SALGA, MDB, CRLRC Quarter 3 performance & BRRR response; with Deputy Ministers

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Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

23 March 2022
Chairperson: Mr F Xasa (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

30 Nov 2021

ATC211130: Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dated 30 November 2021

In a virtual meeting, the Committee received briefings from the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the CRL Rights Commission (CRLRC) and Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) on their Quarter 3 performance reports, providing detailed accounts on pressing concerns that the Committee sought clarification on.

MDB noted that the CEO vacancy was in the process of being filled as the former CEO’s contract had come to an end and an acting CEO has since been in place. The crux of its presentation which the Committee focused on was the Outer Boundary Redetermination Process that it did every five years after the local government elections.

Committee Members were concerned that the Redetermination process is not well advertised to communities for public participation. This results in later disputes once municipal and wards boundaries have been decided on. These decisions also have an impact on service delivery as areas might no longer benefit from resources they previously had. MDB acknowledged this but said there has been an improvement in engagements with communities resulting in a drop in municipal demarcation protests. Although there are areas that are not pleased with a redetermination, MDB explains to communities the criteria and justifications used in the decision. It said other spheres of government should play their role in ensuring effective service and resource delivery.

Committee Members noted that MDB was reliant on municipalities to provide the necessary information and MDB needed a hands-on approach to getting the information to achieve correct decision-making. MDB noted there has been an improvement from the previous paper-based system to an electronic system that allows municipalities to share this at any given time. There have been interventions in ensuring municipal compliance such as MEC and MMC assistance and MDB embarking on municipal visits to assess the lack of compliance in certain municipalities.

CRLC stated that it had intervened in the Phoenix violence during the July 2021 riots to bring the African and Indian communities together to ensure peace and harmony in the area which it believes it was successful in achieving.

Some Committee Members were not satisfied with that mediation approach as it was considered apologist in nature for what was racial killings against black people. The Commission stated that its main objective is ensuring peace and stability in volatile areas and that acts of criminality should not be condoned. This should be left to SAPS and NPA and the Commission does not have jurisdiction over this.

Operation Dudula was raised by Committee Members for its apparent hate for African illegal migrants in the country. The Commission said that Operation Dudula provided a perfect example of the Commission’s objectives of having people live side by side and not take the law into their own hands. Social cohesion in South Africa needed to be urgently reviewed.

The death of initiates at initiation schools was a concern as 40 initiates had died this past summer initiation season in the Eastern Cape. The Commission's efforts to devise strategies to prevent this was questioned. The Mpumalanga initiation schools have not reported any deaths which provided a benchmark for initiation schools.

The Commission was questioned about efforts to break language hegemony and ensure African languages are brought to the fore and indigenous languages resuscitated.

SALGA spoke about capacitating municipalities and councillors after the local government elections (LGE) especially new councillors to understand their role in effective local governance.

There had been an increase in the number of coalition governments and SALGA has developed guidelines on how coalition governments should be constituted and work. SALGA raised concern that the municipal leadership quality both politically and administratively is having an impact on running clean and sound governance and there is enormous pressure on SALGA to capacitate municipalities sufficiently. SALGA has told its members to make sound appointments to handle the complex nature of local government so service delivery is not hampered by poor leadership choices.

SALGA had started providing financial management workshops for councillors so that once they exit the sector they are prepared for this. Committee members complained that former councillors who exited the system after the LGE are having difficulties accessing their pension and gratuity payouts and that SALGA was not helping them. SALGA stated that the payouts were the responsibility of the National Treasury and there have been engagements between Treasury and COGTA to ensure speedy payouts.

All three institutions raised concerns that their funding was limited which restricted their ability to fully carry out their mandate. Committee Members replied that try to fulfill their mandates with the resources they have.

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed both Deputy Ministers in attendance to receive Quarter 3 performance reports from the three institutions and track the progress made on their Annual Performance Plan (APP) objectives for 2021/22. Apologies were received from the Minister who was in a Cabinet meeting and from the Director-General of Traditional Affairs who was in the Northern Cape.

Committee Report on Municipal Systems Amendment Bill
The Committee adopted its report on Municipal Systems Amendment Bill discussed on 22 March.

Deputy Minister Remarks
Deputy Minister Obed Bapela said that the three institutions played a fundamental role in enhancing democracy in South Africa and their roles are expressed in the Constitution and are accountable to Parliament. Therefore, they are presenting their Quarter 3 administrative and financial performance. SALGA is a representative body for local government, and they directly give a voice to the sector. He congratulated it for hosting a successful conference in which Mr Stofile was appointed its President who will speak on behalf of the issues that SALGA is facing.

Municipal Demarcation Board (MBD) presentation
Mr Thabo Manyoni, Board Chairperson, said that it performed exceptionally well except in one area where it achieved 67% due to information required from municipalities not being received in time. MDB has advertised the position of CEO as the previous CEO’s term came to an end in early December. The advert had closed on 21 January 2022. Interviews were meant to be held shortly after; however, they have been postponed and it is a work in progress in getting the position filled. MDB has commenced with the Outer Boundary Redetermination Process for which applications from affected parties and the public had to be submitted by 31 March 2022. Previous applications from 2016 will be reviewed and those who submitted applications will be asked if they wish to have their matters considered in the 2022 process.

Mr Aluwani Ramagadza, MDB COO, said that it is the wish of MDB to create well-defined municipal spaces in the country to improve service delivery and access to research and special information and to increase public and stakeholder participation. All programmes, except for Programme 3: Research, Spatial Information and Intelligence Development, achieved 100%. Overall 93% was achieved.

MDB has been hard at work updating the criteria for demarcation as municipal boundary proposals were received by 31 March 2021 before the process formally begins in the latter part of this year. There were 215 proposals that formed an integral part of the creation of the multi-criteria decision support tool. MDB will assess 213 municipalities of which 52 municipalities were analysed in Quarter 3. The assessment ensures that there is alignment between the police, magisterial district, health boundaries and overall demarcation.

One of the projects MDB is doing is to integrate special data products into a special knowledge hub. There was no target but it is something that MDB is developing. A report is being compiled about the different powers and functions in schedules 4B and 5B relating to government capacities. The report started three years ago and is being finalised this year. Two research papers were, focusing on the implications of the Gauteng City-Region in municipal demarcations.

In Programme 3 which did not achieve 100%, MDB is updating its database on 249 municipalities and for Quarter 3, 61 municipalities were targeted. MDB has developed an internet-based system that allows municipalities to update their information at any given time whenever MDB requires the necessary information for capacity assessment. Only 8 municipalities had updated their systems. Efforts are being made in Quarter 4 to meet this target. This is not the easiest target to reach as it is dependent on compliance from municipalities that MDB has no control over. The MDB Chairperson has written to all mayors and MMCs to get them to comply and there have been internal processes to persuade municipal staff to complete their updates. The Chairperson has written to the nine MECs for assistance and there is a hope that this will yield results in the next two weeks.

