NCOP Provincial Week 16 - 19 April 2013 | Western Cape Government

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NCOP Provincial Week 16 - 19 April 2013

16 April 2013

1. Introduction

Members of the NCOP, members of the Provincial Parliament and representatives of Salga. The Honourable Premier requested me to lead the briefing to you on the Eden district. You have requested to be briefed on progress made in respect of service delivery challenges and issues raised by communities in the Eden district during the NCOP’s previous Provincial visit week in 2009. In this regard your programme for the week emphasises specific topics to be addressed. There are eight municipalities within the district namely Bitou, George, Hessequa, Kannaland, Knysna, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn and the Eden District Municipality.

2. Basic Service Delivery, Governance, Anti-Corruption Training Initiatives and Disaster Management

2.1. Basic Service Delivery

According to Census 2011, access to piped water in respect of the seven local municipalities within the Eden District averages at 97,8%. Flush toilets averages at 85,2% and 91,1% of households have access to electricity though the grid.

When the aforementioned percentages are compared with the averages for the Province, it is found that in the Eden district, access to piped water is slightly higher than the average whilst access to sanitation and electricity is slightly lower than the Provincial average.

2.2. Governance

Institutional

From an institutional and systems perspective governance in municipalities in the Eden District is generally at an acceptable level. Only one post of municipal manager is vacant and that is at the Oudtshoorn Municipality. This post was advertised and interviews will shortly be conducted.

Vacancies of section 56 posts do exist in municipalities such as the Eden District Municipality. The organisational design of the said municipality will soon be reviewed to determine the optimal and most efficient structure. Further municipalities in the district may soon follow suit. As soon as the organisational re-design processes are concluded, critical posts will be filled. The Bitou Municipality was subjected to organisational re-design in 2012 and is now well informed as to which posts should be prioritised for filling. The Department of Local Government supports the organisational re-design processes at municipalities where the need exists and these projects are assisted via funding and co-funding arrangements.

Audit Findings

With the exception of Kannaland and Oudtshoorn whose audit outcomes are not yet available, the remainder of the municipalities in Eden received unqualified audit reports with emphasis of matters in respect of the 2011/12 financial year.

LGTAS

The strategy followed in the Western Cape to introduce and rollout the LGTAS programme is starting to yield positive results. Five municipalities in the Province were identified where hands-on support can be provided in terms of this strategy. In the Eden district, the Kannaland and Oudtshoorn Municipalities have been identified for LGTAS support. Sector departments and stakeholders form part of this initiative.

Research

I have requested my Department of Local government and municipalities to conduct a number of comparative studies. The first is on municipal ratio’s and the second includes a comparison of the number of households against budget size and organisational structure.

The purpose of such research and comparative studies is to get a better understanding of the business of local government. The results will assist the Province to improve its support and advice to support municipalities. This research is in process.

MGRO

The Western Cape Government in 2012 initiated the Municipal Governance Review and Outlook to improve and promote clean governance within municipalities. MGRO is aimed at systematically improving the governance and financial management within municipalities and thereby enabling operational effectiveness, efficiency and accountability. The objective is to improve municipal audit outcomes and the achievement of clean audits. MGRO supports and is aligned to the National Strategy: Operation Clean Audit ,2014 and the Provincial Strategic Objective 12 moving the WCG towards the best run regional government in the world. The identification of challenges is based on the gap analysis against the financial management capability model, as developed by the Auditor-General South Africa. The Provincial Treasury provided municipalities with a Municipal governance action plan (MGAP) tool with the view of identifying governance challenges.

2.3. Anti-Corruption Training Initiatives

Anti-corruption training initiatives were conducted in the Eden district in 2012 by the Department of Local Government in conjunction with The Institute Of Law In Action (Nmmu), supported by The Hanns Seidel Foundation. As a result of the findings of the 2011 survey, the Department of Local Government in co-operation with the Hanns Seidel Foundation coordinated two separate and distinct anti–corruption training initiatives based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Hanns Seidel Foundation and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. The focus of the initiatives was to build capacity among Councillors and Municipal staff members in order to promote the fight against corruption on district and local municipal level.

2.4. Disaster Management

The Disaster Management Act (sections 52 & 53) determines that municipalities must develop disaster management plans which contain contingency plans and emergency procedures in the event of a disaster. The Disaster Management Plans for the Eden District and the local municipalities were reviewed, assessed and updated during the 2011/12 financial year. 

The Eden District Disaster Management Centre officially opened in December 2009 and is fully equipped and operational to deal with major incidents and / or disasters. The Eden District Disaster Management Centre has an established Advisory Forum that meets regularly. The Provincial Disaster Management Centre supported the Eden District during 2012/13 financial year with updating and maintaining the risk and vulnerability assessment.

