Reply:

The Department in partnership with The Ethics Institute (TEI), South African Local Government Association (SALGA), and the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) are implementing a project on ethical leadership in municipalities. This is in line with one of the focus areas of the Local Government Anti-Corruption Strategy which calls for a national dialogue on ethical leadership in local government. The aim of the project is to develop a Code for Ethical Governance for municipalities which will have a similar standing as the King Code on Corporate Governance (King IV) has in the private sector. The focus of the Code will be on the principles, values and spirit of ethical leadership in local government.

Reply:

The Department coordinated the Municipal Structures Amendment Act of 2021, the Act now includes the function of Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC), which empowers the committee (MPAC) to investigate and report to council on matters affecting the municipality.

The Department is embarking on the development of online monitoring and reporting tool for MPACs. The Department in collaboration with stakeholders within local government space continues to capacitate MPACs to have a better understanding of their oversight role, which includes treatment of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in accordance with section 32 of Municipal Finance Management Act.

The Northwest Province has targeted to support all four district municipalities on the investigation of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in line with District Development Model. Additionally, the Provincial CoGTA in collaboration with Provincial Treasury and SALGA will follow up on the work executed by the previous council on the investigation of UIF&W expenditure. 

The province has inducted newly elected MPAC members on numerous components with emphasis on investigation and reduction of the UIF&W expenditure in the municipalities on the 7-11 February 2022.

The Department of Treasury is taking a lead on the review of municipal UIF&W expenditure reduction strategy and municipalities are directed to implement the recommendations.

Reply:

The MISA technical support was made aware of the water provision challenges. MISA is continually supporting MLM in infrastructure delivery and service delivery including improving access to water together with the Department of Water & Sanitation and other stakeholders through the DDM.

a) National Government has deployed technical support, through MISA as mentioned in the background above, to low and medium capacity municipalities including MLM.

As part of the support package to MLM, MISA conducted a water infrastructure assessment from the 21st of August 2018 to the 31st of March 2019 that covered the nine (9) water services treatment plants in MLM. The Assessment Report was shared with the MLM and MLM is continuously supported to implement the recommendations of the report in order to improve delivery. MISA supports MLM with the implementation of projects throughout the project life cycle. Some of the specific activities of support are as follows:

• • • Review of projects business plans and technical reports for registration processes,
    • General project management and project implementation planning
    • Verification of work done on infrastructure projects
    • Invoice verification on the MIG funded projects prior payment to ensure value for money is created on the ground.

MISA is also supporting MLM with the development the Social Labour Plans (SLP) in mining towns.

b) National government has developed programmes to support municipalities including the MLM to perform their functions.

MLM is also supported by national government through conditional grants like the MIG and WSIG to provide access to water. MISA is providing technical support to implement these grants.

Furthermore, the Minister of Water and Sanitation has commenced a stakeholder consultation process to address the challenges that SWB is facing. To that end the Minister of Water and Sanitation wrote to the Minister of COGTA in that regard on the 4th of February 2022.

Reply:

The Department has over the years implemented initiatives to support Local Economic Development at a municipal level. In 2018 the Department released the National Framework on Local Economic Development which sought to encourage all actors and role players to recognise the critical importance of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) as a catalyst to promote inclusive, local economic growth and development.

Guided by framework, the Department has championed the establishsment of Business Development Forums (BDFs) which seeks to address the public sector – private sector divide as it relates to the planning and implementation of local economic development programmes. The BDFs have been implemented in municipalities such as West Coast; Sara Baartmaan, Ehlanzeni and Umgungundlovu District Municipalities.

The Department has also been involved in various Business Adopt a Municipality (BAaM) / Partnership projects with the business sector and State Owned Companies to support municipalities in addressing the challenges they face in complying to their legislative mandate.Partnerships established under the BAaM programme are different to other relationships between local government and the private sector in that they offer an opportunity for the private sector to share its experiences, skills and resources to directly support service delivery in a structured fashion at local level.

The Department in collaboration with the DTI and SALGA produced guidelines for reducing red tape in municipalities. The evidence study pointed out that municipal managers are usually focused on improving municipal financial audit results, and not on reducing Red Tape. The guidelines call upon municipal managers to prioritise both the improvement of audit ratings and the reduction of Red Tape. Among others, the guidelines recommend the initiation of Red Tape Reduction programmes by municipalities in conjunction with local business entities.

Lastly, the Department is coordinating the implementation of the District Develomplent Model (DDM) which is anchored on the development and implementation of district and metro one plans. One of the critical focus areas of the one plan is economic positioning - which is about that ensuring that districts and metros throughout the country understand their competitive and comparative advangateges and utilise them to grow their economies. The district and metro one plans are also meant to facilitate the reimagining district and metro spaces to promote inclusive growth and development. Importantly, one plans contain catalytic projects that will be implemented over a medium to long term to support economic recovery and growth in the districts and metros.  

Through the DDM approach, the department is championing a programme focusing on the alignment of the Cooperatives based community economic development model to the District Development Model to address service delivery challenges in Municipalities. This programme seeks to address amongst others the following challenges - high rate of unemployment and poverty; minimal community participation in their development; lack of focus on repairs and maintenance to reduce government expenditure and carbon emission; and over dependency of poor families on government handouts and services. The programme is being piloted in Kwa-Zulu Natal Province focusing on Land fill, routine road maintenance, and potholes patching targeting Community Works Programme Participants.

Reply:

The community need on the upgrading of existing classrooms in Choseng Secondary School in Ward 3 in Greater Taung Local Municipality was indicated in the IDP for the 2011/2012 FY but the project was not included in the budgeted list of projects that were implemented by the NW Department of Education for the 2011/2012 Financial Year. However, the following work has been undertaken by the NW Department of Education in the school:

1. The school was provided with 6 mobile classrooms (2 were provided in the 2016/2017 FY, an additional 2 in the 2018/2019 FY and a further 2 during the 2021/2022) for a total cost of R666 295,05.
2. Extra toilets were provided in March 2021 for a total cost of R401 805,00.
3. A Borehole was provided in September 2021 for a total cost of R286 720,00.