On stakeholder engagements, there have two public awareness and education campaigns and two stakeholder awareness campaigns. There has been traditional and digital communication about the demarcation process and in partnership with the Independent Electoral Commission, there was a campaign to encourage citizens to register to vote in the LGE.

Ms Tintswalo Baadjie, MDB CFO, went through the financial performance of MDB (see presentation). There was a 2% variance for compensation of employers due to the executive management vacancies and some money had to be put aside for cost of living adjustments which had not yet taken effect as per DPSA directive. The directive was only approved and in effect in February 2022. For goods and services, there was 18% variance due to underspend but most of the money has been spent in Quarter 4. There was a variance of R500 000 for internal audit reviews which will be spent in Quarter 4 and R560 000 not spent for travel and accommodation due to virtual events happening because of the pandemic. On the remaining budget for good and services, there will be the procurement of cloud services of about R1.3 million and computer equipment of about R700 000. A budget has been set aside for the research of the boundary dispute process with a panel of experts which is about R7 million which will likely be expanded in the next financial year and that has been committed.

Mr Ramagadza said that MDB had financial and human resource constraints. There was limited funding from National Treasury which has had an impact on its ability to reach out to regional areas in addition to the pandemic. There are proposed amendments to the Municipal Demarcation Act currently before Cabinet which seek to address the challenges experienced with demarcation such as public participation and consultation. There have been a few cases of dissatisfaction with the final ward boundaries, especially in the lead up to the LGE. However, the MDB Chairperson has been able to engage with the affected communities to explain the decisions made and the demarcation criteria.

CRL Rights Commission presentation
Prof Luka Mosoma, Chairperson, said that there had been three areas in Quarter 3 that had been critical to the performance of the Commission in ensuring social cohesion, safe communities and the protection of cultural, religious and linguistic rights. The first was the unplanned intervention in Phoenix which arose from the July 2021 riots and looting, and it was the job of the Commission within its Act to bring peace to the area. The Commission is happy to report that there has been an agreement between the African and Indian communities to bring reconciliation and social cohesion. There have been subsequent meetings between the KZN provincial government and traditional leaders which have received a high level of engagement to reach further agreements for peace in the area.

The second area is better relations between Africa and the world. The Commission is dealing with the Muslim community that goes for Hajj and Umrah religious pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. There had been an agreement between both countries to establish a structure to facilitate Muslims to go to Hajj. It came to the Commission’s attention through DIRCO that it needed to assist in solving the challenges as the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) team has not been able to assist South Africans to go on Hajj after the pandemic eased.

The third area is about religious cohesion and that has to do with alleged sexual, social and religious abuse levelled against the KwaSizabantu Church in KZN. All but one witness have been interviewed and the Church was afforded the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

The last area is the death of initiates in the Eastern Cape which has become an albatross for the Commission as every year there is a large number of deaths. The Commission and Eastern Cape stakeholders including the COGTA MEC met on 21 December 2021 to find strategies to prevent these deaths in the future. There was a further engagement with the Eastern Cape on 30 March 2022 as the death rate for the summer initiation season had increased to 40 deaths.

Mr Edward Mafadza, CRLC CEO, said that this was the Commission’s first time presenting before the Committee in the Sixth Parliament and it is hoped that future presentations will be better detailed as the Commission learns what is required by the Committee. He apologised to the Committee for not including the financial report in the original presentation sent to the Committee.

The Commission's five programmes were noted and its mission to build an enabling environment for cultural, religious, and linguistic communities to co-exist and participate in the development of peace, friendship, humanity, tolerance, national unity based on equality, non-discrimination, and free association.

The Commission aims to continue its record of an unqualified audit opinion and reduce wasteful, fruitless, and irregular expenditure to zero. It tries to achieve this each quarter so at the end of the financial year, there are no surprises in the audit. There are efforts to improve the turnaround time for resolving and responding to complaints which were achieved in Quarter 3. There has been an improvement in the number of engagements and educational programmes the Commission has conducted. It has engaged community council structures in the recognition of cultural, religious, and linguistic rights.

Mr Mafadza gave a summary of the targets and objectives achieved for Quarter 3 and explained the reasons for the unachieved or partially achieved targets (see presentation).

On the internal and external audit findings, there were still outstanding cases that were to be resolved due to other findings that needed to be investigated which led to a disciplinary hearing. On oversight of bills before Parliament, the Commission usually provides inputs on bills that affect the work of the Commission. If there are no bills to provide inputs, the target is classified as not achieved on the recommendation of the Commission’s auditors. The auditors have recommended that the Commission establish an ICT committee which has subsequently been established composed of the commissioners, the chairperson of the audit committee and ICT experts.

The Commission had to make temporary appointments to help capacitate some of its units. These included public engagement education officers, procurement officers, legal officers, research and development and human resources. The contracts are for a 12-month period which has already assisted CRLRC immensely.

The Commission has taken the Committee's advice in finding ways to raise additional funds. It has since advertised for a fundraiser as this is new terrain the Commission is embarking on. The fundraiser will be responsible for providing fundraising strategies going forward.

The Committee had raised concerns about the amendment of the CRLRC Act. The Commissioners have given their input on the proposed amendments which will be shared with COGTA to initiate the Amendment Bill. The Quarter 4 report to the Committee will outline the proposed amendments by the Commission.

There has been progress with the District Development Model where links are being formed with COGTA on how to position this project, especially in the Vaal which has resulted in a draft memorandum being drafted by COGTA which is a step closer to proceeding with the projects.

Mr Cornelius Smuts, CRLRC CFO, said that there was an underspending on employee compensation of 6% and on goods and services of 36%. The underspending on employee compensation was due to vacancies that needed to be filled. This saved the Commission R1.1 million but this soon changed once the vacancies were filled. The CFO could not complete his presentation as the Committee stated that the financial report was not submitted in the original presentation.

South African Local Government Association (SALGA) presentation
Mr Stofile said that particular focus has been placed on the transition of new councillors coming into municipal councils and capacitating councillors to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Since 2016, there have been coalition governments in municipalities. In 2016, coalition governments were mostly led by two parties; however after the 2021 LGE, there are over 70 coalition governments involving more than five parties. This has forced SALGA to engage on how to regulate coalitions to prevent possible crises in the future. It is hoped that there will be robust engagements between the Committee and SALGA on what is understood by cooperative governance and if there is a similar understanding by all parties involved.

Mr Lance Joel, SALGA CEO, said that SALGA finds itself in a peculiar position where the five-year strategic plan previously presented was for the 2017-2022 period ending 31 March 2022. A new five-year term will begin from 2022-2027. The report presented is the last report of the 2017-2022 period coinciding with the transition of local government from its 2016 term to its 2021 term. The previous Annual Performance Plan spoke largely of transitional assistance to the new councils. The November 2021 elections led to new municipal councils. SALGA also had to focus on its own transition, which SALGA will report on in detail in Quarter 4.

