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SPEAKING POINTS FOR COGTA MEC SIHLE ZIKALALA DURING HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH MSUNDUZI STAKEHOLDERS – TOWN HALL, 23 NOVEMBER 2022

Programme Director;
Councillors;
Representatives of Business, Religious and All Civic Organisations;
Members of the Public;
Government Officials present;
Ladies and Gentlemen;

Introduction

It is a pleasure and an honour to meet with you once more on a platform such as this one.

We are gathered today, at a key moment in our country and for our city. As the provincial government, we recognise the important role that the KwaZulu-Natal Capital City in the life of our province and this community. It is for this reason that we have chosen to keep a close eye on what is happening in this historic city because we are deeply invested in its rejuvenation and return to its former glory.

We use former glory advisedly knowing that the city’s needs have expanded since 1994 because it had to be an inclusive city that is a home to all, black and white, rich and poor, urban and rural. And so, as we reimagine the rebirth of Pietermaritzburg, we have to envision a city that plans for rapid urbanisation, population growth, and indeed more demand for basic services.

Many of you will remember that we have had numerous engagements with you on the condition of the municipality and the steps that need to be taken to get this municipality where it belongs.

We acknowledge that the municipality is not where it is supposed to be, but we have noted improvements which we hope will be built on.

It also does not escape us that we find ourselves in a society that has high unemployment and rising crime levels which exacerbate the challenges in this municipality as key infrastructure is constantly vandalised by criminals. While law enforcement must rise to the occasion and arrest criminals who steal and vandalise infrastructure, this is a challenge that requires the mobilisation of all sectors of society. In our homes, communities, places of work – everywhere – we must have zero tolerance for law breakers and those sabotaging our future. We must, therefore, not glamorise crime and protect thugs whether they are our neighbours, friends, or powerful individuals in communities.

Purpose of the Day

Ladies and Gentlemen, you will remember that many years ago, the government launched the Masakhane campaign, which was aimed at fostering closer ties between communities and institutions such as municipalities.

Through this programme, municipalities would be transparent with residents and earn their trust and win their confidence by showcasing the work they are doing and the steps that need to be taken by the residents in support of municipal efforts.

In the budget policy speech for the 2022/23 financial year, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs committed to relaunching this campaign in the province’s municipalities. Given the importance of Msunduzi, it was chosen as the first place to launch the campaign in 2022. We will be using much of tomorrow here in Msunduzi to stage the launch and invite communities and other stakeholders to work closely with government to rebuild this municipality and its communities.

We hope that through the rejuvenation of the Masakhane Campaign, we can continue to educate, inform and create awareness among our residents about the need for them to pay for services that are rendered by municipalities.

In our province, billions of rands are owed to municipalities by businesses, residents and even some government departments and entities.

We also aim through this programme to sharpen systems that are already in place that are aimed at keeping our cities clean, safe and hospitable.

Back to basics

One of the pillars that this campaign is built on Sound Financial Management and Service Delivery.

We understand the responsibility that the municipalities have of using the limited resources given to them in a manner that is above board.

We have witnessed many instances where trust in municipalities is eroded based on poor decisions that are taken by councils or their failure to deal with corruption and mismanagement.

This is an issue that we will not turn a blind eye to, we are serious about this matter and several legislative changes have given more powers to the Auditor General to recoup any irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure from Accounting Officers if they fail to take the appropriate actions.

On the economic front, we wish to see Msunduzi taking its place as a light industrial production hub. In order for this to happen, we will require the municipality to identify key areas that it can focus on such as basic services, security, ease of doing business and strong support for light industrial production.

Key Programme of the Masakhane Campaign

As we meet this evening, we wish therefore to invite you to be a part of it. Part of our exercise this evening is to register your issues as key stakeholders so that our collective responses to your issues are addressed in a more systematic way. We must all hold each other accountable and have monitoring mechanism while identifying people we can trust to follow up on the priority of issues and our pragramme of action.

Through the Masakhane campaign, we aim to:

Address outcomes of the municipal assessments which indicate disparities and poor public participation functions in certain municipalities, as well as very poor revenue collection and non-payment for services.