The participation of other spheres of government in the IDP processes remains critical. In this regard, the District Development Model is key as a mechanism to ensure alignment of plans across the spheres of government. The DDM is aimed at enhancing cooperative governance through coordinating all three spheres of government to commonly agreed vision and outcomes in a district or metro space. In this regard, DCOG will continue to work with other departments including the Department of Education, provinces and the municipalities in ensuring that the One Plan and the IDPs of municipalities are developed and implemented as part of the implementation of the District Development Model.

Additionally, DCOG has developed Revised IDP guidelines for all municipalities which are aimed at guiding the development and implementation of the IDPs. These guidelines are focuses guiding municipalities on the alignment of the IDPs and the DDM One Plans.

Reply:

(a) Moses Kotane Local Municipality is a beneficiary and an end user of the Reconstruction and Development Programme(RDP). The Department of Human Settlements is responsible for the implementation of the programme through its provincial department, which relies on the local municipality to facilitate the beneficiaries. The question can be best answered by the relevant department.

Reply:

The table below indicate the status of the Payment of invoices in the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) and its Entities: 

Reply:

The information requested varies from one municipality to the other and is not readily available in the Department. The department is in the process of sourcing and verifying information from Provinces and Municipalities to ensure accurate reporting.

Reply:

The Moses Kotane Local Municipality (MKLM) is the Water Services Authority (WSA) in its area of jurisdiction. According to MKLM, it is currently servicing Wards 14, 28 and 30 in Ledig by carting water, storing it in tanks and providing communities through standpipes installed in various strategic points. The water is supplied by Magalies Water Board. In some areas however water is supplied from boreholes that were donated by the Traditional Council as a short-term solution. The implementation of a bulk water project mentioned below aims to ensure a sustainable water supply to the communities of Ledig.

In accordance with section 154 of the Constitution, the Department of Corporative Governance (DCOG) supports and strengthens the MKLM to perform their WSA functions of ensuring access to water services to the communities MKLM. DCOG through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) deployed professionally registered engineers to MKLM who assist throughout the water project life cycle and water provision function responsibilities. The deployed engineers further support MKLM by coordinating other service delivery role players like the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM). The deployed MISA engineers support MKLM with the implementation of the following project aimed to ensure the provision of water to the communities of Ledig.

According to MKLM, a bulk water project to address the water challenges in Wards 14,28 and 30 was initiated few years ago. The implementation model was through a tripartite agreement of Bakubung Platinum Mine, Maseve Mine and MKLM. The original scope as approved by the DWS included the construction of a pump station, 5 mega-liter (ML) reservoir and a bulk pipeline. Phase 1 of the bulk water supply project was completed in 2020, which excluded the 5 ML reservoir and the bulk main pipeline. MKLM is currently in the process of procuring a contractor for the construction of the reservoir and the associated bulk main pipeline.

The successful implementation of this project will ensure that there is sustainable water supply in the three wards.

Reply:

The local government equitable share formula requires every municipality to run a basic administration by funding the majority of its administration costs from own revenue to provide basic services to households. Due to inability by poor households to meet their obligations in full, the equitable share includes an institutional support component to help poor and rural based municipalities with limited resources to afford basic administrative and governance capacity to perform core functions and meet some of these costs. It provides a subsidy for basic municipal administrative costs to supplements the revenue that municipalities can raise themselves (including revenue raised through property rates and service charges). A revenue adjustment factor is applied in the equitable share to enable municipalities with less potential to raise their own revenue to receive a larger proportion of the allocation.

In addition, the Notice on upper limits for remuneration of municipal managers and managers directly accountable to municipal managers makes provision for remote allowance ranging between 4-10 percent of the applicable pay scales to support eligible municipalities to attract and retain critical skills in key positions.

Reply:

• There are provincial roads as well as municipal roads in Ward 1 in Moretele Local Municipality (MLM). The Department of Public Works and Roads (DPWR) of the North West (NW) Provincial Government is responsible for all activities related to the planning, design, construction and maintenance of the provincial roads in the NW province. Moretele Local Municipality (MLM) is responsible for the provision and maintenance of municipal road infrastructure within its area of jurisdiction. The Bojanala District Municipality (BDM) supports all the municipalities within the BDM in executing their powers and functions including the MLM. Furthermore, the Department of Corporative Governance (DCOG) through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) together with the sector departments provide financial support for provision of basic services that include roads.
• According to the MLM, the DPWR appointed a service provider in November 2017 as Phase 1 for the upgrading of 5km gravel road (from Z614 to Z619) to a surfaced tar road which was completed in May 2019. The DPWR then appointed another service provider for the re-construction of a 10km tarred road as Phase 2. The Phase 2 contract commenced in January 2020 and is scheduled to complete in January 2022. As part of the District Development Model (DDM), the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) through MISA, is monitoring the implementation of the project.

• The MLM, through its maintenance teams, regravels internal roads as and when necessary in all the Wards including Ward 1.

Reply:

1. The Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act, 2019 (Act No. 3 of 2019 commenced on 01 April 2021. It is important to distinguish between the leadership structures provided for in the Act. In the case of the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders (National House), provincial houses of traditional and Khoi-San leaders and local houses of traditional and Khoi-San leaders, the Act determines in section 63(12), (13) and (14), which section deals with transitional arrangements, that the houses that existed at the commencement of the Act, will continue to exist until their terms expire in 2022. The terms of local houses will end on 30 April 2022, provincial houses on 31 May 2022 and the National House on 30 June 2022. The reconstitution of these houses will therefore be done in 2022.

In the case of traditional leadership councils (kingship councils, queenship councils, principal traditional councils and traditional councils), section 16 of the Act requires of the Minister to issue a formula in respect of the determination of the number of members of such councils. The Act also requires that certain consultations be conducted before any formula is issued.

The CoGTA Ministry is currently finalising consultations on the formula for determining the number of members of traditional councils. The final joint consultation meeting of Premiers/provincial governments and Provincial Houses took place on 15 December 2021. Once consensus is reached by Premiers/provincial governments and Provincial Houses, the formula for determining the number of members of traditional councils will be published in a government gazette as required by the Act and provinces can commence with the constitution of traditional councils.

In respect of the formula for determining the number of members of kingship, queenship and principal traditional councils, the Department has developed a draft formula and consulted all Premiers. It is important to note that the Act requires that the Minister consults kings, queens and principal traditional leaders as well as their two forums specified in the Act on this formula before it is published in a government gazette.