Quarter 3 was spent by SALGA preparing for its January and February provincial conferences and its national conference earlier in March. The SALGA five-year plan had four outcomes of which three are directly linked to its mandate towards member councillors and one is linked to internal dynamics that allow for SALGA to achieve the three other outcomes.

In Quarter 3, 68% of the targets are in progress with 19% having been achieved. There may be a concern that 19% is a low target to achieve compared to the 68% that is still in progress however the deliverables for the quarter have been achieved but there are outstanding deliverables that need to and will be completed in Quarter 4. The reason for this is that with the provincial and national conferences, resolutions deliverables can only be completed once these structures have been elected and the strategies have been approved. Each quarter has deliverables that must be achieved and only at the end of the financial year, the in-progress deliverables will then be converted to completed deliverables and combined to show a total percentage. The same can be said for lagging-behind deliverables set for the year but not completed in the stipulated period. They do receive priority in the next quarter which will likely be achieved but progress is tracked.

The crux of SALGA’s work in Quarter 3 was defined by electoral support in the preparation of and post preparation of the LGE. Support was given in drawing up transitional guidelines to assist municipalities with new municipal leaderships in helping define the roles and responsibilities politically and administratively, so they know how these various roles work in effective local government. Municipalities have been assisted in providing handover reports to new councils so that they can develop generic standing rules. There were some challenges, especially with the delayed amendment of the Municipal Structures Amendment Act that affect standing rules and orders in municipalities. This is why municipalities are seized with ensuring they review all rules and orders in line with the legislative amendments.

SALGA is providing workshops on personal financial management to prepare councillors when they eventually leave the sector to better manage their finances for life outside governance. There is a sad situation where former councillors are not able to manage their finances and end up homeless due to no planning, so the workshops help them plan for the inevitable every five years when the elections take place.

Support was provided to municipalities to transition from the old term of office to the new one and prepare both old and new councillors for the new term, especially for the first council meetings including the agenda items.

SALGA has developed a coalition government framework to assist with how coalition governments should be formed and guided to ensure sustainability and longevity. This is an addition to the Integrated Council Induction programme run in partnership with COGTA after the LGE.

Post-election support was focused on the preparation of convening inaugural meetings, supporting municipalities with councillor welfare, tools of trade, exit and entry of the pension fund and induction programmes in all municipalities. Before the December break, just under 3000 councillors were inducted. By end of Quarter 3, the councillor induction of only two municipalities were outstanding. However, it interacted with all 255 municipalities in some way in that quarter.

There was a strong focus on profiling the sector during the quarter in two ways: the first being ongoing campaigns on a monthly theme to increase the awareness of local government service delivery to counter the continual negative stories spoken about in the press and society.

On SALGA’s finances, every year it finds itself in a predicament where membership levies by municipalities are not paid by July of each year. There was an exception this year as the SALGA constitution does not allow municipalities to participate in conferences if they have not paid their levies to SALGA. This led to an increase in paid levies and the conferences attracted donors and sponsors. The collection of membership fees sits at 64% which is an increase from 55% in the previous quarter. The sad reality is that SALGA is still dependent on membership levies which need to be addressed. Despite these challenges, the organisation remains financially sound.
 
Discussion
Mr C Brink (DA) said that the last-minute insertion of the CRLRC financial report was not acceptable. Thus the report was non-compliant and could not be fully engaged with to ensure full oversight.

The MDB presentation did not fully address the dispute between the Board and the CEO and the impact such dispute had on the inner workings of the entity. How has the dispute affected its functioning and can the Board assure the Committee that the dispute is closely monitored so that it can be avoided in future?

The CRLRC was implicated in the State Capture Report by the Zondo Commission where the 22 February 2019 minutes of the ANC Deployment Committee, of which Deputy Minister Bapela is a member, presented 37 out of 78 names to serve on the CRLRC. However, these names were rejected and it decided the ANC Deputy Secretary-General would headhunt potential candidates and the Deployment Committee would compile a preferred list and submit these names to the Minister, subsequently leading to the former Chairperson not being reappointed. If this is the case, it would be unconstitutional and violate the CRLRC statute. The only structure that can guide the CRLRC appointment process is a selection panel that makes recommendations to President who has the final authority in appointing commissioners, not a political party. Can the Deputy Minister elaborate on the role the ANC Deployment Committee played in appointing CRL commissioners and did the CLR Chairperson and Commissioners know about this political decision that informed the Commission’s composition? If not, what is their feeling about how this reflects on a Chapter Nine institution?

The CRLRC targets make it as easy as possible to achieve such as attending meetings and issuing media statements. There is a percentage for the number of legal opinions received and responses to legal requests. How many legal opinions were sought, who wrote these opinions and how does this contribute to the overall performance of the CRLRC?

On Bills that pertain to cultural, religious, and linguistic communities, the CRLRC stated that no such bills were presented to Parliament so it did not achieve its 100% target. However, this is factually incorrect as the Disaster Management Amendment Act was one such bill open for public comment. The Committee had received submissions from organisations, individuals and religious communities who expressed dissatisfaction with the Act, especially the measures which have placed undue restrictions on religious gatherings. Why would the CRLRC miss such an opportunity to make a submission?

There were two disciplinary hearings underway. Could it provide details of these hearings and their progress? The Committee looks forward to the financial report in future reports.

What accumulated reserves does SALGA have at the end of Quarter 3 for unspent money or which has been held in investments compared to Quarter 3 of 2020/21? It is assumed that the reserves are significant but that would need clarification. Usually, when there are reserves, a request is made for an explanation of how those reserves will be spent. What explanation is provided to municipalities on how the reserves will be spent or is it important that the reserves are preserved?

The core mandate of SALGA is to advocate the interests of local government, especially when national legislation and regulations are passed. Two significant events took place in Quarter 3 which the Committee would like a response from SALGA. Firstly, the court ruling setting aside AARTO regulations and secondly the Constitutional Court setting aside the Preferential Procurement Regulations where National Treasury issued a memorandum that no procurement can take place until further notice. Has SALGA received legal advice on the Treasury directive and what is SALGA lobbying for when it comes to preparing amended regulations?

It is clear that South Africa is evolving from a one-party dominant democracy into a multi-party democracy due to an increasing number of coalition governments. However, what is of great concern is the poor administration of the North West province. Sewage plants, water treatment plants, pipes, electricity, and roads are mismanaged due to corruption and political infighting. What is SALGA’s proposition about the North West's instability considering it is under Section 100 by national government? Similarly, what is SALGA’s position on Mangaung Metro?

SALGA conducted an analysis of MFMA section 71 financial reports of 40 municipalities in Quarter 3. What were the key findings and recommendations from this assessment? Similarly, a study was commissioned on the poor functioning of labour forums. What were the key findings and recommendations from the study?

