
=====================================================================
Nature of Service delivery partners as well as government's perceptive.
=====================================================================

Speeches and Media Release
 Finance and Economic Affairs

[         w

 EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNEMNT
 SPEECH BY MEC NKWINTI ON THE NATURE OF EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY PARTNERSHIPS AS WELL AS GOVERNMENT'S PERSPECTIVE ON THE ROLE AND 
SIGNIFICANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION IN DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY:
 AT THE AGM OF THE ECNGOC,
18TH NOVEMBER 1999



A. Introduction

1. Change must go on at a faster pace! Message from the President. Thus begins the ANC's 1999 Elections Manifesto. And, when the majority 
of South Africa's people endorsed this Manifesto, the President of the ANC pronounced: the People Have Spoken!

2. The vision of the ANC for the next five years is well set out on page 16 of the Manifesto:

The goal of the ANC remains the building of a united, non-racial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa. This goal guides our day-to-day 
actions. We are ready and determined to move with greater speed towards this goal.

3. On page 18, the ANC's manifesto sets out a programme to accelerate change, which focuses on five main areas:

3.1 Speeding up delivery of basic needs and developing human resources.
 3.2 Building the economy and creating jobs.
 3.3 Combating crime and corruption.
 3.4 Transforming the state.
 3.5 Building a better Africa and a better world.

4. The philosophical view of the government on the role and significance of organs of civil society in broadly reflected is the 
Constitution Act, Act No. 108 of 1996;

4.1 Section 18 [Freedom of association] Everyone has the right to freedom of association.

4.2 Section 23 [Labour Relations] One needs to refer to section 23 (2) (a)-(c); 23 (3) (a)-(b);23(4) (a)-(c) and sub-sections (5) and (6), 
to appreciate the significance the government attached to organs of civil society within the labour front.

4.3 Section 152 (I)(e) [ Objects of local government] To encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the 
matters of local government.

4.4 In addition to the constitutional provisions the Local Government White Act and Municipal Systems Bill] which make it compulsory for 
municipalities to recognize and facilitate the role of communities and community organisations in municipal decision-making[page 17-36].

B. The Nature of Effective Service Delivery Partnership

1. Paragraphs 1-3 in my introduction set out the strategic basis for the need for partnerships in the acceleration of change towards a 
better life for all, during the next 5 year.

Any kind of partnership must advance these strategic objectives.

2. Addressing this issue of partnerships, from the angle of Local Government, a South African Communist Party paper entitled Local 
Government Transformation has the following to say [page 26]:

5.4 Municipal Service partnerships (MSPs):

Clearly municipalities on their own will no be able to meet the basic needs of our people. A variety of Municipal Service Partnerships 
involving municipalities and outside agencies is necessary. These include public-public partnerships, partnerships with CBOs and NGOs, and 
Public - Private Partnership (PPPs). The main emphasis at present is on PPPS. The enclosed paper on PPS argues that while the public sector 
is the preferred service provider, the SACP should acknowledge the need for a variety of MSPs. However, PPPs should be seen as simply one 
of several forms of MSPs and emphasis should also be placed on other forms of partnerships.

3. The enclosed paper referred to in the SACP's Local Government Transformation paper starts by quoting from the Local White Paper [ White 
Paper on Local Government, March 1998, pp160-1]:

In current South African circumstances, the transfer of ownership is not an option for core municipal services particularly water, 
electricity and solid waste collection and disposal. Given the central role that these services play in meeting material, social and 
economic needs of communities, it is undesirable that ownership of associated infrastructure and assets are removed from the public sphere.

It goes further to say: The private sector must not be regarded as a panacea to all the problem

confronting local authorities, but must play a complementary role to the role of the municipality. Where the private sector is involved in 
the delivery of services it must be in a way which does not erode the capacity of the municipality to carry out its developmental role 
[Framework for Restructuring of Municipal Service Provision, Page 11]

4. These two quotes establish some of the principles that must be observed in the execution of public-private partnership, namely:

(a) Core municipal services [water, electricity and solid waste collection and disposal] should be provided publicly.

(b) Infrastructure and assets related to these core services must be owned publicly.

(c) The private sector must play a complementary role to the municipality in so far as the provision of these core services.

(d) There should be no question of the private sector crowding out the municipality in its role as a developer.