Make it possible for all Councilors to conduct regular consultation and feedback meetings with their constituencies during a stipulated period.

Empower local communities with information on their rights and responsibilities, including payment of services rendered by the government.

Encourage local communities to play a meaningful role in the affairs of the municipality to influence decision-making processes.

Bring back public confidence in the elected representatives in the local government space, to overcome a sense of hopelessness in that individual members can speak out on what development is required and what is of concern to them.

Facilitate a platform to identify service delivery failures and bottlenecks, in turn, address the worsening public protests which are organized as a result of communities being neglected, ignored and left behind in development programs.
Compatriots, the campaign seeks to:
Improve the quality of relations between the Msunduzi council and its communities. It is important that the council is seen to be listening to the communities and acting on the community’s concerns.

Encourage businesses, government departments, government political office bearers, Councillors, officials and general members of the community to pay for municipal services to address challenges of power cuts and shortage of funds to provide basic and other services.

Conduct mass education on the indigent policy so that elderly people and those who qualify can register and benefit in line with municipalities’ indigent arrangements.

We also appreciate the fact that we cannot do this on our own but need to form a partnership with all stakeholders across the board.

MEC’S FIVE KEY PRIORITIES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN KZN

As the department of Cogta, we have identified five key areas that need us to work closely with residents and like-minded organisations.

1. Stabilisation of the sphere of local government

The priority is for us to stabilise the sphere of local government within our province. The instances of intimidation and murder of public representatives and municipal workers are a blight on our province and demonstrate that there are forces that are hell-bent on compromising the sphere of local government at any cost.

We cannot allow these rogue elements to subvert the democratic gains that we have made within this space. Working together, we can stamp out acts of criminality.

2. Professionalization of local government

The second issue is the professionalization of the sphere of local government within our province. Only a meritocratic local sphere of government that values skilled, ethical, and law-abiding public servants can succeed in making local government capable and developmental in its approach. And so, efforts to improve the skills of municipal officials and other public servants is a priority in delivering quality, dignified, basic services to communities. Lack of skills and professionalism contribute to municipality dysfunctionality and disastrous consequences for residents.

We also urge communities to pay attention to the calibre of councillors that they elect. These need to be men and women who driven only by the passion to selflessly serve and improving the lives of others. They need to understand the seriousness of the position they occupy and the responsibilities that they carry. If this is not looked into, we run the risk of having the stature of our municipalities undermined and the public losing confidence.

As political parties, we also carry an enormous responsibility of ensuring that criminals do not infiltrate our political systems and cause chaos or start looting people’s resources at the local government level.

3. Building Capacity to deliver

As CoGTA, we have undertaken to help our municipalities to build their capacity to deliver service to our communities as outlined in the constitution. The District Development Model (DDM) which we have begun to implement seeks to bring all 3 spheres of government to resolve service delivery challenges. We are providing various forms of technical support to help municipalities improve delivery of services.

It is clear that in this day and age, we cannot have our municipalities absent when we are talking about issues of the economy, electricity generation, and strategic partnerships with the private sector on creating new industries and protecting those that exist. In this regard, we again we invite the business community to partner with CoGTA and the Msunduzi Local Municipality to turn around Pietermaritzburg and surrounding communities.

4. Community Participation

The fourth issue is community participation. It is disheartening and unacceptable to see councillors not convening meetings with their respective communities to update them on the decisions that are being taken in the councils.

This leaves our communities poorer in terms of information and sometimes leads to protests as communities search for answers. The Constitution and various pieces of legislation enjoins municipalities to involve communities in decision making or to consult them when plans like IDPs are for instance drafted. Communities must also stand up and insist on monitoring and evaluation of IDPs and council programmes.

5. Mechanism to manage political competition

My fifth point is that our municipalities must have systems that help them to manage the political competition.

While the area of local government is heavily contested terrain there should be areas of common interest and approach for political parties within the respective councils.

We say this because ultimately every councillor in the council represents the interest of the residents and there has to be collaboration on issues that strengthen accountability and protect the integrity of the institution.