Some of the kings, queens and principal traditional leaders have established their forums for purposes of the said statutory consultations. The Department has also requested those Majesties who have not yet established their two forums to do so. The Department is working with our provincial counterparts to assist them to establish these forums as a matter of priority. Once all kings, queens and principal traditional leaders have established their forums, consultations on the formula will start.

2. It is important to note that at national level, the Department of Traditional Affairs is responsible for administrative and financial support of the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, and the Commission on Khoi-San Matters (Commission).

The National House is a structure that existed before the commencement of the Act and was allocated a budget at the beginning of the 2021-22 financial year. Therefore, after the commencement of the Act, the National House continued to operate in accordance with the already appropriated budget which is R22,182 million.

The Commission, however, was appointed with effect from 01 September 2021, which after the commencement of the Act and half-way through the 2021-22 financial year. The Department of Traditional Affairs is currently funding the Commission through a reprioritisation process, thus making funds available from other departmental programmes where possible.

Reply:

The investigation has not been concluded and The Department is still awaiting further updates from the municipality and province on the matter. The Honourable Member will be provided with the update as soon as it is available.

Reply:

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NUMBER 2021/2807

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10 DECEMBER 2021

2807. Dr N V Khumalo (DA) to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs:

1. What measures has she put in place to combat the level of negligence and embarrassing unlawful conduct and/or decisions in the execution of duties by political principals such as the Gauteng Member of the Executive Council of COGCTA who acted outside the law;

1. whether her department has consequence management mechanisms in place to minimise unprofessionalism in the execution of functions by political principals in provincial and local government; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW3327E

REPLY:

The Minister has no legislative authority to discipline or hold MEC accountable for their conduct, only Premiers and Provincial Legislatures has powers to hold MECs accountable. Honourable member is encouraged to engage Provincial legislature and premier offices on this matter.

Reply:

Municipalities that were placed under administrations were required to develop financial recovery plans, which is aligned to four key pillars used to assess municipal sustainability namely: governance, institutional stability, financial management and service delivery. The aim is to address the financial distress of the municipalities by improving short and long-term financial sustainability.

The Department, SALGA, National Treasury and provincial counterparts assist municipalities with development and implementation of financial recovery plans in line with section 136 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), section 139 of the Constitution of RSA and related prescripts, which places obligations on the national and provincial government to assist in resolving financial problems in municipalities.

Recently, National Treasury and CoGTA have concluded roadshows in all nine provinces on the correct interpretation and implementation of S139 interventions. Provinces were alerted to the hierarchy of interventions provided for in the Constitution and the conditions that must exist for each type of intervention to be invoked.

Neither the Department of COGTA nor any of its entities have regressed in it’s audit findings. The department improved from a disclaimer in 18/19 was, which improved to qualified audit outcome in 19/20, and again in 20/21 although the AG noted a reduction in the areas of qualification, specifically related to the CWP program. This is an indication that the department is on target towards achieving an unqualified audit outcome.

Reply:

The IMTT intends to conduct and conclude the intervention in strict accordance to the mandate given by Cabinet. Section 100 of the Constitution provides that when a province cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation, the national executive may intervene by taking any appropriate steps to ensure fulfilment of that obligation, including issuing a directive to the provincial executive, describing the extent of the failure to fulfil its obligations and stating any steps required to meet its obligations; an assuming responsibility for the relevant obligation in that province.

All the provincial departments in the North-West are subject to interventions, five of them being under section 100(1)(a) of the Constitution in terms of the issuing of directives; and the other five being under section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution under which there was assumption of responsibility of the provincial administration by the national government. The prerogative to intervene in the provincial departments is that of the national executive (Cabinet). Any Minister responsible for the corresponding portfolio in the provinces may request the national executive to intervene in terms of the provisions of section 100 of the Constitution.

The national departments, as part of their actions in the implementation of section 100 of the Constitution, are implementing various measures informed by the root causes to problems that led to the invocation of interventions in terms of section 100 of the Constitution. These measures are currently implemented by the national departments on concurrent functions in the corresponding provincial departments. Each national department has a responsibility to determine what type of intervention to invoke after the current intervention in terms of section 100 of the Constitution.

The IMTT will present a progress report on the matters that were outstanding from the briefing of the NCOP in September 2021. This includes the appointments of senior officials in the departments. The IMTT will outline lessons learned from this intervention as part of the presentation.

Reply:

The African Union (AU) Constitutive Act gives the continental body the right to intervene in a Member State in grave circumstances such as war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity [article 4(h)], while Member States may also request the AU’s intervention to restore peace and security in their territory [article 4(j)]. Article 13.1 of the Protocol on the Establishment of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) provides for the establishment of the African Standby Force (ASF) to enable the PSC to perform its responsibilities with respect to the deployment of peace support missions and interventions pursuant to article 4 (h) and (j) of the Constitutive Act.

In cases of terrorist attacks that come as a result of a Member State’s intervention in fighting an insurgency beyond its borders or in a neighbouring country, local law enforcement agencies undertake the necessary responses to address such attacks. The ASF can only intervene to support a Member State in dealing with an insurgency at the Member State’s explicit request in terms of article 4 (h) of the AU Constitutive Act.

The structures of the African Union are currently giving consideration to a Memorandum of Understanding between the AU and the Regional Economic Communities/Regional Mechanisms which will formalise and strengthen the partnership between the AU and sub- regional organisations on the deployment of the ASF.

1

Reply:

The response sought falls within Cabinet’s broader Covid-19 containment risk adjusted strategy decision making. The department does not make the decisions on which countries are placed on the red list. Cabinet will make announcements on relevant covid-19 containment measures as and when it becomes necessary.

Reply:

Current measures contained in the regulations for dealing with the disaster in the context of the risk adjusted strategy therefore remain necessary to limit the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, ongoing assessments by the National Coronavirus Command Council and Cabinet will determine the satisfaction of conditions for terminating or allowing the state of disaster to lapse. The current epidemiological trends, health system capacity and other factors, including, the rate of infected persons needing hospitalisation and the mortality rate, underscore the rationale to maintain lockdown regulations after the elections.

