Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, distinguished guests, MECs here present, executive mayors, mayors and councillors, traditional leaders, chairpersons of entities, distinguished guests, the SA Local Government Association, ladies and gentlemen, we are privileged to be afforded an opportunity to present an integrated Budget Vote for the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cogta. This Budget Vote is particularly significant and historic in that it takes place in the context of the successful conclusion of the third democratic local government elections held on 18 May 2011.
For the first time, 10 055 council seats, which include 4 277 wards, were contested in 8 metropolitan councils, 44 districts and 226 local municipalities. The number of councillors from the 2011 election increased by 12,3% and 8,5% from the 2000 to the 2006 elections respectively.
The holding of these elections under free and fair conditions is indeed true testimony to our enduring and maturing democracy. The voter turnout of 57,54% was the highest ever since the 2000 elections and were peaceful. We have all done the country proud. Our appreciation goes to the Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, and all stakeholders in ensuring such successful elections.
The department welcomes the report prepared by the parliamentary Ad hoc Committee on Service Delivery. The report is consistent with and confirms the findings of the comprehensive assessment done by the department with regard to the challenges and weaknesses in our system of local government. We will be working closely with provinces in processing our response to the report.
The restructuring process of Cogta has been completed, with most of the posts in the top management structures of the Department of Co-operative Governance and the Department of Traditional Affairs being filled at 90% and 83% respectively. The restructuring exercise provided a unique opportunity to reorganise the departmental resources, align the programmes and recruit additional and new skills that are critical in the implementation of the departmental programmes.
In his state of the nation address on 10 February 2011, His Excellency President J G Zuma highlighted the tremendous progress that our country has made thus far in delivering basic services. He also warned that whilst many South Africans celebrated this delivery, there were many others who were still waiting. The stark reality is that the legacy of decades of apartheid underdevelopment and colonial oppression cannot be undone in only 17 years. In this regard, more resources have been made available to address the needs at local government level in order to accelerate service delivery.
Firstly, municipalities are currently receiving 8,7% of the revenue divided between the three spheres of government in 2011-12, which is projected to rise to 8,9% in 2012-13 and 2013-14 respectively. The national transfers to local government have increased substantially, and will amount to R70 billion in budgetary assistance and infrastructure grants in the 2011-12 year.
Secondly, the annual expenditure data from National Treasury, on aggregate, suggests that local government is not failing as dismally as perceptions suggest. For example, expenditure in this sphere has increased from R45,8 billion in 1997 to, most dramatically, R232 billion last year. Notwithstanding these improvements, there is still a need to increase both the capacity of municipalities to spend and the fiscal support for municipalities.
With regard to the Operation Clean Audit, the following municipalities received clean audit reports from the findings of the Auditor-General in the 2009-10 financial year, and the Auditor-General has commended the active leadership role of mayors and councillors in their oversight to improve governance and financial management systems: the Metsweding District Municipality in Gauteng, and the Ehlanzeni District Municipality, the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality and the Victor Khanye Local Municipality in Mpumalanga; the Frances Baard District Municipality in the Northern Cape, the Cape Town Municipality in the Western Cape, and the Fetakgomo Local Municipality in Limpopo.
Furthermore, for the first time all municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal submitted their annual financial statements on time. In total, there were 53 disclaimers against the 85 reported in the previous year.
Over the past financial year, Cogta concentrated on providing institutional support to municipalities to develop their own specific turnaround strategies. To date, 90% of municipalities have their own municipal turnaround strategies, which they have incorporated into their integrated development plans, the IDPs.
Cogta is working in partnership with the SA Local Government Assocation, Salga, to prepare for the Councillor Induction Programme for the 2011-12 financial year. This is aimed at ensuring that newly elected councillors are capacitated with a general understanding of their leadership role, legislation that guides local government, key municipal processes, developmental local government and service delivery.
In addition, Cogta will ensure that newly elected councillors are equipped to accelerate the implementation of the local government turnaround strategy so that they can hit the ground running.
Cogta launched the Clean Cities and Towns Pilot Programme in the Mbhashe Local Municipality in Elliotdale on 21 April 2011 and in the Ingquza Hill Local Municipality in Flagstaff and Lusikisiki on 13 May 2011 in the Eastern Cape. This campaign is designed to ensure that we create an enabling environment to attract investors to municipalities, have a healthy environment for communities and create jobs.
