Somlomo lohlon, siyalemukela Libambela Lendvuna Libambela kulelitiko, futsi-ke sifisela neNdvuna Shiceka kutsi yelulame masinyane. [Hon Speaker, we welcome the Acting Minister in the department, and we wish Minister Shiceka a speedy recovery.]
Hon members, local government is the centre of gravity where all government service delivery functions find focus. To ensure service delivery and sustainable municipalities the executive system chosen by municipalities must reflect the will of the voters.
The Local Government Turnaround Strategy was adopted to improve local government performance and service delivery through the application of correct management, administration and deployment of technical skills. This was followed by a process of assessment of municipalities, which found that local government was in a state of distress and confronted by problems ranging from a poor grasp of governance and financial matters to a lack of skills and service delivery problems.
These assessments were actually designed to ascertain the root causes of the current state of distress in many municipalities.
The Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill was submitted to Parliament and referred to the Portfolio Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs on 27 July 2010. The Joint Tagging Mechanism classified it as a Bill to be processed in terms of section 75 of the Constitution.
The Bill before the House today seeks to amend the Local Government Municipal Systems Act and to make further provisions that include three key issues: to empower the Minister to regulate the sector further; to professionalise the sector; and to promote good local governance, ethics and anticorruption measures. My area of focus will be on good governance, ethics and anticorruption. The main issues that seems to be crippling service delivery are corruption, fraud and tender irregularities. To curb this scourge, the ANC-led government is committed to implementing the Local Government Anticorruption Strategy. This strategy has been rolled out to all municipalities.
The government has in the recent past, through the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, instituted various investigations in 38 municipalities for fraud and corruption. Twenty-five municipalities in the North West are being investigated, followed by six municipalities in the Eastern Cape, five in Mpumalanga, and two in Gauteng.
This shows that the ANC is serious about combating fraud and corruption. Corruption is one of the key priorities of the current administration. These efforts are now bearing fruit and sending a clear message to corrupt officials and contractors alike.
Through ethics and good governance, the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill introduces the professionalising of local government in order to prevent unethical conduct. This will be done through ensuring that section 57A is inserted in the principal Act after section 57.
Any staff member dismissed for misconduct may only be re-employed in another municipality after the expiry of a prescribed period. The Minister must prescribe different periods as contemplated in subsection 1 for different categories of misconduct. A staff member dismissed for financial misconduct contemplated in section 171 of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003 may not be re-employed in any municipality for a minimum period of 10 years.
A municipality must maintain a record that contains prescribed information regarding the disciplinary proceedings against staff members dismissed for misconduct. A copy of the record must be submitted to the MEC for local government on a quarterly basis.
Sihlalo, lapha-ke tsine sinembono lowehlukile kunewe-DA. I-DA yona itsi, lombiko lekufanele ucokelelwe ngumasipala njengebufakazi lobugciniwe bekutsi sisebenti lesitsite sendlulile emigudvwini yeluhlelo lwekucondziswa kwetigwegwe, satfolakala sinelicala, sate sacoshwa emsebentini; kufanele ubikelwe Indvuna Yelitiko Letasekhaya lesifundza, na-MEC nome itfunyelelwe satiso salombiko kanye ngenyanga; lapha-ke tsine sitsi akabikelwe ngekota - ngetinyanga letintsatfu. (Translation of Siswati paragraph follows.)
[Chairperson, we have a different view from that of the DA. The DA says that the report should be compiled by the municipality as recorded evidence that a certain employee has undergone disciplinary proceedings and has been found guilty and eventually dismissed from work; and should be reported to the provincial Department of home affairs, and be submitted to the MEC or once per month. We say let him be informed quarterly - every three months.]
The MEC for local government must, within 14 days of receipt of the record referred to in subsection 6, submit a copy to the Minister. The Minister must maintain a record of all staff members who have been dismissed for misconduct, or resigned prior to the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings.
Ngetulu kwaloko, siyagcizelela kutsi umuntfu kufanele aphumele ebaleni nakafaka sicelo sakhe, acacise kutsi yena umsulwa kangakanani, akate yini atfolakale acondziswa tigwegwe tenkhohlakalo, nome kweba imali yahulumende. (Translation of Siswati paragraphs follows.)
[Furthermore, we emphasise that a person must come clean when applying and must disclose his innocence and that he has never had disciplinary action taken against him for corruption or fraud.]
Speaker, section 106 of the Act is amended to enable the Minister to conduct an investigation into maladministration, fraud, corruption or any other serious malpractice in a municipality. If the MEC fails to conduct such investigation within 90 days, the Minister must send a report detailing the outcome of the investigation to the President.
Finally, the ethics and disciplinary code of councillors, Schedule 1 of the principal Act, is hereby amended by the insertion of section 2A, which makes provision for preventing councillors from voting in favour of resolutions before the council or a committee of the council where such resolutions are in conflict with legislation applicable to local government.
Ngalomtsetfo sivimbela letinye tehlakalo lesesike satibona. Emakhansela ayavota, avotele kutsi Umphatsi wamasipala ahole kakhulu.
Sengephetsa nje Somlomo, silikomidi sitsandza kwendlulisa kubonga kwetfu kubo bonkhe labatsintsekako,lababe yincenye yekuphosa esivivaneni kulomtsetfo lesiwuchibelako lamuhla nje. Singu-ANC siyetsemba kutsi siyilandzele yonkhe inchubo lekufanele ilandzelwe Ngekwemtsetfosisekelo walelive. Ngekungangabati-ke i-ANC iyawusekela lomtsetfo lobekwe embikwa Lendlu Yesishayamtsetfo Savelonkhe. Ngiyabonga. (Translation of Siswati paragraphs follows.)
[With this Act we curb other incidents that we have experienced before. Councillors vote for the municipal manager to earn a lot of money.
In conclusion, Speaker, as a committee we would like to thank all stakeholders who were part of this amending Bill exercise today. As the ANC we hope we have followed all procedures according to the Constitution of the country. Without any hesitation, therefore, the ANC supports the piece of legislation tabled before this National Assembly. Thank you.]