Message from the Executive Mayor
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Official Newsletter for FBDM • Issue 27, November 2013 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Message from the Executive Mayor Foreword by the It is hard to believe it is that time of the 7.2 billion for land 1 Executive Mayor year again when families will be reunited acquisition. Since to celebrate Christmas and usher in the 1994 nearly 3 Million From the Municipal New Year together. 2013 has indeed been a hectares of land has Manager’s Desk 2 memorable year in many respects; amongst been redistributed to Oversight visit - the many memorable moments what more than 220 000 Parliamentary Human perhaps stands out is that this year marked beneficiaries through Settlements Committee 3 100 years since the enactment of the 1913 2 600 projects. Native Land Act. This and other The Executive Mayor 2013/14 budget 4 Ms Khadi Moloi The Act was a brutal piece of legislation good stories can be Celebrating Mandela passed by the apartheid government, which proudly told as the successes this country Day 5 facilitated the dispossession of natives from has achieved up to now, however a lot still their ancestral land and redistribute such needs to be done and we at Frances Baard Celebrating Woman’s amongst white colonialists. District Municipality are committed to make Day 6 our contribution to create more good stories As it would be expected, the Act had an for our people. Promoting tourism adverse effect on the socio-economic development through development of black people in this country. I want to thank the staff at FBDM for business plan However since the dawn of democracy the their dedication to serve our people, the competition 7 ANC led government has passed pieces of local municipalities and other spheres of legislation which sort to undo the damage government for their contributions to enable Fire engine to help done by the Native Land Act of 1913. The our municipality to achieve its set targets combat shortage of fire government has implemented a policy on for 2013. I wish all the communities of services / Tourism 8 land reform. Under the land redistribution Frances Baard District Municipality a merry awareness campaign programme government has invested R Christmas and a prosperous 2014. Dikgatlong Municipality receives sanitation truck / Disaster management volunteer training 9 2012/13: At a Glance 11 National Headlines 12 The Parliamentary Housing Committee chairperson addresses community members during an oversight visit in Kimberley in September 2013. Read more on PAGE 3 Page 1 Re bua mmogo - We talk together From the Municipal Manager’s Desk he year 2013 has been both Nothing was as humbling as seeing Tchallenging and exciting for us at how beneficiaries of the Lerato Frances Baard District Municipality. As Park appreciated the houses which A number of Parliament’s a district municipality one of our critical were handed over to them during an mandates is to provide support to our official ceremony in October 2013. Committees undertook local municipalities in the delivery of The FBDM is continuing to invest in services to the communities. SMME development and registration oversight visits to different of new companies. Our annual School We have successfully implemented Tourism Business Plan Competition provinces to, among numerous infrastructure projects which has grown tremendously; this year 17 were identified in the IDP’s of the schools participated in the competition others, assess projects respective local municipalities, these compared to 9 in 2011/12. projects include amongst others; and programmes falling • The purchase of two sanitation trucks In 2014 South Africa will be for Dikgatlong Local Municipality to celebrating 20 years since the advent within their mandates. the value of about R 2 Million. of democracy in 1994, as a district municipality we are confident that we • Funding for the repairs and The Portfolio Committee can be counted as one of the significant maintenance of the Barkly contributors to the successes this West Treatment Works and for on Human Settlements country has achieved since 1994. It is the construction of roads in De important to highlight that we would Beershoogte. visited the Northern not have made such contributions • Construction of a 2 km road had it not been for the dedication, in Ganspan, Phokwane Local Cape and specifically the hard work and commitment of Municipality, with a storm water the personnel of our municipality, drainage system. Frances Baard district some have been with the institution • Water reticulation network for for more than a decade and have 558 sites in Warrenvale Magareng to assess progress in contributed immensely to the growth Local Municipality, and the general of this institution. upgrading of the water network. the implementation of I thank the staff of Frances Baard The oversight visit by the parliamentary District Municipality for their government’s programme committee on human settlements to our contribution, and most importantly district presented us with an opportunity the