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Departmental Progress
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Housing and Local Government

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MEDIA BRIEFING
LOCAL HOUSING AND GOVERNMENT
 9 NOVEMBER 1999

1. Introduction

The political changes in 1994 resulted in the birth of our new democratically elected government. A government that upholds values aimed at 
restoring the humanity and dignity of the marginalised majority citizens of this country. As an effort to bring the government closer to 
the people, provincial governments, departments and transitional local councils were formed. In the province of the Eastern Cape, the 
Department of Housing and local Government was established to lead in the delivery of houses and infrastructure for the betterment of the 
lives of the people. This Department consists of three main branches, namely: Housing, Local Government and Professional and Technical 
Services.

Our mandate has been renewed in June this year once more and is firmly entrenched in the manifesto of the ANC, the leading party under its 
president and the president of the country, comrade Thabo Mbeki.

Our operations are directed by the broad development strategy of the government, the Reconstruction and Development Programme whose core 
values and principles are:

* Meeting basic needs
* Developing human resources
* Building the economy
* Democratising the state
* Implementing the RDP

2. Housing

Housing is a basic human right. The department has indeed taken strides to realise this right. We pride ourselves in the Eastern Cape 
Provincial Government for the progress made so far. However, the housing question remains the main challenge for our department.

To discharge this responsibility, every year millions of rands are allocated by the Legislature to all government departments.

2.1 Financial allocation on housing programmes: 1994/95 to 1998/99

Financial year   allocation      expenditure
1994/5   R 241 635 754   nil
1995/6  R 273 600 000   R 64 526 057
1996/7  nil      R 131 886 776
1997/8   nil     R 268 802 458
1998/9  R 388 800 000   R 386 236 573

It is clear that once institutional capacity was in place, the expenditure and therefore the pace of housing development in the Eastern 
Cape steadily escalated to a point where we were requested by the national department to slow down since funds were getting rather limited.

How have we progressed in the Eastern Cape?

The Financial Year Ended 31 March 1999

Housing delivery has reached relatively good levels and the total number of 95 352 subsidies approved as at 31 march 1999 are:

Project-linked, institutional and consolidation         - 79 205
Individual credit-linked        -   3 012
Individual non-credit linked    - 11 199
People's housing process        -  1 936
This translate into housing units       - 95 352

Emerging Policy Measures For Housing Development:

* A better management process for housing development
* Re-sequencing to the order of job creation, skills development and a satisfactory product
* A house that is as big as possible without sacrificing quality
* Minimum specifications which are

* 40 square metre minimum top structure
* water-borne sewerage
* running water inside the house
* concrete floor slab

* The People's Housing Process as a rule
* Ideally Municipalities as Developers

Let me now deal with some of what could be regarded as amongst the most critical challenges, against the background of the Presidents 
statements and what the ANC said will be done (Manifesto)

3. Local Government

3.1 MSP

Management Support Programme

An amount of R12 497 233 was allocated for this purpose made up as follows:

* R10,456.000.00 by way of the Transitional Grant
* R 2,041,233.00 financed by the Department of Constitutional Development

The Management Support Programme has been instituted in (31) thirty one Local Authorities in order to assist them in overcoming 
administrative difficulties. The package will enable these municipalities to maintain and enhance service delivery. The intervention will 
focus on Institutional Development, Human Resource Development, Finance and Information Technology development and Infrastructural 
development.

The support programme should empower the selected local authorities to plan, implement and manage delivery of services in terms of their 
constitutional duties and functions and the process should be sustainable.

In implementing the support programme the Department fulfills the requirements of Section 10 G 2(m) of the Local Government Transitional 
Act which provides authority for the Provincial MEC of Local Government and Housing to take wide ranging steps to restore the finances of a 
relevant municipality to a sound footing. The establishment of the Management Support Programme and the appointment of Management Support 
Teams to conduct the process has culminated from Management Audits which have already been undertaken and constitute a tool to assist Local 
Authorities to comply with corrective instructions issues by MEC.

Local Authorities which were identified as being in need of urgent attentions have been divided into three (3) categories of support 
levels, viz. the First, Second and Third Line Support Levels.

The First Line Support

The First Line Support is a full Management Support Programme to be carried out by experts in terms of which clearly defined outcomes and 
categorised into relevant functions per municipality will be achieved and sustained. From the total number of thirty one (31) Local 
Authorities to be serviced in terms of all three support lines combined, eight (8) will receive Full Management Support in terms of the 
First Line Support, and are as follows :-

Cathcart, Alice, Aliwal North, Somerset East, Cradock, Grahamstown, Queenstown and Fort Beaufort

The Second Line Support

The Second Line Support is a limited crucial intervention and seventeen (17) smaller municipalities have been identified viz.

Whittesea, Alicedale, Seymour, Tarkastad, Middledrift, Dordrecht, Keiskammahoek, Hamburg, Molteno, Bedford, Burgersdorp, Peddie, Cookhouse, 
Maclear, Pearston, Bathurst and Paterson

The Third Line Support

The Third Line Support will be a provision of Institutional and Financial experts on municipal affairs who will be responsible for 
mentoring, advising and assisting the relevant officials of the Local Authority. The key objective of the Third Line Support is the 
transfer of skills through effective coaching and monitoring.

