Question NW536 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

Reply:

1. The total number of war rooms that the MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in the Eastern Cape has instructed the province to establish is 600 in total. To date, 371 war rooms have been established. The table below indicates the number of war rooms established in all district municipalities in the province:

Municipality	Total number to be established	Number established to date
Joe Gqabi	45	42
Alfred Nzo	101	77
Sara Baartman	73	58
OR Tambo	146	69
Amatole	118	51
Chris Hani	117	74
Total	600	371

2. The War Room model does not impose additional financial burden on municipalities. The war room model is designed in such a way that municipalities utilise existing resources for their establishment and operation. For example, War Rooms are housed in Community halls or public institutions. Members of the War rooms’ executive are not entitled to any form of remuneration as they are already in the government pay roll e.g. Councillors and Community Development Workers (CDWs) are already paid by government. In terms of working tools, councillors utilise their tools supplied by municipalities and CDWs use working tools supplied by COGTA.

• In terms of support, COGTA and Office of the Premier (OTP) utilise their resources to support municipalities through workshops, training etc. So far municipalities have not incurred expenses;
• In terms of administration, the CDW becomes the administrator of a war room and no funds are incurred by municipalities.