House Chair, this question, Question 68, has already been answered - when I explained what we were doing in the provinces. But let me continue by saying that the issue of capacity in provinces is something we have done an assessment on. We have looked at what has to be there. In that respect, we have found that provinces have not promulgated laws around the support to municipalities. That is the first thing we saw as a weakness.
The second aspect was the capacity of departments dealing with local government to be able to give support at that level. In that respect, we are involved in a programme of assisting provincial departments to have the capacity to support municipalities. This is because, in our view, we must not be the first line of defence in supporting municipalities. This must be done by provinces. When provinces escalate an issue at a local level, you find that there is no response at a provincial level. This must come to us at a national level.
In that respect, we are involved in a programme of giving capacity at a provincial level. This is done not only in terms of people, but also in terms of structures. This is because we would be happy if provincial departments were established in every region. This is so that a director knows when he or she wakes up in the morning, that he or she must ensure that the municipalities in his or her own area of jurisdiction are functional and able to discharge their responsibilities. We are discussing this with our counterparts and colleagues. They are in favour of the ideas we are coming up with. Thank you very much, Chair.