In a recent report to the Committee, it was discovered that the person responsible for the mismanagement of the Municipal Councillors Pension Fund was a SALGA nominee which is a cause for concern. Is it within the powers of SALGA to act against this individual and if so, what action has been taken?

Ms E Spies (DA) asked the MDB about their public participation record, considering that the applications for the outer boundaries are closing on 31 March 2022. Constituencies that she has engaged with are not aware of this or the closing date. This is a concern, especially because the Quarter 3 report does not outline the engagement data such as the number of adverts, tweets and public engagements they had. The MDB Facebook interaction data shows that only 10 out of 2900 followers interact with MDB content. It brings into question how many people are exposed to MDB’s work, particularly about the Outer Boundary Redetermination Process.

The SALGA workshops on personal financial management for councillors are welcomed. However, Free State councillors still have not received their gratuity payments and pension payouts. It is ironic that there are workshops; however they are still unable to access the due payments which is setting them back. This needs to be urgently addressed.

Mr A Matumba (EFF) asked SALGA to provide an explanation on half of its operational budget being used to pay its employees. The advice SALGA gives to municipalities is that they cannot spend half of the operational budget to pay employees as they are paying employees to go to work rather than doing their work. He requested a breakdown of the number of employees as well as the salary scales that are being paid.

SALGA’s mandate includes acting as a resource of knowledge and information. The Auditor-General (AG) has continued to complain that municipalities spend over a billion rand in sourcing consultants to help them prepare annual financial statements. This means that there is no skills transfer for municipalities to be able to prepare their own AFS. What is SALGA doing to address this so that municipalities can do this on their own?

The Minister was previously asked about municipalities spending a considerable amount of money on security tenders. This would be greatly reduced if they were to hire their own security guards. What is SALGA doing to capacitate municipalities to hire their own security guards?

The MDB depended on municipalities to provide information. The municipalities are obligated to submit the requested information. What consequence management has MBD implemented to non-complying municipalities? Were they reported to the relevant authorities?

The MDB has not provided an account of how much it spends on its community engagements. It demarcates communities without providing reasons to communities as to what led to such a demarcation. This leads to infighting between communities and community protests as they are not informed when such decisions are made nor are they given a chance to express their views. There are instances where a village will fall under two wards which creates issues in assigning municipal projects. There needs to be better focus on community engagements to avoid creating undue tension in communities.

The MDB should have advertised the CEO position earlier to ensure that by the time the former CEO had vacated office, a new CEO would have been appointed.

The MDB stated that they are spending millions on digital cloud services. Why is it not acquiring its own cloud servers? This would prevent monthly payments to third parties and completely relying on them. The entity should be independent and rely on itself.

The CRLRC said that it met with two racial groups in Phoenix about racial tensions during the July 2021 riots. The meeting can be classified as a meeting between racial apologists. How is it that the Commission has resolved the Phoenix matter considering that this was a racial attack against unarmed black people? Racism is something that cannot be softly addressed or mediated – a strong response is required.

Since the formation of the Commission and its research into language promotion, how many languages has it promoted to be taught and learnt in schools? What has its research shown in advancing the promotion of languages in schools? It cannot be that learners are forced to learn in another language that is not their home language. The Commission should ensure that South Africans can learn in their home languages without fear or favour.

What is the Commission doing to deescalate tensions between Pastor Mukhuba of the Unity Fellowship Church and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) as unarmed people in the church were shot at which was painful to see.

Mr G Mpumza (ANC) asked the MBD if the methodology of receiving responses from municipalities should be changed. Could this be the reason municipalities do not respond to the MBD because the way the answers are collected is not attractive such as the questionnaire being completed by junior municipal staff instead of senior management? The Board currently does not have the power to force municipalities to submit the questionnaire even though municipalities are mandated to complete and submit it as it assists MECs and the Minister in assigning powers and functions to local government. It assists in determining the required skills and talent needed in municipalities for effective service delivery. Does MDB not have an alternative approach that can assist in getting the required information from municipalities?

The MDB is embarking on the Outer Boundary Redetermination Process and public engagement is critical as communities have protested before about not being consulted in reallocation to a different ward or municipality. How effective is the MDB communication to communities? How will it ensure that there is maximum public participation? There has been much protest and dissatisfaction in the past. Will the Board prioritise these communities that have protested? To what extent would this impact the current configuration and preempt future protests?

Why is Buffalo City Metro part of the Commission’s APP and a target to achieve in Quarter 3 where it states that Metro does not have a policy or bylaw on cultural initiation for the CRLRC to review?

Mr Mpumza referred to the Committee and CRLRC joint engagement forum with religious leaders on the rise in abuse in churches. He had asked about the difference between a religion and a doctrine. The Commission was investigating the abuses by the KwaSizabantu Church in KZN and a preliminarily report was scheduled for release. What recommendations has it made?

Part of the Commission’s mandate is to resuscitate diminished indigenous languages. What progress has it made in ensuring this and how have it ensured broader cultural revolution that factors in the use of indigenous languages?

South Africa has had coalition governments since 2016, many of which have did not have governmental frameworks on how they should conduct their functions. SALGA has subsequently developed a coalition government guideline to address this concern. The guideline however is not binding thus SALGA has no authority to ensure compliance by municipalities. Does COGTA appreciate the need for such a framework so hung municipalities can be stabilised in the country?

Ms H Mkhaliphi (EFF) noted SALGA's involvement in assisting new councillors to effectively carry out their roles. However, SALGA is nowhere to be found when the councillor term of office comes to an end. He referenced the pension fund which SALGA is part of and a trustee. It was established after interaction with the Minister that the pension fund is administered by Treasury and not SALGA or COGTA. What is SALGA’s role in facilitating ease of access to the councillor pension funds? Can Mr Stofile and the Deputy Ministers provide clarity?

There is the challenge of 40 Labour Court cases which is partly due to dysfunctional labour forums. Training was organised for labour forums but had to be postponed due to poor attendance. What is the way forward and how is SALGA to address this dysfunction and the court cases? The General Secretary of the South African Local Bargaining Council is facing serious GBV allegations. At one stage SALGA assured the Committee that these allegations would be followed up; however, no update has been provided to date. How then does SALGA deal with serious municipal bargaining challenges, considering these serious allegations?

An explanation needs to be provided about CRLRC’s intervention in Phoenix. The conflict in Phoenix is a racial one of racist Indians killing black people. How did the Commission bring two communities together, considering that this was a racially motivated attack? When and where did the Commission initiate an intervention in Phoenix? Ms Mkhaliphi, as a resident of Phoenix, is unaware of the Commission’s initiative. Who was in attendance as various communities were affected by the violence? Can the Commission take the Committee into its confidence about this intervention which may not work as the Isolezwe newspaper has reported continued killings against black people in Phoenix? An appropriate response from the Commission would be that they are working with law enforcement to ensure that those responsible for killing unarmed civilians, including women and children, are put in jail and serve a lengthy sentence. The mediation approach is apologist to racists which is very unlikely to yield positive results.

