Deputy Chair, hon Minister, Deputy Minister, hon members of this august House, special delegates, hon MEC from KwaZulu- Natal, KZN, I am very thrilled and happy about the commitment of the hon Minister and the Deputy Minister in striving to turn around our municipalities. The budget speech is clear and very promising.
I am also happy to note that the budget has been increased. I think, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, there should be a very serious debate as to how we should fund local government sufficiently so as to ensure that we take our responsibilities and mandate seriously. Currently, local government is being treated as one of the departments, yet the challenges on the ground are mounting and require some resources to be able to deal with them.
The following are areas that I have noted with enthusiasm in the speech: the new outcomes-based approach that will culminate in the signing of performance contracts; the acknowledgement of distress that prevails in some of our municipalities - which all of us are aware stems from inter- and intraparty conflicts that have undermined all efforts of our committed and diligent personnel; the significance of reviewing intergovernmental fiscal relations based on reliable baseline data for appropriate allocation of the equitable share that recognises other factors; and the realisation of the need to enhance and strengthen the ward committee system without which sustainable engagement of our communities is unrealisable.
Furthermore, I also noted the need to review the supply chain management so that it facilitates smooth service delivery rather than retards it; the need to build public confidence in our municipalities through building sound relationships between communities, labour and municipal leadership; rooting out corruption; and, finally, the determination of norms and standards to deploy councillors in the next election is plausible as this will completely change the image of local government in the country. The latter goes hand in glove with the revival and strengthening of the Local Government Training Academy to train councillors after the next elections.
It is my pleasure to also demonstrate my commitment in supporting the efforts of the Minister's department in the province of the Eastern Cape. With regard to the local government turnaround strategy, LGTAS, our department has established six teams that are led by the top management that visits all municipalities in the province. To date, 32 municipalities have been assisted to develop their municipal turnaround strategies, Mutas. To address the unique challenges of a municipality the department uses a home-brewed tool to identify the real root causes of their problems. The results are complementing the development of the Mutas.
I must report up front that all teams are reporting high-level participation of councils, ratepayers and ward committees in this programme. However, there is low-key participation from the unions, despite the fact that the department has met with their provincial leadership and also decided to include them as members of the Munimec.
There are emerging issues from the visits that have already been undertaken. These include water-related matters, which seem to top the list. The Eastern Cape is hit by drought and since it is an area that is highly rural, water is the economic driver. The rural nature of the province makes it depend on agriculture and water is key. To be able to provide good sanitation water is of the essence.
Local economic development is similarly affected. Participation of sector departments in the integrated development plan, IDP, must be enforced, in particular if we want to ensure that local government is everybody's business. The oversight role of councils to promote accountability has to be seriously undertaken.
However, the hon Minister is committed to accelerate the framework for municipal public accounts committees. This will undoubtedly improve performance and good governance in municipalities. We have since received the SA Local Government Association's, Salga, guidelines in this regard. Public participation is too ad hoc in municipalities. This is not a prioritised function despite its centrality in service delivery and developmental local government.
Local municipalities seem to have virtually no capacity to deal with even the smaller disasters. They solely depend on the district municipalities which are responsible for this function. Some of them, by the way, do not have the necessary capacity to speedily attend to matters of this nature. The legacy of apartheid in spatial planning is still a huge challenge.
Most municipalities are unable to attract and retain town planners due to their nonlucrative remuneration packages. Municipalities need to be assisted with legal officers. Most municipalities in the province outsource this function even for minor services such as legal advice, ending up paying huge sums of money. Since they do not have legal officers, they cannot even monitor such services as rendered by the external service providers. In many cases aba baboneleli ngeenkonzo bemka nalo lonke ulwazi kungabikho namaxwebhu aqulethe ulwazi asalayo phaya kwaba masipala, [these service providers take all the information with them and there are no documents containing the information in these municipalities].
And the result is that, when auditing is taking place, there is not a single document available.
We are also pleased to note that the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs co-ordinates other departments such as Water and Environmental Affairs, Energy and Human Settlements precisely because these are some of the issues that are confronting the province. The delay in attending to matters that are confronting the province is worrisome. Therefore we believe that the assistance of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in co-ordinating this would assist us in moving forward.
With regard to the issue of corruption, we fully support your commitment, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, in using an iron fist to deal with this matter because it robs our people of the opportunity to enjoy a better life during their lifetime. In our case, we are dealing decisively with this matter. As we speak, it is possible that by next week the Kou-Kamma Local Municipality will be without a single section 57 manager because of this particular matter. We are not laughing when it comes to this.
Equally, many of you might have seen our resolution in dealing with this matter in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality. The hon member of this House, Mlenzana, would attest to the fact that many of the officials, including key officials in political party structures, have landed in jail; particularly because they were siphoning municipal funds for their own ends.
We also have a good relationship with traditional leaders in the province. We are trying to follow on what you have alluded to in terms of having a separate house or department. We are making the house of traditional leaders a separate programme whilst we are discussing a long-term plan of making it a separate entity. The house of the executive council is full- time, from the chairperson up to the other members of the house.
Kings have also received new cars. I think you must have read about a serious uproar in the province regarding the expenditure we incurred. We said anyone who has a concern about that must phone his or her king because each resident in the Eastern Cape belongs to a particular king. Each resident must tell his or her King that he or she does not think that his or her king qualifies for a particular car.
On 5 March 2010 you were officially opening a house of the traditional leaders, a very beautiful house, and that has since strengthened our resolution and relationship with them. However, there are some little things that we need to iron out. Therefore we hope that the Munimec on the 7th would assist us in dealing with those matters.
Lastly, with regard to the issue of infrastructure which is bedevilling our municipalities, we would be pleased if this matter could be seriously taken up at national level to assist our municipalities to deliver their services. Thank you very much. [Applause.]