Municipal Infrastructure

Municipal Infrastructure: Initiatives

1. The Department is monitoring the MIG expenditure in all municipalities that receive a MIG allocation.
2. In supporting municipalities to provide basic services, the Department developed Bulk Infrastructure Master Plans for Water and Sanitation for all the districts in the Province. These master plans have been consolidated on a Provincial level.
3. Some of the priority projects identified through the Bulk Infrastructure Master Plans - water and sanitation - have applied for funding through the Department of Water Affairs' Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG). This Department co-chairs the provincial RBIG adjudication meetings for the Province.
4. The Department also developed a report on the status quo of municipal electrical master planning to ensure that Municipal Electrical Master Plans are in place in 24 municipalities.
5. To assist in addressing skills shortages in the electrical departments in municipalities, the Department entered into partnership with DBSA to conduct electrical artisan training. Altogether 81 potential electrical artisans are being trained, of which 26 went for their trade tests. Seventeen of these candidates passed their test and can be appointed as fully-fledged artisans in municipalities.
6. The Department has also established a partnership with DBSA, the University of Stellenbosch, and the Water Institute of South Africa to train water process controllers and supervisors in the Western Cape through the telematic training initiative. The impact is that nearly 200 participants at nine centres throughout the province have obtained 50 hours of expert interactive training with minimal expenditure and time away from the participants' municipalities.
7. A service provider is conducting a study to propose a long term infrastructure finance strategy for Drakenstein Municipality. The lessons learned through developing this strategy will be applied to other municipalities to compile a Guideline for financing municipal infrastructure and support infrastructure implementation.