3. Feedback on Progress Made with Respect to the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Report(ATC) dated 15 September 2009

3.1. The Availability of Water and Water Resources in the Region

Since the drought of 2009, many projects were implemented in the Eden District to improve the bulk water supply such as (i) Desalination plants to purify water from sea water in Mosselbay, Knysna and Bitou; (ii) A re-use plant in George – other projects are still underway, e.g. increasing the capacity of the George dam and (ii) Water restrictions were applied which had a positive impact on the consumption of the water demand and water conservation.

Many water projects funded by the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) are being implemented at municipalities. Projects include work for dams, bulk water supply lines, boreholes and water source development.

3.2. Electricity Undersupply in the Region

Eskom upgraded the bulk supply in the areas around George but is still busy with the upgrading of the bulk supply lines to Knysna and Bitou, which is due for completion within the next 18 months.

The IDP engagements and indabas initiatives of the Department of Local Government played a positive role in facilitating improvement of cooperation between municipalities and Eskom.

A survey on electricity supply capacity was initiated by the Department of Local Government and is available to all municipalities within the Eden District.

Furthermore, the Department of Local Government through its Infrastructure unit, supports municipalities in engagements with Eskom for example in the determining of an electricity strategy for Kannaland as planned for on 23 April 2013.

3.3. Measures to Combat Escalating Levels of Crime in the Region

The Provincial strategy to increase safety, which is closely aligned with the National Development Plan (Chapter 12), is based on three distinct categories of interventions by the provincial government namely:

  • Improved Civilian Oversight over the police as a catalyst to increase safety as per the Constitutional Mandate of Provinces (Section 206 (3)
  • Establishment of formal partnerships with communities – Whole of society concept.
  • Improved information gathering about the policing needs and priorities and /or the safety concerns of those communities.

The Department of Community Safety conducted full oversight inspections at all the police stations in the Eden District during the 2012/2013 financial year. The findings at some of the stations were forwarded to the police and responses to the findings, with focus on corrective steps. 

The Western Cape Community Safety Act, 2013 (Act 3 of 2013)was approved by the Premier on 5 April 2013, articulating in much detail how inspection of police stations by the Department of Community Safety must be conducted and how such reports are to be dealt with, including referring  the reports to the multi-party provincial parliamentary committees.

Improved information gathering about the policing needs and priorities and /or the safety concerns of those communities:

The policing needs and priorities of all stations within the Eden district was determined, through a consultative process by the Department of Community Safety as per section 206 (1) of the Constitution. A full report on these needs and priorities was published and forwarded to the National Minister of Police, the National Secretariat of Police, the Provincial Commissioner for Police in the Western Cape and all CPFs. Regular follow-ups are made in an attempt to ensure that available policing resources are deployed according to the needs and priorities identified in each community.

3.4. Plans for Establishment of By-pass Roads and Upgrade George Western Bypass

An Environmental Authorisation permitting the proclamation of the proposed route connecting the N2 near George Airport and the Outeniqua Pass was issued by the Department of Environmental Affairs on 9 July 2010.  The Authorisation has a validity of five years.

After the aforementioned authorisation was issued, an appeal process was followed. After a review the Minister dismissed all appeals on 24 May 2011. The proclamation of the route has yet to take place. No budget allocation for the present MTEF period has been made for the construction of the road.

Knysna Bypass

The planning and construction of the proposed Knysna Bypass falls within the jurisdiction of SANRAL. To date no environmental approval for the route has been issued by the relevant environmental authorities.  If constructed the road will operate as a toll road.

Upgrading of R72

Since 2009 the investigations into the upgrading of the R72, from a gravel road standard to a surfaced standard from the airport to the N2 have been supplemented by an additional report (Conceptual Transport Planning Study December 2012) by the consulting engineers appointed for the project.

In addition, discussions were held with the Bitou Municipality and the Airport concessionaire on the future planning in the area as well as the future of the airport with regard to the function of R72, as this will have a bearing on the type of road to be constructed.

The project is active and the Department is busy finalising the alignment in order to proceed with construction within the next few years, subject to available funding.

3.5. Status of Amalienstein (Government Farm in Kannaland) and its Impact on the Local Community

In 2010 Casidra was requested by the Department of Agriculture (Western Cape) to draft a turn-around strategy for Amalienstein as the farm was not profitable. The turn-around report was supplied to the Department in October 2010. Four options were proposed. The most limiting factor is that Amalienstein only has sufficient water to irrigate 80 ha during the year.

The Department of Agriculture has indicated that there are currently no funds to implement any of the options in the turn-around strategy.

3.6. Progress in Development of Credible Local Economic Development Plans

The following initiatives support the development of credible LED plans:

Municipal Capacity Building Programme: All municipalities were invited to participate in the department’s capacity building programmes which focus on training officials to improve their skills and capabilities to improve their understanding of LED and the role of the municipalities and economic stakeholders in improving the local economy.

