Oudtshoorn Municipality on the Path to Recovery | Western Cape Government

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Oudtshoorn Municipality on the Path to Recovery

16 September 2007
MEDIA STATEMENT

September 17,2007

OUDTSHOORN MUNICIPALITY ON THE PATH TO RECOVERY

MEC Qubudile Richard Dyantyi

The provincial cabinet of the Western Cape resolved recently to allow the intervention in the Oudtshoorn Municipality in terms of section 139 of the Constitution to run its course on 18 September 2007. The result of this will be that the Council of the Municipality and its Municipal Manager will from 19 September 2007 once again be empowered to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as envisaged in the Constitution and other legislation. This decision is made possible by the relative political and administrative stability that is evident in the municipality after the provincial government intervened and the administrator, Mr. Louis Scheepers, commenced with his duties.

In terms of the decision by the Provincial Cabinet, the Municipality and the MEC for Local Government & Housing, Qubudile Richard Dyantyi, must conclude an agreement through which the Department of Local Government & Housing continues to provide comprehensive, hands-on support to the Municipality.

It is envisaged that the support by the department to the municipality will include making available to the municipality a person with the requisite skills, knowledge and experience to assist the municipality in implementing its recovery program.

The period of comprehensive hands-on support will be for a period of six months, commencing on 1 October 2007 - 31 March 2008. A monthly report will be submitted to the Cabinet via the MEC, detailing progress with the recovery of the municipality.

The provincial cabinet noted that a municipal manager was appointed for the Oudtshoorn Municipality and that the incumbent, Rev. Noël Pietersen, assumed service on 13 August 2007. A new manager: corporate services, Mr. Thembani Gutas, also assumed service on 3 September 2007. The Oudtshoorn Municipality and Eden District Municipality is in the process of discussing the secondment of a senior official from Eden to Oudtshoorn and for this official to be appointed as acting chief finance officer.

A range of strategic partnerships was forged around the recovery process in the Oudtshoorn Municipality. I would like to acknowledge these partnerships and thank those involved in the recovery of the municipality. These are:

  • Select Committee on Local Government (National Council of Provinces);
  • Standing Committee on Governance (Western Cape Provincial Legislature);
  • Provincial Treasury;
  • Eden District Municipality;
  • Development Bank of Southern Africa; and
  • Ilima Trust.

The administrator, together with other role-players in the municipality, developed a recovery program for the municipality. This program is based on the information gathered in the S106 investigation that preceded the intervention, the diagnostic exercise performed in the initial stages of the intervention as well as internal consultation with councillors and officials. The recovery program is structured along the same lines as the national strategic agenda for the 2006 - 2011 term of local government.

The recovery program is premised on the reality that recovery of the municipality is a medium to long term endeavour. Short-term actions and activities must therefore be aligned to the medium to long-term objectives.

A further premise of the recovery program is that developmental local government, i.e. local government that is committed to working with its citizens and groups within its community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs and improve the quality of their lives, must be built on good quality and strategic political leadership and policy direction, as well as sound administrative systems, processes and procedures.

"In conclusion I would like to once again reiterate my commitment to my dual roles of monitoring and supporting local government in the province. It is only when we have municipalities that are able to deliver on their developmental and service delivery mandates that we will be able to make a better life possible and build the Western Cape as a home for all. Constitutional and legislative compliance is the foundation on which developmental local government is built", Says MEC Dyantyi.

Media Enquiries: 

Vusi Tshose
Media Liaison Officer/ Spokesperson
MEC: QR Dyantyi -Local Government and Housing

Tel: 021 483 4466
Fax: 021 483 4953
Cell: 083 581 5265
Email: vtshose@pgwc.gov.za