Hhayi anginaso isikhathi sakho mina! [No, I don't have time for you!] No, hon Chairperson. Hon Chairperson, the member is addressing you sitting down and that is not parliamentary.
The ANC-led government has established an in-year management, monitoring and reporting system for local government. This system enables provincial and national government to exercise oversight over municipalities and identify possible problems in implementing municipal budget and conditional grants.
By the way, if you remember, when the ANC took over we made sure that we drafted a Constitution that was feasible and achievable, and within that Constitution there is what we call transparency. With regard to transparency, we would not have been able to actually share with you what we have done if it was not because of what is said in our Constitution.
It is for this reason that the state of local government finances and financial management, which is released annually at the end of June, provides a regular overview of the state of the municipality finances. If there is a need, then you will find Treasury intervening because there is a problem. Nobody has actually said within the ANC that we are perfect and our municipalities are doing well. We are aware, but the bottom line is we are doing something about it. We are aware that local government is the core phase of delivery of public services. Therefore, if there are successes that have been achieved we praise where praise is due, but in the same breath we scold where there is failure. You have heard the hon Minister acknowledging a problem. He did not shy away from the fact that there is a problem. [Applause.] It becomes a serious concern of the ANC.
This is due to the fact that the ANC made a promise to the South African citizenry that we will make sure that all citizens, irrespective of their colour and creed, will have a better life. We will make sure that health services are there, and the education system is in place. We will provide decent jobs, and a safe environment for our citizens. However, we need resources, we need money and we need everybody to come on board and make sure that we correct those things. You can moan about it. I understand, as an ANC member, that if you do not have anything to talk about, you have to talk anyway.
Section 153 of the Constitution requires that a municipality must:
Structure and manage its administration and budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community, and to promote the social and economic development of the community.
I want to quote what hon Minister Gordhan said: "National Treasury cannot manage municipalities sitting in Pretoria". In other words, the ANC-led government will never ever micromanage the municipalities because this is what is being said by the Constitution. We must respect our Constitution. It says, let them manage their administration; let them have their planning processes and deliver.
The political leadership of the municipality must take responsibility where acts of fraud, corruption and interference with tender processes have been proven. Councillors cannot hide behind ignorance of what is required of them. The Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, clearly articulates the code of conduct for councillors. National Treasury had undertaken councillor training sessions throughout the country with the intention to equip councillors with the necessary information to guide them in executing their responsibilities. It is for this reason that we really say, as the ANC we are leading because if you lead, you look at the challenge and come up with a solution.
The root cause of many public finance and budget management problems is found in poor planning, poor leadership, poor implementation, not hiring the right people and not having the determination to ensure that services are delivered as they are supposed to be.
As we are aware, the Treasury intervened and provided support to all spheres of government to improve the performance in infrastructure delivery and support programmes. The other thing they have done in dealing with the challenges of the management of public finances -and this Budget Vote plays a direct role in developing capacity across the spheres of government - is that Treasury established a Technical Assistance Unit.
It is common knowledge that many municipalities have backlogs running into billions of rands that we are aware of, and we acknowledge it. To address these challenges of inadequate investment in the building of new infrastructure and investing adequately in the maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure, national Treasury again recommended that each municipality must set aside not less than 40% of its capital expenditure budget for the renewal of existing assets. In addition, not less than 8% of the written down value of a municipality plant, property and equipment must be set aside for repairs and maintenance. That must be done, because the ANC does not approve of poor social and economic structures.
The relevance of the role of this Budget Vote No 10 to the management of the public finances is echoed in the ...
The ANC supports Budget Vote No 10. [Applause.] [Time Expired.]