Ms Mkhaliphi said that Deputy Minister Nkadimeng had previously assured the Committee that there would be an update on the Demarcation Amendment Bill as it has been continually delayed. No update has been provided to the Committee. The assurance provided was that this Bill would resolve the identified challenges. No update means that there is no way to track if indeed the Bill addresses these concerns. Can the MDB and the Deputy Minister provide a progress update?

She spoke about the complaints about being under-resourced. No entity will say that they have enough resources to carry out their work. While there is sympathy for the lack of resources, can they not take an alternative approach of doing the best with the resources available as they are not alone in facing financial and resource constraints.

The MDB cannot simply rely on municipalities to provide information it requires because municipalities have indirectly been given the power to simply not comply. The Board needs to change its approach as it is dealing with sensitive information which affects the lives of citizens.

Provinces have raised concerns about demarcations which MDB said it would attend to after the LGE. Four months after the election, there has not been an update on the concerns raised by provinces such as Limpopo, Free State and Eastern Cape. This seems like the Board has something to hide and does not want to be held accountable. Can the Board provide an update?

Mr K Ceza (EFF) referred to the increase in initiation fatalities currently sitting at 40. What concrete plans will the Commission implement to avoid future fatalities and ensure that there is no abuse?

What is the Commission’s position on Operation Dudula and how is it ensuring that it does not find traction in South Africa? Operation Dudula is an operation promoting hate against fellow Africans which cannot be allowed to thrive and be celebrated as it has serious implications for South Africans. Africans have been trading and travelling throughout the continent for centuries before the Berlin Conference which created borders between Africans and limited economic activities for Africans. Prior to 1994, Africans travelling to South Africa were brought in only to serve white interests such as working in the mines. Today, white people are disgruntled by land expropriation without compensation; as such, they are funding Operation Dudula which is making South Africans hate themselves and Africans. The implications of Operation Dudula will mean that South African tribal groups will soon be segregated according to provinces and barred from inter-provincial travel. The operation is already escalating tensions in townships furthering hate amongst Africans.

What is the Commission doing to limit the hegemony of language usage in South Africa? The Commission report is in English and Afrikaans while there is not a single vernacular language. How will the Commission restore language dignity as per Chapter 10 of the Constitution if language hegemony still exists? What is being done to address this so that South Africans feel represented in all official documents of the State and that they are able to speak and learn in their languages?

What has the MDB done in reaching a consensus from communities on their delimitation and demarcation process? The delimitation process is not simply about people living in different wards; it has to do with service delivery, projects and infrastructure that must be delivered. It creates hostility between communities as one community will feel neglected should they not benefit from these projects that they would have done so otherwise if they had remained in their previous municipality. This will have severe implications like the implications arising from Operation Dudula. The current tender system does not benefit or empower communities which fuels an already hostile situation. What has the Board done in ensuring should the delimitation process continue, the demarcated areas have the necessary amenities such as a community hall, a clinic and a police station? He noted the challenge that police stations are not able to assist citizens who come from different jurisdictions, even if the police station is in very close reach.

What criteria does SALGA use in determining resources for rural municipalities? The current categorisation is incorrect because some rural municipalities with the same number of wards are not given the necessary resources to help councillors do their job effectively. Since the LGE, some councillors still cannot connect to virtual meetings or communicate with communities because they do not have the resources to do so. This needs to be urgently addressed as it affects citizens.

Ms D Direko (ANC) asked the MDB what lessons it learnt from the ward delimitation process for the 2021 LGE. What challenges were faced and how have they been dealt with? Has the CEO contract ending in February 2022 been extended or has an acting CEO been appointed?

It is understood that the Commission promotes and protects cultural, religious, and linguistic communities; however, what does it do when these rights are violated or taken advantage of? The Eastern Cape has challenges with initiates dying at illegal initiation schools which has been a persistent occurrence for a long time. Has the Commission embarked on an awareness campaign in communities to prevent future deaths? Has it raised awareness of abuses in churches against their members? How effective are these campaigns? The Commission noted disciplinary action against two staff members. What positions do they hold and what is the status of the process?

Ms Direko said the matter of the ANC Deployment Committee determining who sits on the CRL Rights Commission, should only be addressed once a committee representative is present and not only Deputy Minister Bapela being asked to account for a decision taken by that committee.

Ms Direko added that on state capture matters, the President has informed Parliament that he would present an action plan once all Zondo Commission reports have been submitted. Once submitted, Parliament will thoroughly engage both sets of documents. Until such time, it would be unfair of the Deputy Minister or the CRLRC Chairperson to comment on such matters.

The Chairperson agreed about the last-minute insertion of CRLRC financial report which meant that the Committee cannot fully grasp the financial report accurately. The Commission acknowledged that this was the first time that it had presented and so it should be given a chance to rectify the mistake and not exclude critical information such as the financial report next time.

Deputy Minister response
Deputy Minister Bapela said the Demarcation Amendment Bill is currently before Cabinet. Once it is considered and approved by Cabinet, it will then be submitted to Parliament for consideration. He acknowledged that the processing of bills does take time; however, all these necessary processes by both Cabinet and Parliament need to be followed before it is enacted. 

On the ANC Deployment Committee, the Deputy Minister agreed with Ms Direko that there is no committee representative present to account for decisions made. The President has stated that once all State Capture reports have been submitted to him and he prepares an implementation plan of the report recommendations, he will present this to Parliament by the end of June. Until such time, questions on the ANC Deployment Committee, or any other state capture matter should be reserved. Other independent bodies may wish to conduct their own processes to respond to the issues raised in the Zondo report, as such, processes should unfold as and when necessary. Even though the Deputy Minister is a member of the committee, the committee takes collective decisions which do not rest purely on an individual’s choice. Additionally, the Deputy Minister is appearing in his capacity of representing the Ministry and not as a member of the ruling party.

The Minister is not absolving herself in the matter of councillor pension fund but she is not directly involved in determining the pension pay-out process. The Minister of Finance and National Treasury, as the authoritative bodies of all financial institutions and policies, are the ones who make the pension fund determinations as governed by the various financial laws.

Municipal Demarcation Board response
On allegations against the former MDB CEO, Mr Manyoni replied that an independent investigation was conducted which absolved the CEO from any wrongdoing. The CEO’s contract, however, had concluded and no contract extension was entered into. A job advert for the CEO position was advertised which closed on 21 January 2022 and the former CEO had applied for the post. The appointment process is still continuing however the next phase would be appointing a shortlisting panel which would lead to interviews being conducted.