Business Climate Survey: The first Business Climate Survey in the Eden District was conducted in Knysna in collaboration with the Knysna Municipality. The aim of the survey was to: Gain an understanding of the Knysna business community's view of the local economy.

LED Maturity Assessments: The LED Maturity Assessment is a practical approach to assessing the capability of a local economic development system to deliver sustained employment and enterprise growth.

Economic Empowerment: In addressing the “Access to Finance” challenge, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism has, since 2010 / 11 been implementing the Provincial (LED) Growth Fund. The Fund aims to provide financial support to groups of businesses pursuing common initiatives with the objective of improving competitiveness, increasing turnover and exploiting new or existing market opportunities.

Enterprise Development: With regard to Enterprise Development Support in the Eden Region, the Department is collaborating with SEDA.

Tourism Development Key Deliverables: Cultural and Heritage Tourism has been identified as a tourism niche market and a provincial cultural tourism and heritage strategy will be drafted in line with the national strategy.

Job Creation: During the 2012/2013 Financial year the Department, through the National Department of Tourism, implemented the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) where 113 unemployed youth were trained and placed in the hospitality industry with various companies in the Eden District.

Tourism Enterprise Development: During the 2012/13 financial year the Department offered support to 41 tourism businesses in the Eden region.

3.7. Plans to Upgrade Health Facilities and Adherence to Batho Pele Principles in the Delivery of Health Services

Eden District - Department of Health: Physical infrastructure review (10 April 2013). The improvement in the physical infrastructure of the health facilities has been a major priority for the district in the last three years.

The Eden District has monthly meetings with the Dept. of Public Works and the provincial Dept. of Health Infrastructure Directorate to plan, implement and monitor projects for the district.

A number of major projects have been completed recently whilst others are in the planning or implementation stage or in the conceptual phase.

3.8. Assess Establishment of the Bitou Urban Edge

The previous SDF for Bitou Municipality was approved by the Council in December 2005. In terms of the Municipal Systems Act, SDF’s should be revised every five years. The latest revised Draft Bitou SDF, prepared with Bitou Municipality as part of BESP, has not yet had final approval from the Council. However, the urban edges in the draft version, which has gone through a process of public participation, are in line with Provincial Policy. It is anticipated that these will be the urban edges that will be approved as part of the updated Bitou SDF, as part of their 2013/14 IDP approval, at the end of May 2013.

3.9. Progress in Management of Schools and the Level of Upgrading Facilities in Bitou Particularly in Respect of Murray High School

Specialised Schools for Learners with Learning Difficulties or Disabilities: There are six Special Schools in the district which provide support to learners with special educational needs or who experience barriers to learning.

Provision of Science and Reading Facilities in Schools: We have provided science kits to 65 quintile 1 schools and reading schemes to all Foundation Phase classes. In addition we have provided one core reader per learner in the Intermediate Phase.

Security in Schools: Safe Schools has a three pronged strategy aimed at creating a safe and conducive teaching and learning environment.

The core focus of Safe Schools is; substance abuse, Occupational Health and Safety, Creative and Constructive Approaches to Conflict, Youth Development and the 50 Core Security Mechanism School’s which is registered as a project on the Premier’s dashboard.

School Facilities at Bitou: The school offers a curriculum from Gr 8-12 and has an enrolment of 867 learners. The school provides sufficient accommodation for the learners. Like many schools, the school requires maintenance.

3.10. Plans and Strategies to Ensure Effective CDW Work in Communities

The management model and the role played by the CDW’s in the respective communities within the Eden Region. The objective of the programme is to:

  • Assist with improving service delivery and accessibility to public services.
  • Assist with intergovernmental coordination both between the three spheres of government and government line departments.
  • Facilitate community development and stronger interaction and partnerships between government and communities; and Support participation democracy.

The Eden Municipality has CDW’s in the following area George, Mosselbay, Kannaland, Oudtshoorn, Knysna and Bitou.

The Role played by the CDW’s in the programme: The CDW’s facilitated 16 information sessions for the financial year 2012-2013.

The CDW’s referred and assisted at least 1355 people to access government services. The cases referred to government services are based on these issues: World Aids Day; People with disabilities; Application for an Identity Document; Application for Indigent Policy; Child Birth Certificate; Housing Application; Application for Youth Leadership Chrysalis Academy; Small Business; etc.

3.11. Developing Credible Housing Waiting Lists

Western Cape Housing Demand database (WCHDDB): The WCHDDB is designed to minimise situations of unfair housing allocations and data tampering. The system has the following access controls:

  • Limited user access with unique usernames and password to prevent unauthorised updating of data.
  • Segregation of duties in the WCHDDB by means of different user profilesto ensure (i) quality control by housing managers and (ii) limited access to update critical fields i.e. Date of registration, ID number.
  • An audit trail on user activity for each record on the database.
Media Enquiries: 

Peter Pullen
Spokesperson for Minister Bredell
Tel: 021 483 2820
Cell: 082 574 3773