CONCLUSION

Programme Director,

Having outlined these steps that we believe will assist us to turn the situation around in Msunduzi and other municipalities, we must add that if we are to succeed, we need all stakeholders to work closely together and to share best practices. This is why gatherings like today’s are so important as we get a chance to cross-pollinate and share experiences.

We wish to assure you as KZN CoGTA that we value your input, time, and commitment to see Msunduzi work to your expectations.

We stand ready to hear you, to craft together with you a programme that we can all own, and most importantly, to make our great city a thriving centre of commerce and citadel of hope again.

This is a task that government alone cannot accomplish.

It is a task that will not only be fixed by courts, threats to boycott also paying for services, or constantly putting Msunduzi under Administration. On the contrary, it requires a mindset shift and new ways of doing things. And so, we are here to work with you to ensure that all your needs are reasonably addressed within agreed time frames so that Msunduzi can again become a place of pride for all who are associated with it.

To win, we should also lend a hand, pay for services, help fight crime, and prevent wastage.

And there must be no opportunity for impunity for officials and councillors who treat the public with disdain or disrespect.

Together Growing KwaZulu-Natal!

I thank you!

ADDRESS BY KWAZULU-NATAL MEC FOR COGTA SIHLE ZIKALALA DURING THE MUNICIPAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS, DLI HALL, DURBAN, 22 NOVEMBER 2022

Programme Director;

Mayors and Councillors;

Representatives of SALGA;

Amakhosi and izinduna present;

KZN CoGTA Head of Department, Mr Tando Tubane

Senior Government Officials;

Leaders of Business and Labour;

Social Partners;

The people of KwaZulu-Natal;

Members of the Media;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Good evening to you all! Sanibonani! Dumelang! Salaam!

Let me begin by adding my voice in offering you all a warm welcome to this majestic, beautiful, and hospitable province of KwaZulu-Natal.

We are honoured and pleased to have in our midst representatives of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) who for more than two decades have been a credible and reliable partner of CoGTA and local government leading from the front to inspire service delivery.

We truly appreciate our collaboration and partnerships with SALGA and other stakeholders which geared towards making local government truly capable, developmental, and to help us realise the vision of South African communities which are truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, equal and prosperous.

And to municipal managers, councillors, mayors, and public officials, today you are truly our guests of honour because these awards are about recognising and rewarding your hard work. Today we are here to salute your remarkable contribution to changing the quality of life of our people through improved service delivery.

Tonight, we wish to celebrate the value of professional management and to recognise impactful projects that have significantly improved the quality of life of the people of KwaZulu-Natal.

As you would know, these Provincial Municipal Excellence Awards attract entries from all our municipalities and also provide space for the public to participate in choosing winners.

For a number of reasons, including the reprioritisation of budgets, the global pandemic of COVID-19, and the July 2021 unrest, we have not had these important awards since 2018.

We are therefore truly pleased that we have succeeded to return this significant event to our provincial calendar as a meaningful gesture of appreciation to the KwaZulu-Natal municipalities that are going the extra mile to qualitatively transform the lives of our people by bringing much needed services to our communities and stakeholders.

We also wish to pay tribute to the people and communities of our province who have participated in helping us identify the winners because ultimately, they are the best positioned to judge as it is them on the ground who encounter excellent or poor service delivery.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We cannot overemphasise the importance of local government in improving the lives of the people and in helping our democratic state forge a new South Africa founded on the principles of democracy, non-discrimination, equality, and shared prosperity.

Understanding that local government is the coalface of service delivery, the 6^th Administration under His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken a particular interest and renewed focus to reduce bottlenecks to the delivery of basic services by introducing the District Development Model (DDM). The DDM brings together all spheres of government under the ONE-PLAN-ONE BUDGET framework to improve coordination and accelerate service delivery.

In this regard, we also wish to remind this august audience that the 6^th KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government identified as its first priority the improvement of the basic delivery of services, in particular water.

The verdict is still out there in the remaining two years of this administration on how far we have succeeded to turn our municipalities around and improving the provision of services as we committed in 2019. We cannot, however, ignore the important work that KZN CoGTA and our municipalities are doing to attend to the water challenges through the implementation of the KwaZulu-Natal Water Master Plan.