On public outreach and the use of social media, the current Board has intensified its outreach which is why during the outer demarcation process, there have been very few disruptions to the process unlike in the past. MDB wrote to all registered political parties informing them that the Board was available to make presentations before them; however, only a handful of parties had requested presentations. MDB had written to the nine COGTA MECs and the councillors about the start of the demarcation process so that awareness campaigns can commence including the most recent awareness campaign conducted in Beaufort West. The main challenge that the Board faces is a lack of response from municipalities. Municipal managers are the first point of contact in raising awareness about the process before informing the Office of the Speaker. COGTA MECs and municipal managers have been requested to assist MDB in raising awareness in communities so that broader participation occurs in this process.

On uniting communities behind the demarcation process, the Board works with municipal officials, mainly in the planning departments as they understand the spatial issues of their respective areas.

The challenge referred to by Mr Ceza, about people not being assisted at police stations if they do not come from the respective areas, is more about magisterial districts which have been brought to the attention of the Board and the relevant department and these concerns are being addressed. There are efforts to ensure that magisterial boundaries are in line with municipal boundaries. Such matters will be resolved now that the LGE has concluded.

Lessons have been learnt from the past demarcation process mainly about ensuring that there is widespread awareness of the process and trying to work with municipal managers which can be challenging as there are local or partisan political issues that make it difficult for stakeholders to be under one roof due to certain areas being favoured by either the Speaker or other high-ranking officials. These issues are only made aware to the Board when meeting with stakeholders. Despite this, there has been an improvement in engaging communities and making them aware of the process along with the help of local radio stations.

Mr Ramagadza replied that MDB has appointed an acting CEO until the recruitment process for a permanent CEO is completed.

On public awareness of the municipal boundary redetermination process, Mr Ramagadza replied that MDB has placed radio adverts with SABC Radio from the beginning of December in all the languages the SABC covers. There have been advertisements on billboards that broadcast messages near taxi ranks and there have been advertisements and interviews on television. The Chairperson and board members have been conducting radio interviews for further awareness.

MDB acknowledges that its footprint on social media is limited however there have been efforts to involve the youth in participating in the process. A youth webinar has been hosted as the youth are likely to access information on social media and that is the most effective way of ensuring their participation. Social media is the new norm of engagement which the Board acknowledges it cannot run away from this; an intensive effort is made on this.

On cloud services, the Board is considering creating its own cloud service, but it has to ensure that risks such as loss of data and information and servers crash during virtual meetings do not occur. Such consideration is at its beginning stages and the Board will evaluate if there is value for money in implementing the cloud service.

On municipalities not responding to the MDB questionnaire on capacity assessment, the Board has since 2018 implemented an electronic internet-based system to have municipalities complete the form much more easily and at their convenience. Previously, the collection of information was done manually and consultants had to be hired by MDB to meet municipal officials to assist in completing the questionnaire. Even though the percentage of completed questionnaires through the electronic system is not 100%, there has been significant improvement in the number of questionnaires completed. There will be broader implementation of the electronic system for all municipalities. There have been challenges with the electronic system however those are receiving attention and will be resolved as time progresses. For municipalities that have not completed the online questionnaire, the Board will either visit the municipalities or engage them directly.

The Demarcation Amendment Bill aims to address the challenges raised by Committee members where some demarcations cause tensions in communities. The issue lies with the current criteria used to determine the types of demarcations that occur. At times the criteria create an unfavourable situation where a boundary is placed across an area that is merely separated by a road. The current rules state that there must be an average number of registered voters per ward. The Board must ensure that boundaries are legal and are in areas where elections can take place.

CRL Rights Commission response
Prof Mosoma replied that the purpose of the Commission going to Phoenix was in response to the CRLRC Act which established the Commission to promote peace, tolerance, friendship and humanity within religious, cultural, and linguistic communities. When there are warring communities, the Commission intervenes to bring peace and harmony. However, when there are acts of criminality, it has no power to execute arrests which is the prerogative of SAPS.

The Commission met with a variety of stakeholders such as interfaith traditional healers, hostel dwellers, the youth and other interested parties. The approach that the Commission took was firstly only interviewing black people to ascertain their experiences and what they felt triggered the tension in the community, similarly the same was done only interviewing Indian people. This was a lengthy process however it eventually led to both racial groups being able to be brought into one space to identify common ground to bring about lasting peace in the community. The platforms to engage on were advertised to afford everyone a chance to have their say. Issues of racism were brought up and the community took to agree to desist from acts of racism. A fuller report will be provided to outline what exactly was done by the Commission.

The language report is ready and will be released in April 2022. The report will detail what the role of the Commission is to address the hegemony of language usage in the country. The role of the Commission is not to develop languages but its role is to promote and protect languages, bring them to the fore and resuscitate diminished languages as language is a form of culture and heritage. Government must ensure languages are developed and become an official language in the country which the Commission will ensure is promoted and protected.

Prof Mosoma replied that Pastor Makhuba had relayed to the Commission that the challenge faced by the municipality was the land occupied was demarcated for industrial purposes. She has since moved to a new site and the Commission is now assisting her to unravel the relationship between her and the municipality when it comes to the new site. The matter is currently before the court and the Pastor will provide an update on the status of the case.

In the most recent meeting with the KwaSizabantu Church, it was given the opportunity to respond to the allegations by its former members and students of sexual abuse, spiritual abuse and running a cult. A report is now in progress. The Commission still needs to interview some witnesses who could not be interviewed previously due to illness. Once interviewed, the report will be concluded and ready to be submitted to the Committee.

The difference between a doctrine and a religion is that religion is a faith system whereas a doctrine is core beliefs that one holds onto. An example of a doctrine is the debate if Christ is in addition to God. The Commission does not get involved in doctrinal matters. Its main objectives are about ensuring that one’s religious, cultural and linguistic beliefs do not infringe on or cause harm to others. There is no questioning what a person may believe in so long as harm to others does not occur.

The report on language hegemony will focus on the importance of indigenous languages in South Africa and ensuring that they are resuscitated and brought to the fore and integrated into the marketplace of languages in the country.

On continued killings of black people raised by Ms Mkhaliphi, the Commission is not able to deal with criminality as it is within the powers of SAPS to investigate. The Commission agrees that those who use racism as a pretext for killing people should be arrested, charged, and imprisoned. Matters of criminality must be dealt with by SAPS and other crime agencies.

The Customary Initiation Act states that the custodian who bears full responsibility for initiation in any given environment rests with the traditional leader of the planned initiation. The Act states that there must be personnel teams ensuring the health and safety of initiates. The Commission met with the Eastern Cape COGTA MEC to ensure that when initiation season opens, precautions in terms of the Act must be made so that human life is preserved. Alas, the agreed plan between the Commission and the provincial government has not worked or there are other intervening circumstances as the number of deaths has increased to 40. This has sparked a meeting between both parties to assess what has not worked so that it prevents the narrative of young men going to initiation school to die. The chair of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, Nkosi Mavuso, has endorsed the Commission to run campaigns in the districts to raise awareness of safety measures for initiation schools. A year ago, the Commission had recommended that if an initiate dies, the initiation school should be closed and the young men should be saved and sent to a place of safety to proceed with the initiation. Most of the Commission’s efforts are in the Eastern Cape due to the high prevalence of deaths in the province compared to the initiates in Mpumalanga where no initiates die. There are lessons to be learnt from Mpumalanga which can be applied in Eastern Cape. Hopefully, there will be some strategic interventions to alleviate this.