Reply:

(a)(i)(ii)(aa)(bb)(b)

The agreed timeframes by the department to investigate reported cases of irregular, fruitless, wasteful and unauthorised expenditure within Community Work Programme (CWP), is estimated to be approximately a year . The budget spent is depicted in the table below :

• 1. Investigations are outsourced where necessary to ensure that cases are concluded timeously
  2. All cases of corruption are reported to the South African Police Service and are subjected to departmental disciplinary procedures.

The department has put in place the consequence management measures to deal with non- compliance where disciplinary actions were initiated.

Reply:

a. Water: The municipality is working close with the District Municipality as the service provider to ensure that communities get access to clean basic water.

b. Electricity: The municipality recently rolled out electrification project (household connections) in the close vicinity through the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP) Grant Funding, These will be rolled out until all areas are saturated, ESKOM is also electrifying a number of areas in the municipality, the objective is to collectively reach universal access for Umhlabuyalingana citizens (Hlokohloko area is already planned for by ESKOM to be electrified in the next two year rolling plan. It is at design stage now. The project is known as Madonela Phase 2).

c. Roads: The area is accessed via D1834 which is owned and maintained by DoT, the municipality purchased yellow plant (X1 Grader, X2 TLBs, X2 Tipper Trucks, X1 Water Cart) to internally maintain its access roads, there is a ward- based plan and this area will also be attended to in line with the said plan.

d. Employment Opportunities: The municipality as with the rest of the country, is facing deepening unemployment rates, however, there are structured programs that assist with creation of job opportunities ranging from short term relief programs to more sustainable ones, e.g. Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) & Community Works Programme (CWP).

To illustrate employment opportunities through Community Works Programme (CWP) as at end October 2021: In uMhlabuyalingana Municipality there were 1746 participants in the programme of which 186 were youth, 1573 non-youth of which 1449 were female while in respect of Hlokohloko area participants were 44 of which 3 were youth and 36 women.

Cabinet has also approved the District Development Model (DDM) as an All of Government and Society Approach by which all three spheres of government and state entities work in unison in an impact-oriented way, where there is higher performance and accountability for coherent and effective service delivery and development outcomes.

The DDM aims to improve integrated planning and delivery across the three spheres of government in a spatially targeted way focused on the 52 district and metropolitan spaces as convergence points for all of government and private sector investment, which includes the development of communities in rural mining areas. The envisaged integrated planning and delivery in relation to district and metropolitan spaces will be enabled by joint planning, budgeting and implementation processes.

The DDM focusses on implementation of immediate priority projects, stabilisation of local government and long-term institutionalisation of integrated planning, budgeting and delivery anchored on the development and implementation of the “One Plan” in relation to each district and metropolitan space.

Reply:

THE OCCUPATION OF STELLA OFFICES IN NALEDI LOCAL MUNICIPALITY

On the 11th of November 2021 the Municipal Manager, Mr MT Segapo convened a meeting at the unoccupied office to introduce the Acting Manager for the satellite Office. The newly constructed office space was vandalised during riots in 2018, and the service provider vacated the site with snags remaining to complete the project. These developments affected service delivery negatively in the surrounding rural areas. To extend that community members were commuting from Stella to Vryburg just to access proof residence.

In view of the above, Administration took a decision to pay the service provider the outstanding amount due, utilising the operating budget to complete snags on the structure using municipal workforce.

With the project timelines at our disposal the Municipality will officially occupy the office in January 2022.

Reply:

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) does not have any incomplete training programme for Councilors at Nkomazi Local Municipality. Further, the municipality has no knowledge of a training programme facilitated by SALGA that is incomplete.

However, based on the Parliamentary question SALGA further enquired from Nkomazi Local Municipality whether the municipality has any knowledge of any training programme for Councilors that is incomplete.

Nkomazi Local Municipality indicated that there are two training programmes that were facilitated and funded by the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA) which are incomplete, whose details are tabulated below:

Reply:

Implementing agents are appointed through an open tender process. Implementing Agents in turn appoint site staff to oversee CWP operations at the 223 sites and over 4000 sub-sites. The current compensation of employees budget allocated to the Department is insufficient to employ site staff directly.

Implementing Agents taking over sites are not obliged to retain site staff employed by a previous implementing agent and may decide to appoint new site staff. This will however not increase unemployment since Implementing Agents are required to maintain minimum levels of site staff to oversee CWP operations.

Reply:

Ward 11 consists of the following Villages: Phadi, Mmorong and Bojating. Moses Kotane Local Municipality has constructed community halls in the three villages between 2006 and 2011. A visual conditional assessment was conducted on all the community halls within the jurisdiction of the municipality and the report is in possession of the municipality. The status of three community halls in Ward 11 is that

they have structurally deteriorated because of a lack of maintenance. According to the municipality’s programme for repairs and renovations for each financial year, community halls are identified as per their status, however due to insufficient budget allocations and O&M budget, the halls could not be repaired.

The repairs and renovations of ward 11 community halls will be done within the current council term of office. The municipality did not give an exact date as they stated to have +/- 60 community halls that are not in good condition and when they plan for repairs, they identify the most critical to be repaired and renovated, within the stringent budget available.

Reply:

The stormwater outlet was deliberately blocked by community members during riots in the area and sometimes they dump garden waste in the channel which caused the stormwater system not to operate on its optimum level. Once the stormwater system is overloaded, water will overflow on the road and pond to the lowest point. This led to the weakening of the road surface and development of potholes, and the road was also further damaged during illegal connection of water by community members. The improper backfilling and sealing of the road by community members led to the formation of potholes during rainy season.

The Municipality intends to rehabilitate that section of the road and upgrade the stormwater management. The Municipality will prioritize the remedial works during the budget adjustment process in the current financial year.

Reply:

The response sought falls within Cabinet’s broader Covid-19 containment risk adjusted strategy decision making. The department does not make the decisions on which countries are placed on the red list. Cabinet will make announcements on relevant covid-19 containment measures as and when it becomes necessary.

Reply:

Municipalities are required to adhere to legislative prescripts. Non-compliance by Councilors constitutes a breach of the Code of conduct for Councilors as contained in Schedule 7 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 2021.

