fall within the purview and expertise of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the National Treasury and the Department of Health. As such, these deaprtments are best placed to respond ...
What steps has her department taken to assist the Joe Gqabi District Municipality to avert the water crisis that is currently affecting the municipality?
My department requested the Eastern Cape Provincial department to provide a detailed report in relation the water challenges raised by the honourable member. The reply will be updated with this information as it becomes available.
More »
(a)Whether, with reference to the Ratings Afrika’s Municipal Sustainability Index which has constantly ranked the City of Cape Town as the most financially sustainable metro in the Republic, in the interests of cooperative governance, her department has ever considered replicating the Cape Town model to assist struggling metros across the Republic to improve their financial sustainability, if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
The department does not currently rely on of the many external institutions or agencies to assess and compare the financial health and performance of municipalities. Municipalities also use different financial ratios and norms to assess their own performance and set benchmarks for improvement to be measured over time.
The department shares best practices from other municipalities and uses these benchmarking initiatives to improve efficiency ...
Whether, with reference to a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs held on 1 April 2021, wherein an official from her department indicated that a review of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, Act 13 of 2005, is currently underway to enable the Government to implement the District Development Model (DDM)(details furnished), she has found that certain provisions of the existing legislation will hinder the implementation of the DDM; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the legislative provisions concerned;
(2) Whether a review of legislation is currently underway to facilitate the implementation of the DDM; if not, why not; if so, what are the details of the review process? NW1521E
1. The District Development Model (DDM) as a approach towards ensuring improved intergovernmental coordination and cooperation is premised on utlising enabling levers within existing legislation, policies, and experiences within the government and non governmental space. The Intergovernmental Relations Act, 13 of 2005 (IGRFA), is one such piece of legislation that contains several enabling provisions that are used to frame the design, institutionalisation, and implementation ...