Operation Dudula is a new group that has emerged, and it is said to be spreading hate speech against other Africans. Through the media and other communication means, the Commission is spreading awareness of the sanctity and respect of Africans. The Commission has embarked on roadshows to raise awareness of each other as Africans to promote peace, respect, humanity, friendship, and tolerance so that everyone is able to live alongside one another as per the prescripts of its Act. Operation Dudula not only violates the Constitution but goes against the efforts that South Africans are making in living in harmony and respecting one another.

Mr Mafadza replied that the Commission uses legal opinions to gain advice on how best it can exercise its duty and it does not give legal advice to external parties. There are many instances where the Commission must seek legal advice so that it does not make unnecessary mistakes when undertaking its duties. The only advice the Commission provides externally is when parties require advice from it on how to handle matters and then it provides recommendations.

The Disaster Management Act aims to deal with disasters which the Commission did not feel affected the religious sector. However, it is the regulations where the Commission placed most of its attention as those affect religious activities. Since March 2020, the Commission has made contributions to the regulations on how to address religious norms and standards during the National State of Disaster including the management of human remains for not only one religious group, but religions as a whole.

The Buffalo City Metro target was partially achieved and was reported as such.

The two individuals facing disciplinary hearings are the financial officer and a procurement officer. It was found that between 2018 and 2019, there were instances of procurement price inflation. The Commission hopes the hearings conclude by the end of April however this is not guaranteed as the matter may be prolonged depending on how the hearings unfold.

Dr Sylvia Pheto, Deputy Chairperson of the Commission, replied that during its intervention in Phoenix, the Commission had invited most organisations that represented multiple stakeholders such as the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), KZN House of Traditional Leaders, Induna representatives and the Indian community. There were groups from the local business sector, Indian women groups from Phoenix, the Private Sector Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), the Peace Committee established by the Police Minister, victims of the violence, families of the bereaved and the KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Ms Nkonyeni. The Commission aimed to get the relevant people to give information. The process of mediating peace in Phoenix was comforting as there was the willingness to resolve the tensions that had occurred and build the peace that they needed to have a peaceful society.

SALGA response
Mr Stofile stressed the importance of upholding the Constitution and the laws that govern how South Africa ought to work collaboratively and cooperatively. Operation Dudula is a perfect example of this. The CRLRC cannot succeed on its own in bringing communities together without local government playing its role in this. When Operation Dudula acts in the cities, what impact does it have on the cohesion of communities and the pressures that it puts on municipal infrastructure and activities that ought to benefit people in those areas? This illustrates the historical debates the Committee has raised about the importance of cooperative governance and the ability to understand what it means to improve the lives of ordinary citizens that look to the government to provide services. Operation Dudula is providing an important lesson on issues that CRLRC is working on to locate the roles that different spheres of government must play.

On the intervention in North West province, SALGA has engaged with the North West Premier to have deeper reflections on the limitations the province has especially as the province is under Section 100 administration due to its municipalities not performing well. What gives SALGA comfort is that there is acceptance by the North West Provincial Government that solutions need to be found to ensure effective municipalities. Lessons have been learnt from the Tshwane Municipality when the provincial government dissolved the municipality to avoid dealing with political challenges. This resulted in dealing with legalities that simply did not exist. Political questions must be dealt with by political solutions and parties who contest elections must be mindful of this.

If one looks at the intervention in Mangaung in the Free State, it is a political question that must be dealt with politically by those involved. Legal instruments should not be used to resolve political questions as stated by Judge President Mlambo of the Gauteng High Court. This confirms SALGA’s position in desisting from using the law to resolve political challenges. Many local governments in the country are the way they are due to the contradictory use of politics and the law by officials.

Mr Stofile spoke about the pension fund transformation process in the country. During this process, councillors both former and current, have been able to steer the direction of what they would want done with the reserves of the Municipal Councillors Pension Fund (MCPF). These include incorrect investments. These do not align with the wishes of members which is why a commitment has been made to ensure that proper and correct decisions are made that align with members’ desires and that can be correctly accounted for. At the SALGA conference, a clear resolution was made about the pension fund and other issues raised by councillors.

The assumption made is that SALGA has been absent in assisting former councillors when they wish to make claims for their pension payout. This assumption is factually incorrect. After the LGE, there were over 70% new councillors which meant 70% now former councillors have exited the sector. SALGA has been ready to ensure both new and former councillors receive the necessary support on their journeys to ensure it is as smooth as possible. Therefore, there have been engagements with COGTA and the MCPF to ensure that pensions of former councillors are paid.

Concerns were raised about the lack of capacity in municipalities to carry out their functions and this has been consistently raised by the Auditor-General. South Africa has adopted a tender system approach which SALGA has been critical about because of the quality of work that is performed by those awarded these tenders, especially when it comes to service delivery. The tender process is extremely weak in dealing with service delivery challenges and requires serious introspection. How is it that to secure products and services, one must go through a third party which ends up inflating prices and compromising the quality of work and the nature of the products procured? If one does not go through a third party, the entire process becomes illegal. Members of Parliament need to look into the local government framework to provide better services to communities.

Mr Joel replied that SALGA is assessing the implications of the AARTO Act judgment. SALGA is on record for previously raising concerns on the practicality of implementing the Act as it affected municipalities. The judgment essentially requires that the Act go back to the drawing board for advice on the best way forward. The same applies to the Preferential Procurement Act judgment.

SALGA’s assessments of section 71 reports paint a very bleak picture of the state of finances in municipalities. Municipalities are owed close to R300 billion in debt which hampers their ability to service the debt they have with service providers and small-medium enterprises due to the inability to collect revenue. Therefore SALGA supports initiatives taken by municipalities to implement aggressive credit control measures that include disconnecting households and businesses as a result of prolonged outstanding bills negatively impacting municipal financial sustainability. Municipalities should sooner rather than later respond to the emanating financial crisis that will cripple their financial status.

There is a concern about the bleak state of local labour forums (LLF) which have mostly not been able to achieve the objectives of their establishment. The forums have not been functioning mostly due to non-attendance of meetings, non-mandated meetings or lack of mandated positions which includes the inability to implement resolutions. This creates instability as conflicts arise from non-implementation of resolutions which must first be resolved before proceeding to newer matters. There are however instances where the LLF is functional and responding to its mandate, purpose, and objectives but for the most part, most are dysfunctional. The recent LGE has assisted SALGA in reconfiguring the LLF across municipalities as there are new leaderships in municipalities and this enables risks to be mitigated based on SALGA assessments. This includes clear outlines of roles and responsibilities and expectations for the LLF. There is now a structured programme being considered to capacitate and standardise the expectations of the LLF.