If a Councilor fails to adhere to the legislative prescripts and the Minister becomes aware of any maladministration, fraud, corruption or any other serious malpractice which, in the opinion of the Minister, has occurred or is occurring in a municipality, the Minister will request the MEC responsible for Local Government to investigate the matter and council will be requested to institute appropriate disciplinary proceedings where necessary. In instances where corruption, fraud and related offences have been identified, such reports are handed over to law enforcement agencies for further processing.

Further, a number of Anti-Corruption Awareness sessions are held in the various Districts/Metros by the Department in collaboration with provinces and law enforcement agencies aimed at raising awareness on corruption and related offences. The workshops are also aimed at empowering officials and Councilors to understand

the protection in line with the Protected Disclosures Act in instances where they have to report wrongdoing and how it applies in practice.

The Department is also collaborating with South African Local Government Association (SALGA), The Ethics Institute (TEI), and the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM) on a project aimed at promoting ethical leadership in municipalities. The project is aimed at developing a Code for Ethical Governance in Local Government.

Reply:

The Honorable member is advised and requested to direct the above Parliamentary Question (PQ2597) to the Minister of Finance as National Treasury is the department in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act, (MFMA) Section 71 responsible for receiving reports on municipal finance and budget management related aspects. Also the City of Joburg is a non-delegated municipality and reports directly to National Treasury.

Reply:

a) A joint national and provincial intervention was undertaken by the Deputy Minister of CoGTA, the Minister and Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation and the MEC responsible for CoGTA in the Free State province which resulted in a series of engagements with the Sedibeng Water Board and its management team aimed at resolving the challenges impacting on water interruptions due to the debt owed by Nala and Matjhabeng Local Municipalities to Sedibeng Water Board. The national and provincial interventions undertaken resulted in payments made by both Nala and Matjhabeng local municipalities to the Sedibeng Water Board. Discussions are ongoing between Sedibeng Water and the Nala and Matjhabeng municipalities to finalise realistic and affordable payment plans to address the debt owed to Sedibeng Water.

b) The Municipal Managers are appointed by the Municipal Councils, and it is therefore the responsibility of the Mayor and municipal council to hold officials to account for any practices relating to maladministration or misconduct.

Reply:

a) The Auditor-General Report for 2019/20 identified the following ten (10) municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province as they indicated in their Annual Financial Statements that they are a going concern uncertainty, and their total current liabilities exceeded the total current assets.

Out of the ten (10) municipalities, the following six (6) municipalities (Makana, Amahlathi, Raymond Mhlaba, Amathole, Enoch Mgijima and Walter Sisulu) were included by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) in the list of dysfunctional municipalities in the Eastern Cape and draft Municipal Support and Interventions Plans have been developed for these municipalities taking into consideration an analysis conducted by National Treasury.

Three (3) out of the ten (10) the municipalities identified in the Auditor-General report have been placed under Section 139 intervention and they are Makana and Enoch Mgijima and have FRPs in place and they are jointly monitored on a monthly basis whilst the Amathole FRP has just been approved and will be implemented and monitored.

Dr Beyers Naudé, Koukamma and Inxuba Yethemba local municipalities, have been engaged by the province to participate in a financial management support programme in partnership with the National Business Initiative to address their financial challenges, part of the initiatives in the NBI include:

• Group coaching of financial management personnel within municipalities.
• Deployment of support staff from the pool of consultants from NBI
• Training of municipal officials on financial reporting.

Dr Beyers Naudé, Koukamma and Inxuba Yethemba local municipalities also are set to benefit from the partnership with the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and the projects include development of revenue enhancement strategies for municipalities and assisting them with the embedded energy generation to overcome the high cost of electricity.

King Sabata Dalindyebo, Walter Sisulu and Amahlathi have also been approved by DBSA for funding on embedded energy generation and for the development of revenue enhancement strategies.

b) Out of the ten (10) municipalities, the provincial department instituted investigations in line with Section 106 of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act in seven (7) of the municipalities (Makana, Amahlathi, Raymond Mhlaba, Amathole, King Sabata Dalindyebo, Emoch Mgijima and Inxuba Yethemba). Investigations are at various stages. Further, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) is conducting investigations in two (2) of the municipalities (King Sabata Dalindyebo and Makana).

Reply:

The information below was sourced from the Provincial department and the District municipality in question

1. Amatole District Municipality (ADM) is the Water Services Authority (WSA) in the

ADM area of jurisdiction which includes Amahlathi Local Municipality ALM). The Water Sevices Act, 108 of 1997 defines a WSA as any municipality responsible for ensuring access to water services. According to ADM, the aging infrastructure resulting in ongoing bursts and continuous vandalism of Water Treatment Works are the main contributors leading to unreliable and intermittent supply to Lower Zingcuka.

2. According to ADM, water is being carted to Lower Zingcuka to ensure communities get supply. As part of ongoing operations and maintenance, ADM procure and fit necessary fittings and piping to replace burst sections. ADM is currently implementing a Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funded water supply project with a budget of R5,7 million in the Zingcuka Village. The municipality is awaiting for Eskom connection for the project booster pump which application was submitted. Payments have been made to Eskom and the project is scheduled to be completed by December 2021.

In June 2021, the State of Local Government Report was presented to Cabinet. Cabinet resolved that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and National Treasury should lead the process of the development of the municipal support plans in collaboration with sector departments, SALGA, provinces and municipalities. This process is underway and the target date to complete the municipal intervention and support plans (MISP) for high priority municipalities, which include ADM and ALM, is the end of September 2021. This MISP will include plans to address the water challenges mentioned above.

Reply:

1. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs did not place in the Government Gazette in advertising the Ekurhuleni Valuation Roll 2021/2025.
2. The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs did not appoint any contractor as part of Black Dot Opti Joint Venture.

Reply:

DDM Hubs are part of the overall institutional arrangements for the implementation of the DDM. They are an extension of CoGTA capacity deployed in districts for purposes of driving the institutionalisation of the DDM and facilitating the formulation, adoption, implementation, monitoring and review of the One Plans. A DDM Hub is conceived as a functional network of support and a facilitation system for Intergovernmental Planning in relation to a specific district or metropolitan space or a combination of district spaces or metropolitan spaces. These Hubs will be established in a phased and differentiated manner across the various districts and metros taking into account the dynamics of each district and metropolitan spaces. DCoG in consultation with provinces and municipalities will determine where such hubs are needed and could potentially be established provided the required financial and funding resources are available.

