Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Ministers present, all those present from the various provinces, hon members, in order to ensure that provinces play an integral role in the activities of the NCOP and that provincial delegates continue to keep abreast of developments in their provinces, the NCOP launched the practice of Provincial Week.
Provincial Week was established in line with the Constitution, which obligates the NCOP to ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government. Provincial Week provides a forum for the exchanging and sharing of ideas on progress around service delivery issues and challenges that confront the provinces.
During Provincial Week the permanent delegates of each province meet with various structures in their provinces, including the premiers, sometimes, the members of the executive council, various departments and provincial legislatures, as well as local government leaders and the SA Local Government Association, Salga. Provincial delegates, together with their provincial counterparts, also undertake oversight visits to communities or projects to ensure that the needs and challenges of the people are met and certain things are implemented. Our delegation, which visited the Free State province for the period from 7 to 10 September 2010, joined various portfolio committees in conducting oversight visits in the Thabo Mofutsanyana, Xhariep and Motheo districts.
Some of the sites visited by the various committees included district hospitals; various clinics; daycare centres; road, housing and construction projects; sewerage pump projects; tourism centres; and stock theft units. The various committees heard of many challenges, which have been noted, such as the quality of the work carried out, theft, vacant posts, shortages of nurses and doctors, shortages of medicines, etc. Meetings were also held at the Free State legislature, and various proposals and recommendations have been formulated and forwarded to the department and persons concerned.
The following were some of the challenges experienced during the Free State visits and some of these were my own experiences. Firstly, since the Free State delegation comprised three teams, which visited various sites, some committees had to wait for long periods before all the vehicles had returned, to change kombis before the next site visit. Secondly, what is needed is better involvement of Salga in portfolio committees, particularly on matters of co-operative governance and housing, as well as in other committees where needed. Thirdly, there should be better communication between ward committees and councillors. And, fourthly, there should be better support by the respective MECs and heads of departments, HODs, on the visits to various sites.
However, in this regard, MEC Ms Tsopo, to mention one, was very active with regard to matters relating to her department, and I must thank her.
The Auditor-General's report states that the Free State municipalities are amongst the worst in South Africa. More attention must be given to service delivery by municipalities in the various provinces.
The Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Sicelo Shiceka, recently stated that a good example of a municipality that had been turned around was the Kou-Kamma Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape. However, the Naledi Local Municipality in the Free State, for example, still has raw sewerage running down the streets. It has a continuous water shortage and, in fact, Naledi Local Municipality owes the Bloem Water Board some R18 million. Roads are in a very poor state. The billing service for the few services rendered by the municipality has collapsed. So, no one pays their accounts anymore.
The NCOP is supposed to spend 70% of its time on oversight and the remaining 30% on legislation to strengthen the use and importance of Provincial Week. The NCOP must recognise that in order to fulfil its 70% objective, it must have a good working relationship with the provinces and local government. It must also ensure that provincial delegates interact with their provinces as provincial ambassadors of the NCOP, rather than as party representatives. I thank you.