According to the said paper [Public-Private Partnerships: the Challenges For Local Government] the Department of Constitutional Development 
is currently working on a regulatory framework for Municipal Services Partnerships. The main emphasis is on PPPs. It is felt that the 
private sector will bring much-needed financial investment infrastructure; managerial skills; technical expertise; new technology; and, 
cost- saving, efficient and effective approaches to service delivery that also provide better quality and greater choice for people.

This assumption, however, does not spell out (a) what the public sector will bring along apart from the infrastructure and assets related 
to core (municipal) services and (b) what will be sacrificed to the public by the private sector bringing these qualities to the 
partnerships.

5. There are probably many important issues to be taken into account when considering service delivery partnerships, amongst them the 
following:

5.1 The demands of the task at hand.

5.2 The pressures and constraints created by objective and subjective circumstances

6. What, them, is the task at hand / the Task is that of accelerating social delivery and, or, change.

7. What are the key elements of this task / the elements of this task are [ ANC manifesto 1999 Elections];

7.1 Speeding up delivery of basic needs and developing human resources.
 7.2 Building the economy and creating jobs.
 7.3 Combating crime and corruption
 7.4 Transforming the state
 7.5 building a better Africa and a better world

8. What are the demands of the task? The demands of the task are [confer White Paper on Local Government, Page 22]:

8.1 Provision of household infrastructure and services
 8.2 Creation of liveable, integrated cities, towns and rural area
 8.3 Local economic development
 8.4 Community empowerment and redistribution.

9. What are the fools and approaches for meeting the challenge? The White Paper (page 26) once more, provide these as follows:

9.1 Integrated development planning and budgeting
 9.2 Performance management
 9.3 Working together with local citizens and partners

10. What then, is the nature of effective of the service delivery partnership given the demands of the task and the tools and approaches?

10.1 Availability or scarcity of skills, expertise, resources and technology within the public institution will be a factor.

10.2 The primary objective(s) of the partnership may play a role.
 10.3 Project time-lines will weigh in.
 10.4 The scope and size of the project will have a bearing.

11. Depending on these and other constrains, one or a combination of two or more of the following types will be employed [ Confer p 100, 
White Paper on Local Government]:

11.1 the build-operate-transfer type (BOT),where the contractor builds the asset, operates it for a period, and then transfer it to the 
municipality at not cost;

11.2 Build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT); and
 11.3 Build-operate-train-transfer (BOTT)

C. Role and significance of organs of civil society in a democratic society

1. In my introduction I refer to, at least, three services of the constitution which reflect the government's view on this question at 
least, two pieces of legislation, based on the LGWP which make it compulsory for municipalities to consult with communities and community 
organizations in municipal decision-making.

2. The bottomline, though, lines in the conception of democratic society and civil society.

2.1 Civil society as understand it, is that sociological construct which seeks to distinguish individuals, social groups and institutions 
whose main cause for existence is not to take direct control of the authoritative allocation of national resources, but to influence such 
in one direction or the other.

2.2 A democratic society, once more as I understand it, is a society in which each and everyone shares equi-proportionately to the rights 
and responsibilities, duties and services and constraints and opportunities which accrue to, and, or, emanate from their society.

3. Events and legislative processes in South Africa today illustrate quite clearly that the government while mindful of, and sensitive to, 
its role as a responsible government, is very responsive to interest groups in terms of concerns they raise with it

Needle is one institution, which reflects the government commitment to facilitating an equi-proportionate but meaningful constitution by 
organs of civil society to major socio-economic decisions.

D. Concluding remarks

I now conclude remarks with reference to local authorities, which are at the nodal point delivery [and, therefore, where partnerships are 
going to forged] I find the "concluding comments" of section B of the Local Government White Paper (LGWP, p 36, quite instructive in terms 
of providing content to partnerships in social delivery. I have reproduced this conclusion, to round up this address:

Municipalities face great challenges in promoting human rights and meeting human needs, addressing past backlogs and spatial distortions 
and planning for a sustainable future. Local government can only meet these challenges by working together with local

citizens, communities and businesses and adopting a developmental approach which:

Enhances their capacity as policy and planning centres, able to mobilize and manage a range of development initiatives, resources and 
processes through a coherent vision and integrated planning framework for this local areas.

Focuses their own institutional and financial capacity on the delivery of affordable and sustainable services relevant to the needs of 
local communities.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Home | About the Eastern Cape | Documents
 Economy | Structures | International Relations | Links
 Premier's Office | Speeches & Media Releases
 Top of Page

---------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Eastern Cape

Premier's Office

Structures

Documents

Speeches & Media Releases

International Relations

Economy

Links