To date, fully-fledge DDM Hubs have been established in the three DDM pilot sites of eThekwini metro, OR Tambo, and Waterberg districts. The Hub Managers for all three pilots are in place. Seven out of the eight approved positions have been filled in OR Tambo, the Senior Development Planner commenced duty on the 16 August 2021. Seven out of the eight positions were filled in the Waterberg District, there are challenges in filling the position of the Capacity Building Coordinator. Two out of the four approved positions for eThekwini have been filled. The Implementation Support Specialist position will be advertised based on the recruitment plan.

a) The design and composition of a DDM Hub will differ from district to district and metro to metro as demonstrated by the experiences in the three DDM pilot sites, thus influencing the capital costs for establishing these Hubs.

b) Following from the above, annual operating costs are dependent on the design and composition of a DDM Hub in terms of staff size and associated overhead costs.

c) The staffing compliment for each DDM Hub is informed by needs and skills analysis informing a recruitment plan for each of the DDM spaces in collaboration with the respective provinces and municipalities.

Reply:

The Parliamentary Question PQ 587, with its reply provided on 26 March 2021, is similar to PQ 194. The reply to PQ 194, which is attached as part of the annexure, was submitted to Parliament.

I have requested the Provincial Department to furnish further details of work done during the period in question. We will make this information and anys supporting ducuments available to the honourable member.

Reply:

We have integrated township development to the District Development Model (DDM) One Plans. The effort of pursuing a coordinated framework through the DDM approach presented an opportunity for balanced ecosystem for integrated development. This process requires cooperation of all three spheres of government to ensure efficient and well-coordinated implementation of the interventions and programmes including the Special Economic Zones.

We are working closely with The Department of Small Business Development, which is currently implementing the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP) that is reflected in various Municipal Economic Recovery Plan that were developed with guidance from the Department of Cooperative Governance as a critical programme to relieve Township business from the haltfelt impact of the pandemic. The TREP is a dedicated programme to transform and integrate opportunities in townships and rural areas into productive business ventures. The focus is to create platforms which provide the business support infrastructure and regulatory environment that enables entrepreneurs to thrive. TREP places priority on spatial location as it is focused on enterprises based in townships and/or rural areas that have the potential or capacity to supply goods and services to public and private sector, local, provincial, and national government departments on a sustainable basis.

There are operational Special Economic Zones that are located in townships in partnership with rural municipalities, including the Nkomazi SEZ in the Mpumalanga, Nkowankowa SEZ and Seshego SEZ, both in Limpopo. Furthermore, there are 10 designated and proposed Special Economic Zones in seven Provinces which include, Duwazi SEZ in Limpopo, Namakwa SEZ in Northern Cape, Bojanala SEZ in Northwest, Vaal River SEZ in Gauteng which are located in townships.

It is for this reason that the Department of Cooperative Governance plays an active role in the Project Steering Committee (PSC) of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on SEZ and Industrial Parks to address challenges that are encountered at municipal level in the implementation of SEZs including Red Tape related challenges. Other challenges that has been noted particularly in the township economic zones include issues of infrastructure, electricity, access to water and rail and road facilities. These challenges have an impact on the investor confidence. In this regard, several recommendations have been put forth to the DTIC in relation to the role of SEZs in the South Africa economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

It is against this background that the Department approached the United Nations in South Africa to support the implementation of the DDM and to enhance the Department’s support initiatives. The outcome has been the development of district specific implementation plans built on three interrelated pillars: Unlocking Economic Value Chains, Social Transformation and Service Delivery enhancement. The first pillar encompasses the development of tools and unlocking of opportunities for inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

The delivery mechanism arranged to carry out these interventions has been realised in the establishment of Business Solution Centres, structures setup to provide business development services for micro- and small-enterprises with special focus on women- and youth-led SMMEs. The Business Solution Centres will also function as one-stop facilities whereby a range of services will assist small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs in overcoming obstacles such as lack of management skills and access to capital and market entry. Through this provision, training and services will endow this important sector with the skills and capabilities to succeed in the economic ecosystem and realise its full potential.

Reply:

A rigorous process of assessing the state of local government (SOLG) culminated in the Cabinet considering the SOLG report in June 2021. The assessment included all service delivery issues including drainage systems in the City of Cape Town (CoCT). Cabinet resolved that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and National Treasury should lead the process of the development of the municipal support plans in collaboration with sector departments, SALGA, provinces and municipalities. This process is underway and the target date to complete the municipal intervention and support plans (MISP) is the end of October 2021. This MISP will include plans to address the challenges mentioned above.

As stated above, the compilation of MISP brings together all sector departments as advocated for by the District Development Model as service delivery challenges of informal settlements go beyond flooding challenges, but include lack of basic services and housing among others.

We are also planning to brief the nation on the 21 October 2021 on the seasonal weather forecast. This briefing will include the state of readiness in municipalities across provinces to deal with disasters resulting from the seasonal rainfall.

Reply:

The response below was provided by the province:

Various investigations have been instituted by the province, municipality and law enforcement agencies in relation to the Venda Building Society Mutual Bank (the VBS) investments. On 28 March 2019, the municipality Council took resolution number 44/2018/19 to appoint an independent investigator to investigate allegations relating to the missing R49 million. The investigation report has been completed and there is no record of the missing R49 million and the Curator also confirmed that the amount that is in the records of VBS is R150 million. As such, there is no need for the department to institute further investigation on this matter.

Some of the investigations which have been conducted with regard to the above mentioned allegations are listed below:

Reply:

1. The Municipal Managers are appointed in accordance with the regulations on appointment of senior managers. The minimum qualifications requirements on appointment of the Municipal Managers are a bachelor’s degree. In terms of the provisions of the Constitution, it is the prerogative of the Provincial Executive Council to invoke and subject a municipality to an intervention in terms section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution. To that end, it is also the prerogative of the Provincial Executive Council to determine the caliber of person(s) to be appointed as Administrators of municipality placed under intervention.

2. Provincial Executive Council as the appointee of Administrators should follow all regulations on appointment of senior managers, including verification of qualifications.