With regard to the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill, this was finalised by both Houses of Parliament in April 2011. This Bill sends a clear signal that our municipalities must and will be more professional in the manner in which they do their business by ensuring, amongst other things, that competent and well-qualified officials are appointed to provide the best possible service to our people; the Bill regulates various matters of human resources management in a manner that provides uniformity and predictability; and deepens accountability by the senior municipal officials to the councils and, by the same token, places certain obligations on politically elected officials.
In his state of the nation address, the President again stressed that service delivery is of pivotal importance. We are happy to report that in this regard, demonstrable progress has been recorded in the provision of water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal, as well as the infrastructure that goes with it. However, it is our considered view that we need to increase the provision and quality of services, with a specific focus on rural areas.
The municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, is the key instrument being used by municipalities to access infrastructure funding for their capital expenditure projects.
The department will transfer R11,4 billion of MIG to municipalities in this financial year. It is, however, important for the municipalities to maintain their infrastructure in order to improve the quality and reliability of services. In this regard, the department will be working closely with the Attorney-General, the Ministry in the Presidency and National Treasury to strengthen monitoring and evaluation in terms of capital expenditure for bulk infrastructure.
Furthermore, a special purpose vehicle will be implemented in order to accelerate support in the delivery of bulk infrastructure and the provision of the requisite skills to municipalities.
Regarding job creation, the creation of jobs as an important priority of government's fight against poverty is also finding meaningful expression in the programme of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The Community Work Programme scaled up significantly in April 2010 to March 2011, with a total of 89 698 work opportunities created.
Traditional leadership institutions have played a critical role in creating employment and generating wealth. They have identified land suitable for industrial and agricultural purposes in rural areas, and pilot projects are already being rolled out in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
In support of the Human Settlements outcome, the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs will be working closely with municipalities and traditional leaders to release the land for development. We will also provide institutional support to municipalities that have been granted housing accreditation status. The programme will be in the six metropolitans and in the Frances Baard and Pixley ka Seme District Municipalities that will be granted level 2 accreditation status for housing provision.
With regard to the ward committee model, in this financial year Cogta will give particular attention to strengthening the capacity of the wards. This will help to enhance meaningful public participation and strengthen democratic and developmental local governance.
Another key focal area for Cogta is the improvement of the financial and administrative capabilities of municipalities. One hundred and three municipal public accounts committees have been established to date. Provinces then developed action plans to address previous audit outcomes and to now monitor the implementation of their action plans. Furthermore, individual or shared internal audit units have been established in 263 municipalities, and individual or shared audit committees have also been established in 268 municipalities.
In our quest to strengthen co-ordination across the three spheres of government and to move beyond co-ordination towards better performance, service delivery and accountability, the department will be processing two critical policy documents: a Green Paper on Co-operative Governance and a Review of the White Paper on Local Government.
The following Bills and amendments to legislation will be introduced in Parliament in the 2011-12 financial year, with the intent of removing all the obstacles that hinder service delivery: the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Amendment Bill; the National Traditional Affairs Bill; and the Monitoring, Support and Intervention Bill.
The strategic role of the new Department of Traditional Affairs is to ensure that the institution is transformed and integrated into a democratic governance system. It will also partner with the Khoisan leadership and communities.
The members of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims assumed duty on 1 January 2011 and their term will be for a period not exceeding five years. The department is tasked with ensuring that the commission operates well and in close contact with provinces. The commission will be finalising over 100 claims and disputes during this financial year.
The national composite report will inform a number of the department's projects in the next Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, including the sector-wide strategy. The Department of Traditional Affairs has commenced with the work to consolidate the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act of 2003 and the National House of Traditional Leaders Act of 2009 into a single piece of legislation. This has resulted in the drafting of the National Traditional Affairs Bill, which will ensure an integrated approach in dealing with matters relating to traditional affairs. In addition to the consolidation of existing laws, the Bill seeks to provide for the recognition of Khoisan communities, their structures and leadership positions.
In conclusion, we can say that we will achieve a better life for all our people if national and provincial government work together to support local government in achieving service delivery outcomes. We recently visited Dipaleseng in Mpumalanga and observed that an integrated approach of government can indeed ensure effective delivery of services. We call upon members, the media and all stakeholders to visit that area in order to see for themselves. Most of the demands by the local community have been met, but more still needs to be done.
Lastly, local government has also a responsibility to work better with communities to ensure that all South Africans are active participants in the development of the areas where they live. We owe it to our children and future generations to make local government work. Local government is everybody's business. Let us all be part of it. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]