On behalf of KZN CoGTA, we wish to thank all the hard-working municipality officials, mayors, and councillors who ensure that local government works around the clock. We saw you on the frontline of service delivery during the height of the deadly COVID-19 which took the lives of many of our people and wreaked havoc in our provincial economy.

Once again, we express our solidarity with families and colleagues who lost their loved ones. We also saw your patriotic commitment during the floods early this year ensuring that much-needed emergency services are provided and lives are saved. Thank you once more!

As we honour you this evening, it would a neglect on our part not to acknowledge the loss that the sector is also facing with the murder of councillors and municipal officials that are being murdered. We have learned that since the November 2021 local government elections, about 54 municipal officials and councillors have been murdered throughout the country. The Western Cape is said to have the highest incidence of the murder and intimidation of Councillors and official while in KZN we have lost no less than 11 councillors since the local government elections.

We wish to assure you all that this is a serious challenge that is of great concern to all spheres of government and SALGA. It is an issue that we were debating in the NCOP this afternoon. Apart from strengthening law enforcement, we wish to urge every councillor, every municipal manager, every public official to work hard towards eliminating the deep-rooted culture of violence in our society.

This culture which sometimes is motivated by greed, corruption, and competition over limited resources and fight for positions seems to be rearing its ugly head as we see with the despicable crime of the murder of amakhosi and izinduna in KwaZulu-Natal. It is the same culture of violence across society that we see dehumanising women and children, exposing them to violence and trauma on a daily basis. We implore upon all of you to fight corruption courageously and relentlessly in municipalities and to ensure that those who commit crime face the full might of the law.

We urge you all to work hard in advancing local economic development in your municipalities and in making your localities attractive to investments and job creation. There can be no doubt that poverty, unemployment, inequality, and various social ills provide a fertile ground for a culture of violence to take root.

It must be our generational mission to make our municipalities safe, socially cohesive, and prosperous. And so, when we deliver social infrastructure, build schools, bring water closer to communities, and electrify our rural communities and informal settlements, we are also contributing to building a firm foundation upon which we can create the KwaZulu-Natal of our dreams.

If we all prioritise the development of communities, especially the vulnerable poor and youth, we are protecting our own future by building on the solid rock of peace and stability and lessening the chances for the counterrevolution to undermine our hard-won democratic gains.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tonight, must be remembered as an evening where collectively we succeeded to raise the profile of local government. We have to do this to foster trust and to create a better image and more informed understanding of the local government sector.

Today, we intend to focus on what is working and identifying those municipalities that are leading by example. It is our opportunity to celebrate good practice and excellence among your peers so that we can all learn from one another.

At this point, please allow me to highlight the broad categories that various municipalities will be recognised for this evening:

Best Performing Ward Committees in terms of functionality in the 2021/22financial year

This category recognizes an outstanding Ward Committee that has a record of consultation mechanisms with its community. Here we are paying attention to evidence of an effective public participation programme.

We can attest that those municipalities where communities are involved in the life of a municipality, where there is a two-way communication process, and where the leadership of municipalities regularly consult, service delivery protests are reduced and trust is restored in local government.

Best managed electricity project by a municipality

The winning municipalities in this category were able to accomplish electricity connections to households within specified time and within the allocated budget, thus changing people’s lives.

These municipalities are rewarded for efficiency in accelerating basic service delivery to very needy communities.

The impact of electrification (notwithstanding load shedding) has clearly resulted in improved socio-economic conditions where households were able to connect to modern technologies such as computers and smartphones. We also see businesses and entrepreneurs thriving because of electricity connections.

Best Recycling Project managed and supported by a municipality

With the emergency of climate change and its disastrous effects on humanity and in KwaZulu-Natal, we cannot overemphasize the need to protect the environment from pollution. The category on recycling recognizes those municipalities which have responded to the call to support the waste recycling culture. Through it, we wish to encourage many more municipalities to offer dedicated support to individuals and SMMEs that are working with waste, helping clean our environment, and supporting green economy initiatives.