Reply:

In terms of approval requirements of Section 139 of the Constitution, the Minister exercises the power assigned to approve or disapprove the intervention invoked by the Provincial Executive Council if the municipality cannot or does not fulfil an executive obligation in terms of the Constitution or legislation. Approvals of interventions are based on sufficient evidence of the failures of the executive obligations by the municipality. Approvals are also based on when the decision of the Provincial Executive Council to intervene in the affairs of the municipality solely on failures to fulfil an executive obligations by the municipality.

Section 139(2)(a)(i) of the Constitution provides checks and balances in that “If a provincial executive intervenes in terms of subsection (1)(b), it must submit a written notice of the intervention to Cabinet member responsible for local government affairs”. In terms of Section 139(2)(b), the intervention must end if the Cabinet member responsible for local government affairs disapprove the intervention within 28 days after the intervention began, or by the end of that period has not approved the intervention. Similarly, section 139(3)(a)(i) of the Constitution provides that “If a Municipal Council is dissolved in terms of subsection (1)(c), the provincial executive must immediately submit a written notice of the dissolution to the Cabinet member responsible for local government affairs”. In terms of Section 139(3)(b) the dissolution takes effect 14 days from the date of receipt of the notice by the Municipal Council unless set aside by the Cabinet member responsible for local government before the expiry of those 14 days. These mechanisms are meant foresee the correct invocation and application of section 139 of the Constitution.

Reply:

Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati Disrict Municipality (DRSDM) is the Water Services Authority (WSA) in its area of jurisdiction which includes Naledi Local Municipality (NLM) area. The Water Services Act, 108 of 1997 defines a WSA as any municipality responsible for ensuring access to both water and sanitation services. The sanitation services include the management of sewered systems. In executing its functions, which include the WSA function, DRSDM gets grant funding and technical support from the provincial and national government departments. NLM monitors the projects implemented by the district in its area of jurisdiction and liases with DRSDM. The Department of Corporative Governance (DCOG), through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) provides technical support to both DRSMD and NLM in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM).

According to NLM the sewer spillages in Ward 2 in NLM are caused by the blocked sewer line and faulty manhole in Sonneblom Street, Colridge (in Vryburg). DRSDM appointed a contractor to perform the necessary construction repairs under emergency works. NLM is monitoring the works and liasing with DRSDM.

The contractor has already installed a temporary pump and bypass line (102m long) to avert the spillage problem and to re-route the live sewerage for construction repair works to be performed under workable dry conditions. According to NLM the bypass system has been in operation since 10 September 2021 and the work area has dried out sufficiently, as shown on the picture below, to allow repair works to be conducted.

The excavation for the pipeline replacement and new manhole construction is underway. Completion and re-commissioning of the effected sewerage infrastructure is anticipated to be by the end of October 2021 subject to favourable weather conditions as it is now in the rainy season.

Supporting Photographs:

Photo 1: Faulty sewer line before commencement of repair works

Photo 2: Temporary pump and bypass line installed

Photo 3: Temporary pump secured with barricade netting

Photo 4: Excavations around manhole (note area dried out)

Reply:

1. According to information from Province and the municipality, only Section 106 investigations have been completed. The investigation by the HAWKS on the matter have not been concluded; and

2. The information therefore remains unavailable, since the matter is still under investigation by the HAWKS.

Reply:

a) All municipalities have indigent registers which are reported to be reviewed on an annual basis as per the Non Financial Census (NFC) published on the 31st March 2021. It should be noted that Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) collects information relating to indigents management in municipalities based on the indicators which have been provided by the Department of Cooperative Governance. Furthermore, the Department compiles a Programme Performance Monitoring Report on the mechanisms utilised for the provision of Free Basic Services (FBS) to poor households in all the municipalities on an annual basis. The report covers a wide range of disciplines such as number of municipalities implementing indigent policies and with indigent registers. It further identifies gaps that need to be addressed by relevant stakeholders including the municipalities themselves.

b) The Department provides support and guidance to all municipalities with regards to the provision of free basic services to indigent households. Furthermore, the Department works closely with Provincial COGTAs; Municipalities and all other relevant Stakeholders with the objective being to ensure that municipalities provides free basic services to all qualifying indigent households. The Department will engage both Mpumalanga Provincial COGTA and Steve Tswhete Municipality to seek more clarity

Reply:

The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) does support municipalities in relation to the provision of electricity to indigent household in line with the Free Basic Electricity (FBE) policy. However, the Department provides support and guidance to all municipalities (not particular) with regards to the provision of FBE to indigent households. It further assists with the identification of indigent households not collecting their FBE thus not benefiting from the provision of FBE and enable the necessary interventions to be effected.

Tariffs are levied for the use of municipal trading services. Section 75 A of Municipal Systems Act (MSA) under general powers to levy and recover fees, charges and tariffs, it also states that the municipality may Levy and recover fees, charges, or tariffs in respect of any function or service of the municipality

Electricity tariffs is governed and approved by the National Energy Regulator of SA (NERSA) in as per the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) and water and sanitation tariffs are regulated by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) through the norms and standards.The tariffs approvals are outside the mandate of the Department, however, the Department plays a two important roles through provision of Free Basic Electricity (FBE) for poor households who qualifies as Indegents and also through providing inputs during tariff increase consultations..

The above is done through the regular monitoring of monthly FBE executive summary reports which shows transactions for that particular month, quarterly reports reflecting a list of municipalities that are in arrears on their FBE accounts and quarterly reports reflecting details of access/collection of FBE tokens per municipality.

The Department works closely with Eskom (where Eskom is the licensed service provider), Provincial COGTAs and Municipalities; with the objective being to ensure that municipalities provides FBE to all qualifying indigent households receive FBE guided by the FBE Funding Agreement.

Reply:

The municipality does not have sufficient bulk water infrastructure to meet the demand of the growing area. To that end it is currently supplying water through interim measures of water carting to temporal storages including water tanks which are then utilized by the community of Lerome South. These are interim measures put in place while the municipality works on a permanent solution.

Moses Kotane Local Municipality (MKLM) is a Water Services Authority (WSA) in the MKLM area of jurisdiction which includes Lerome South. The Water Services Act, 108 of 1997 defines a WSA as any municipality responsible for ensuring access to water services. In executing its functions, which include the WSA function, MKLM gets grant funding and technical support from the provincial and national government departments.

