Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, Provincial Week provided permanent delegates to the NCOP and members of provincial legislatures with an opportunity to undertake oversight visits and interact with communities in order to obtain first-hand information on the provincial issues that should be placed on the agenda of the NCOP.
We are pleased to join in the debate and reflect on Provincial Week, aimed at fostering closer links between politicians and the people. As we have repeatedly emphasised, the NCOP in particular is a critical platform for engagement to take place between national policy and legislative direction for the country, and the distinctive service preferences of provincial and local government and the people they represent.
Some of the salient remarks during that week focused a great deal on co- operation between the spheres of government and how the NCOP, provincial legislatures and local government could effectively work together to ensure that progress was made with regard to quality service delivery to communities in various provinces, that interaction at the level of the legislature and the NCOP was more frequent, and that the programme of the NCOP was forwarded in time to allow for proper planning and co-ordination.
Some provinces indicated the need for NCOP delegates, MPLs, provincial government and Salga to interact on a more regular basis on matters affecting the province that needed to be raised at the national level, and that programmes should be co-ordinated and aligned between the NCOP, provincial legislatures and local government. We agree. The NCOP Provincial Week programme was thus an important forum for the NCOP, provinces and local government to establish collaborative approaches in seeking solutions and devising mechanisms that will address the needs of the people of our country.
I want to focus on the critical issues that were raised. One of the critical issues raised in many provinces during that week reflected on the number of section 139 interventions. As Salga, we also expressed our concerns in this regard, in that the Constitution requires provincial governments to play an important role in monitoring and supporting local government, and in building the capacity of local government to fulfil its service delivery mandate. As a last resort, intervention is provided for in order to ultimately assist a municipality to become sustainable and self- sufficient.
Yet, interventions have become a real threat to the institutional integrity of local government. Few, if any, interventions have been successful in the sense of capacitating the municipality when the province leaves. Persistent interventions in some municipalities are a case in point. The same problems still exist and annual intervention is the norm. The effectiveness of interventions is highly questionable and they have no curative intent. Most are simply takeovers without the necessary skills transfers or continued support taking place. Alarmingly, there is an increase in the number of municipalities under section 139 interventions. Mechanisms, processes and procedures in terms of section 105 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act are often overlooked in favour of a section 106 investigation and/or a section 139 intervention. Of particular concern is that there is little evidence of provincial legislatures exercising oversight over provincial executives' actions in terms of section 139. This must be addressed as a matter of urgency as part of the broader approach to interventions. It does not necessarily have to be addressed by legislation. Provinces are, in our view, not checked on whether intervention is appropriate and whether support has first and consistently been offered. The aim of interventions must be restorative rather than punitive.
These interventions are evidence that provinces are struggling with their constitutional commitment to support municipalities. In fact, it is our view that the number of interventions is reflective of the inability of many provinces to fulfil their constitutional obligations to support and build the capacity of local government for it to fulfil its service delivery mandate. The Gauteng provincial government has but once used intervention because it believes in supporting municipalities to fulfil their obligations and further believes that interventions would be a negative reflection of its own inability to fulfil its constitutional mandate. We could not agree more. As we march towards the 2011 local government elections, we must ensure that the next term of municipal councils coming into office, which are the delivery agents of most government programmes, is characterised by national government and provincial governments that continually provide coherent support and an enabling policy - legislative and institutional support. The legislatures must be vigilant in checking the exercise of executive power and ensuring that coherent and focused support to municipalities from the other two spheres - rather than increasing the compliance burden and interventions - becomes the regular order of our business.
While efforts are afoot to introduce new intervention legislation, it is our view that legislation should be used to regulate and limit the exercise of power, but should not be thrown at any or all implementation problems, especially where the implementation of and adherence to current legislation is the problem. More laws cannot solve the problem. Parliament, the NCOP and provincial legislatures must ensure that the constitutional breadth of co-operative governance and support for one another first and foremost finds expression in our policy and legislative practice.
In conclusion, Provincial Week is a critical platform for consolidating the gains made to date by, firstly, communicating with each other, thereby giving ourselves the opportunity to address some of the fundamental constraints hampering government in our quest to effect development. We remain committed to working with the NCOP and our partners in government to speed up service delivery and realise the developmental vision of local government. Through our interaction and the representation of our membership, Salga will continue to engage the national legislative process to ensure the institutional integrity of local government on the one hand and the efficacy of service delivery on the other. I thank you.