Question NW3568 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
16 November 2023 - NW3568
Makamba-Botya, Ms N to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Whether she has any measures in place to curb the over-reliance on consultancy firms to provide basic services such as auditing, accounting and financial planning, amongst other services, that could otherwise be done through establishing internal capacity; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The stability of municipal administrations is an important component both in building capacity and in creating the environment for effective functioning of the municipality and provision of sustainable service delivery. To strengthen institutional capacity, the Minister promulgated the Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations and Guidelines as a response to the commitments of government’s resolve to professionalise local public administration and build a capable local public administration and human resources. The regulations prescribe minimum competency requirements for staff below management echelon, for entry into the municipal administration. The Regulations for staff below senior managers are linked with competency requirements for each individual occupational level.
The Department is currently rolling out programmes through Municipal Systems Improvement Grants (MSIG), which aimed at providing technical support to the municipalities to stabilize administration and improve governance systems. The roll out of these programmes empowers and strengthen capacity within municipalities.
To ensure effective use of consultants, Local Government Municipal Cost Containment Regulations prescribe requirements, and bring consistency and uniformity in application od use of consulatnts. The regulations requires that the municipalities may only appoint consultants if an assessment of the needs and requirements confirms that the affected municipality does not have the requisite skills or resources in its full -time employ to perform the function. Furthermore, the regulations advocate for municipality to develop consultancy reduction plans to reduce the reliance on consultants.
Though, the use of consultants is not prohibited, municipalities are encouraged to channel resource and invest in building internal capacity for sustainability and reduce reliance on consultants.
End.