MKLM is implementing a bulk water supply project (bulk water line and reservoir) scheduled to complete by end of November 2021. The bulk water supply project is funded thorough the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) administered by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).

MKLM indicated that it has prioritised in this financial year Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) Implementation Plan a project, among others, for water reticulation for Lerome South. In an effort to avoid misalignment between bulk and reticulation, the reticulation project is only under consideration this financial year when the WSIG funded bulk project is near completion. The DWS, as the responsible sector department, is currently appraising the technical report submitted by MKLM for water reticulation through the MIG funding. The MIG funding is administered by the Department of Corporative Governance (DCOG). DCOG through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) is providing technical support to MKLM for both project implementation and the MIG funding application.

The estimated date to deliver the full functional water supply project to Lerome South, having completed both the WSIG funded bulk water and MIG funded water reticulation projects, is anticipated to be in November 2022.

Reply:

1. The Department has;

• seconded MISA engineers to augment technical capacity in the municipality. The engineers have amongst other things developed an infrastructure master plan to inform better planning with respect to the electricity infrastructure. It is anticipated that MISA will also develop an Operations and Maintenance Plan for the municipality and continue to provide technical support, as implementation unfolds.

• Supported the intervention by the Service Delivery Task Team led by the Deputy President to fast track service delivery backlogs in Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality. Amongst the key deliverables of the intervention is the process of facilitating the partnership between Eskom and the municipality through which, Eskom will take over supply of electricity in the municipality for a specific time frame. The process towards legally concluding the partnership is unfolding and the Department is leading the application of sections 78 to 80 of the Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000; which is a mandatory undertaking, prior to utilizing an external mechanism to deliver services in a municipality.

Reply:

1. The Department has not issued any contracts to NJR Projects/G5 Group.
2. N/A

Reply:

a) Due to the ongoing dispute between the three role-players, Knysna LM, SANPARK and the Leisure Island Rate Payers Association about who is responsible for maintenance of such wall, no significant maintenance was done in the past five years. An Environmental Approval was issued by DEA&DP in 2019 to assigned to the Island Rate Payers Association to work on the sea wall.

b) The responsible party has not been formally identified and all maintenance remains on hold.

There is currently a formal IGR dispute between the Knysna Local Municipality and SANPARKS in relation to the above. Knysna Local Municipality disputes liability for maintenance of the seawall and so does SANPARKS.

A formal IGR has been declared by the Knysna Local Municipality to resolve the dispute as to whether Knysna or SANPARKS should be responsible for the maintenance of the seawall. The dispute is still ongoing, but there are current attempts to facilitate a resolution.  The dispute is however still ongoing and is not yet resolved.

The Acting Municipal Manager of Knysna Local Municipality on 8 December 2020 (attached as ANNEXURE A), requested that the Western Cape Provincial Government (WCG) designate a facilitator to assist with resolving the dispute between the Knysna Local Municipality (KLM) and SANParks regarding the repair and maintenance of the Leisure Island seawall.

The following three-pronged approach has been proposed to address the issue:

1. The Development Management unit of DEA&DP in the George Office, will engage with the officials of the KLM and SANParks to see whether a longer-term solution can be found to the conflict relating to the responsibility for the maintenance of the Leisure Island seawall and research on the history of the dispute.
2. Based on the outcomes of the engagement with the officials of KLM and SANParks, consider recommending the appointment of a facilitator (or facilitate such) to involve the parties in a high-level engagement which is documented in detail, to try and resolve the issue.
3. Should the above approach not be successful in finding a solution, KLM will then forward all records to the DFFE, to prove that the parties have indeed undertaken every reasonable effort to resolve the dispute.

There is no set date on the outcome and no timelines determined but will depend on the procedures of the IGR dispute.

Reply:

The response is received from Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality; the Lindelani informal settlement is currently provided with basic services such as water, sanitation, refuse removal, grading of the streets and mobile community services.

Further to the above, the residents of Lindelani informal settlement are earmarked to benefit from the two housing projects which are currently in the implementation phase, namely Alliance Extension 1 which entails the construction of houses and Alliance Extension 9 which entails the provision of serviced sites.

The allocation of completed houses at Alliance Extension 1 is in progress, whereas the construction of serviced sites and allocation thereof has not commenced. No electricity will be provided for the beneficiaries of houses and serviced sites as per the applicable policy.

However, the residents of Lindelani informal settlements who did not benefit in the Alliance Extension 1 and Alliance Extension 9 projects will be considered for the provision of water, sanitation and electricity when the informal settlement is re-blocked. The re-blocking will take place once the relocation has been finalised.

Reply:

1. According to the Maluti-a-Phofung (MAP) Local Municipality the water situation in the municipality has improved significantly from last year. The major cause of water problems in QwaQwa was the drought. Following the recent rains, the main Fika Patso dam supplying QwaQwa is now at 75% full capacity. The other major problem is old infrastructure being mainly AC pipes that are constantly bursting causing intermittent cuts in water supply.

2. In accordance with the District Development Model (DDM) that ensures integrated service delivery by government and non-government stakeholders, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) is supporting Maluti-A-Phofung (MAP) Local Municipality to monitor interventions and the implementation of projects aimed at proving electricity among other services.

3. According to MAP Local Municipality, the interventions and projects mentioned above include the following:.

i. In the wards in question the MAP Local Municipality is undertaking repairs to burst pipes, which are common in all wards due to aged infrastructure. ii. MISA supported the Municipality to develop a Water Conservation and Demand Management Plan and to draft a Water O&M plan to improve the operations and maintenance regimes for all wards in MAP Local Municipality. iii. In ward 10, Tseki area some 2 boreholes were drilled and equipped with solar pumps, 5 000 litre tanks and stand pipes and security fencing with funding from DBSA in partnership with MISA (as part of the COVID-19 interventions) for a total cost of R762 427,78. These were handed over to the community.

4. COGTA, with provincial counterparts and MISA, led a rigorous process of assessing the state of local government (SOLG). The assessment included all service delivery issues including the provision of electricity in MAP. A process is underway to address basic service delivery issues and the target date to complete the municipal intervention and support plans (MISP) for high priority municipalities like MAP is the end of September 2021. This MISP will include plans to address the water challenges mentioned above.

5. The compilation of MISP brings together all sector departments as advocated for by the DDM.