Six (6) Local Authorities have been identified for the Third Line Support viz.

Klipplaat, Jansenville, Hankey, Komga, Kei Mouth and Kei Road

The Management Support Programme is to be undertaken in three (3) phases viz. (i) the strategic prognosis (Phase I), (ii) the 
implementation stage (Phase II) and the Mentorship stage (Phase III)

Strategic Prognosis (Phase I)

This phase entails two steps. The first step is a detailed assessment and appraisal of the status and extent to which critical municipal 
functions are performed. The second step is the recommendation as to what needs to be taken to remedy the shortcomings identified in step 
I.

3.2 Y2K Readiness

The Y2K readiness of Local Councils or Municipalities is directly related to the success or failure of the 2000 elections for local 
governments. This is, therefore, a strategic issue.

The Department of Constitutional Development is presently sponsoring Readiness Audits in municipalities across the Provinces. This is part 
of a package that ends in the post-audit corrections. In some cases, the computer-up-grades are not matched with the requisite computer 
skills. This is another challenge, though it should be relatively easier to overcome.

3.3 Capacity Building

The empowerment of ANC Councillors is crucial; especially where there has been no fundamental administrative transformation is 
municipalities. And there are still many of these municipalities! This lack of capacity perpetuates the seemingly endless reliance by local 
authorities on consultants in everything they do, thus, directing money, which should otherwise go to social pending to payment of these 
gluttonous consultants.

In terms of the Republic of South African Constitution Act, Act No. 108 of 1996, section 139: when a municipality cannot or does not 
fulfill an executive obligation in terms of legislation, the relevant provincial executive may intervene by taking any appropriate steps to 
ensure fulfillment of that obligation.

* in the absence of any relevant legislation and, or, intervention procedures this intervention could create unanimous tension resulting in 
a hiatus in the overall functioning of a municipality. The instruments must be urgently introduced.

Municipalities in co-operative government (section 154 (i))

* The national governments and provincial governments, by legislation and other measures must support and strengthen the capacity of 
municipalities to mange their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions.
* Once more, in the absence of these instruments to guide the process such positive interventions may not take place, thus, depriving 
municipalities much needs support. Same innovative thinking is needed here. For example section 10 a (2)(m)(i) of the Local Government 
Transition Act may be used together with, or in the cause of advancing the objects of, section 154 (i)

Party Political leaderships and government officials and politicians at all levels should use their collective and individual moral and 
political power to persuade communities to pay for services enjoyed this is the minimum they should pay for. This remains the most daunting 
task, and must be accomplished if local authorities are to be truly financially viable.

* Part of the persuasion should be to enter into partnership with the communities on specified social projects. Such projects should be 
jointly identified; a social contract signed into project planning and management; based on job creation and skills development; 
proportional financial contention on a matching basis between the community (collectively) and the municipality.

Financial viability cannot be a product of the restricting of local government boundaries alone. It and addressing all these and other 
challenges will combine to create conditions for financial viability of local authorities.

* Part of the " other challenges" to be address are properly valuation and customised service delivery, both of which are not yet achieved 
in most municipalities.

IDP/LDO process

An amount of R 8,5m has to date been made available for the preparation of Integrated Development Plans incorporating Land Development 
Objectives for Local authorities.

102 local Authorities are currently involved in this planning exercise.

The Department has also managed to develop a planning handbook for Local Authorities which they presently using in order to guide their 
plans. To date, 82 of the working plans submitted by Local Authorities have been approved as business plans to guide their planning 
process.

A Recommendation Committee is being established in terms of Provincial Regulation to assist in the consideration and approval of the 
IDPs/LDOs.

NEW PLANNING LEGISLATION

The process of grafting a new provincial planning and development legislation to apply throughout the Province has commenced.

Demarcation

The demarcation processes in on the verge of being completed. New boundaries have already been proposed. Presently we have areas that will 
not meet the required standard of the envisaged local authority. Some other areas will be combined to have capacity to perform according to 
the envisaged local authority. The rationalisation of municipalities is bound to generate more heat, before the dawn of light, within and 
amongst municipalities.

Whilst we mediate these fundamental structural changes, we must, at the same time, mitigate these perceptions and fears.

A further challenge related to the restructuring of local authorities is that of the reconceptualisation of district councils. The 
assumption of &#145;South Africa as a clean slate in the drawing of municipal boundaries by the Municipal Demarcation Board raises the 
significance of the challenge.

* the new district councils will, in the main be premised on economic bases.
* the functionality, viability and sustainability of some of the proposed areas will have to be vigorously tested at the conceptual stage.
* The possibility of cross-boundary district councils poses a sensitive political challenge. The two or more Provinces involved will have 
to agree on the principle (which might be fairly easy); the areas concerned (which may be just as easy); then, they must agree on who will 
administer such a cross-boundary (which may be the breaking paint)
* What this boils down to is that a carefully worked out implementation strategy is crucial.

CONCLUSION:

There are enormous challenges facing local government. What has been outlined above may be only broad expositions of otherwise complex 
problems at the practical level. We take courage, however, in the knowledge that once a problem has been carefully analysed and properly 
understood it is already translated from a problem into a conquerable challenge. That includes the kind of moral-political problems 
authorised by the President of the Republic of South Africa (25th June 1999)



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