The MCPF rules state that a board of trustees must be constituted. It comprises 13 individuals: 9 member representatives, 2 independent experts and 2 SALGA representatives. While SALGA has representatives, it is not a majority decision-maker. Prior to the Fund going under administration, there were allegations of wrongdoing that are now subject to criminal investigation. However, SALGA has yet to receive correspondence of wrongdoing by its two representatives. If information proves otherwise, SALGA will welcome such evidence so it can deal with the matter. It would be concerning if it is found that representatives are not fulfilling their responsibilities. Most importantly, MCPF is a separate entity that SALGA has no control over as it was not established by it. The reality is that the MCPF handles sensitive information that involves councillors. SALGA has had a keen interest in what ensues with the Fund. However, the Fund has its own processes which must be followed and SALGA has no control over this. SALGA on a weekly basis gets complaints about the delay in payments and benefits to exiting councillors; however, SALGA cannot take over the process. Concerns raised to SALGA are referred to the Fund and when a response is received, SALGA relays the information received from the Fund. SALGA has no authority whatsoever to take control of the payment process.

The same can be said about gratuity. SALGA had motivated for the gratuity payments in place since 2011. There have been positive developments for the gratuity in preparing for the 2021 exit, largely due to COGTA. There have unfortunately been delays in implementation. However, work has been done in ensuring the readiness of these payments. Once these payments have been made, an assessment will be done to indicate where the shortcomings are and what can be done to correct them. The planning was much better than that of 2011 and 2016. Although not perfect in 2021, it was better in ensuring that councillors were able to access the funds.

On its employee-related costs, this is public knowledge and is included in the SALGA annual reports but a report can be prepared and submitted to the Committee if it is requested. It should be noted that SALGA has critical pillars it has to align with which explains its costs. These pillars include profiling, knowledge management and support and advice, the employer body role and the lobbying advocacy role. SALGA operates like a consultancy and the real capital is within its staff in ensuring there are people who execute its mandate.

The concerns about skills development are an area SALGA wishes to address. In the lead up to the LGE, SALGA was at the forefront asking political parties to address poor political leadership in municipalities and to address weak administration so that after the elections, there are better qualified, experienced, and capacitated individuals leading municipalities both politically and administratively. It was hoped that the elections would help address these concerns. SALGA is taking stock of the kind of political leadership that municipalities have inherited post-elections. As part of the induction process, it is getting a profile of all councillors to establish the skills set now present and if it is better than what was assessed in 2016. Similarly, contracts of most senior managers are coming to an end and SALGA is asking newly appointed municipal leadership to appoint appropriately skilled, qualified and experienced people. The difficulty for SALGA is that when there is poor leadership all round, it is thrust upon SALGA to capacitate such leadership which is a huge undertaking. If there was appropriate leadership both politically and administratively, it would make capacitating municipalities easier. It would not have to train people who should already possess the required skill set to run an efficient municipality.

Ms Thembeka Mthethwa, SALGA CFO, replied that there has been an unprecedented increase in SALGA’s reserves due to training and lobbying engagements and other events taking place virtually instead of physically due to Covid-19 lockdown regulations. Over and above this, some programmes have not yet been implemented. At the start of a financial year, SALGA has a huge surplus but it soon dissipates as the financial year proceeds. In 2020/21, the reserves sat at over R300 million due to said factors. SALGA must apply to National Treasury to retain those reserves. SALGA is not funded by the fiscus but relies on levies paid by municipalities. The reserves help SALGA continue to roll out its plans as envisioned. At the end of Quarter 3 2021/22, nearly R370 million in membership levies had not been paid to SALGA by municipalities. In some cases, municipalities pay between 10%-20% of the membership levies then ask for a payment arrangement which they honour for about six months before they stop making payments. Hence the reserves can assist SALGA to carry out its programmes. SALGA is looking for ways to diversify its revenue streams so it is not entirely dependent on municipalities as some of them do not have the money to pay SALGA.

Follow-up questions
Mr Ceza said that he was not satisfied as he did not hear SALGA respond about resources allocated to councillors in rural municipalities.

The debt owed to municipalities is greater than what they owe to creditors which means they cannot settle their Eskom and the Water Board debts. Where there is a point of contention is that municipalities switch off services to communities and leave services on for businesses. Do municipalities consider Section 152 of the Constitution where economic development is focal to communities so that people are employed and can pay for municipal services? Switching off municipal services to people who cannot pay feeds into a repetitive cycle because when the services return, they still are unable to pay municipalities. Only when employed, can they do so.

SALGA has not responded to the allegation of the General Secretary being accused of GBV and its proposed intervention. The Labour Desk has marched for action to be taken by SALGA. Mr Stofile said that amicable solutions can be reached which it is hoped can be reached instead of going the legal route.

Mr Mathumba said that the CRLRC intervention in Phoenix had nothing to do with its mandate. People in Phoenix were killed because they were black and in an Indian area and not because they were of a different cultural group, practised a different religion or spoke a different language. The Commission did not have the mandate to intervene in Phoenix creating an artificial peaceful negotiation that diverts attention away from racism and criminality. Therefore, the Commission should not provide tangible evidence of the work done in the area because it was outside the scope of what the Commission ought to be protecting.

SALGA should take counsel from the Committee by ensuring that it provides all necessary information requested so the Committee can ensure that institutions are well capacitated for effective service delivery in municipalities. It must allow the Committee to make the necessary determinations to ensure oversight while assisting SALGA in its mandate.

Municipalities cannot be spending over a billion rand on consultants to prepare their annual financial statements which end up being prepared incorrectly and not complying with Auditor-General standards. What is SALGA doing to capacitate member municipalities to prepare their own AFS as it means that municipalities are not fully operational? Why are member municipalities using external security and cleaning companies? How is it that municipalities cannot even secure and clean their own buildings? SALGA needs to show how it is supporting municipalities to address these faults and how it is spending its budget to ensure this. It needs to provide the breakdown of the SALGA staffing composition with their respective salary scales. It cannot be acceptable that SALGA spends half of its budget on operational and staffing costs. 

The MDB should invest in creating its own cloud services to store sensitive information. It cannot be spending money on third parties such as Microsoft, Google and Apple. This would save the Board subscription fees and in doing so, it can create a system that is strong enough to resist possible cyberattacks on its servers. If one looks at what is happening in the world, especially the war tensions between Russia and Ukraine, cyber-attacks are likely on the major cloud services operators.

Due to time constraints, the Chairperson asked that the follow-up questions be responded to in writing and if there were further questions, the Committee will send them within a set period. 

The Chairperson thanked all three institutions for their presentations. Through the meeting, it is becoming clearer what their responsibilities and objectives are and the Committee looks forward to future engagement. 

The meeting was adjourned. 

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