Best Managed Landfill Site

It is important that landfill sites are properly managed and adhere to bylaws. This is for the well-being of all including nature on which we depend. We have sadly had the experience of communities taking Umsunduzi Local Municipality, for instance,  to the Human Rights Commission and ultimately court on a landfill site that was not managed properly.

This category of Best Managed Landfill Site, therefore, seeks to reward those municipalities that have well-run and functional landfill sites. Compliance would include, for instance, that the Landfill facility is licensed, is fenced, and has an Operational Plan.

Best Implemented Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan (SDBIP)

Winners in the category would have achieved at least 95% of the targets that were set for the previous financial year.

The winning municipalities received Clean Audit opinions on Performance Information. Quarterly performance reports submitted to Oversight structures on time. Also, there’s evidence of Improved Audit Opinion on Annual Financial Statements and Performance Information.

Best Developed Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the 2021/22 Financial Year

This category rewards municipalities that achieve no less than 85% in the IDP scoring. The criteria utilized for the determination of the Best Developed IDP are the Credible IDP assessment criteria that are applied in the MEC’s IDP assessment process. We again wish to encourage municipalities to ensure that all stakeholders, including our traditional leaders and communities themselves, are involved in the crafting of IDPs so that they can feel a sense of ownership and be in a position to effectively monitor their implementation.

Clean Audit Opinions

The category of Clean Audit Opinions cherishes municipalities that have achieved Clean Audits in the 2020/21 audit year.

Municipalities that have achieved clean audits have been found by the AG to possess these attributes:

• Its financial statements and performance report give a transparent and credible account of its finances and its performance against the targets that had been set. In other words, these accountability reports present a reliable picture of the municipality’s performance.
• The municipality complied with the important legislation that applies to it and, where transgressions did occur, they were rare or not material.

Best and sustained sound Financial Management

With these awards, we seek to reward municipalities with the best and most sustained financial management and viability. As KZN CoGTA, we remain committed to offering extra and skilled personnel to support to struggling municipalities to turn their finances around.

Among others, the criteria include:

• Positive Audit Outcomes (either a Clean or Unqualified with matter opinions) for the 2020/21 audit year.
  • Funded budget status for the 2021/22 Financial Year
  • Cash coverage ratio – within the Treasury Norm of 1 – 3 months
  • Debtors’ collection rate – within the Treasury Norm of 95% revenue annual collection

Allocation and spending on the Repairs and Maintenance (O&M) budget

This important category rewards municipalities that have budgeted more than the Treasury Norm of 8% on repairs and maintenance based on Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) for the 2021/22 financial year and had spent the R&M budget.

Winner of the Night

The biggest award this evening will indeed be “Winner of the Night”. We all need to learn from this municipality as we seek to develop ideal municipalities throughout KwaZulu-Natal.

We will be presenting this prestigious award to the municipality that met the criteria of a stable municipality. This is a municipality with governance structures which are functional. In this municipality, there is clear evidence that Ward Committees and Municipal Rapid Response Teams are functional.

A number of our municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal and throughout the country are showing poor financial results and no municipality can be sustainable with poor financial audit outcomes. This is one of those municipalities that provide hope. As such, we can reveal that the “Winner of the Night” would have:

• Received positive audit outcomes on Performance Informationin the 2020/21 audit year.
• Passed funded budgets for the 2021/22 Financial Year.
• Revenue collection within the Treasury Norm of 95%.
• No ESKOM or Water Board debt.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Tonight, is a night of the hard workers, the innovators in local government, and those passionate about service delivery. It is about rewarding leadership and team effort in the service of our people.

We must begin to also emulate the spirit of entrepreneurs and encourage communities to think like them. Where many see problems like littering, disruption in electricity supply, lack of transport options, entrepreneurs see opportunities for growth and innovation.

As we go through limited budgets, we have no doubt that the leadership of the local government sector will innovate, think outside the box, and be entrepreneurial in approaching our challenges.

Once again, congratulations to the winners and we hope that next year it will be the turn of your municipality to be recognized if you missed out this evening.

Growing KwaZulu-Natal Together!

I thank you.