greatest focus in making this on human settlements. to be assessed on whether we are on municipality one of the reputable track in implementing government public institutions in the country. programmes and policies on sustainable At the time of reading this piece, and integrated human settlements. we would have received our audit he Portfolio Committee on We welcome the impression by the outcome from the Auditor-General. Human Settlements visited committee that the municipalities in So watch this space in the next T the district are performing well in edition. May the entire district have the Northern Cape from 28 July to terms of delivery of sustainable human a merry Christmas. To all of you and 02 August 2013 to assess progress settlements. This can be attributed to your families, enjoy your holidays, the support the district municipality travel safe and come back in the New regarding the implementation of a is giving to its local municipalities, Year fully energized and ready tackle comprehensive integrated human especially on spatial development the challenges ahead of us. planning and project management. settlements strategy in the province One of the highlights has been the and the building of government progress made on the Lerato Park houses for indigent communities as mixed development housing project, well as compliance to policy and which was commended on the quality and the design of the houses. We legislative prescripts. applaud both Sol Plaatje Municipality and COGHSTA for the progress on this project. Municipal Manager Ms Mamikie Bogatsu Page 2 Re bua mmogo - We talk together Oversight visit - parliamentary human settlements committee Policy gaps identified by the Committee municipality. The Committee was also concerned to learn that the bucket system and asbestos roof still existed long • Allocation of resources does not consider the after the deadline for their total eradication had passed. topographic challenges The Committee advised the province to prioritise sanitation • The allocation of funds through a population and ensure that bucket system is completely eradicated and census report have hit hard on the delivery of consider retaining available land for housing development housing in the province, notwithstanding that the instead of selling to private developers. province has been declared as a development Aside from the visit to the Frances Baard district the corridor Committee also visited projects in Siyanda district • Withdrawal of Municipal Infrastructure Grant (Danielskuil, Upington and Keimoes), John Taolo Gaetsewe (MIG) from the district municipalities that district (rural villages / settlements in Joe Morolong, Ga- have been accredited to implement human Segonyana and Gamagara municipalities). settlements program pose the challenge for these municipalities to provide a dedicated Source: Parliament of South Africa support to the local municipalities. • Lack of systems for early detection of public servants doing business with government (bidding from other provinces) • Lack of clear policy directives guiding the implementation of MIG in support of human settlements development programme especially (Bulk Infrastructure) The Committee commended the province for the quality and the design of the houses built, e.g. Lerato Park and Kiemoes Project and Matjieskloof. Furthermore, the Committee appreciated the commitment towards the National Upgrading Support Programme of the Members of the Portfolio Committee during the briefing session on Sunday afternoon, 28/07/2013. informal settlements as well the utilisation of the budget optimally by the province. Nonetheless the Committee was concerned about the pace of service delivery (very slow as compared to the housing demand in the province). Committee Chairperson, Ms Nomhle Dambuza, highlighted that poor planning was also the biggest problem which resulted in projects not being completed, and end up impacting negatively on cost escalation for projects. There was a need to improve on inter-governmental relations, she added. Although the Committee acknowledges the scarcity of resources, effective and optimal resource utilisation is a universal challenge within the sector. Members of the Portfolio Committee inspecting the houses at The Committee was also concerned that the ward Lerato Park on Monday 29/07/2013. committee system as not functional in most municipalities in the province, which is very important part of public participation that is meant to inform the IDP of the Page 3 Re bua mmogo - We talk together 2013/14 budget for the FBDM “The main focus of the district municipality is to support its local municipalities in the delivery of basic services to the community and to build capacity at these municipalities.” he budget of the district municipality consists of two Tmain revenue streams i.e. government grants and Key factors interest earned on external investments. • Grants makes up 94% of the revenue base and 71 positions on the organogram are directly and / or interest on external investment 5%. indirectly involved in support to local municipalities to • The main cost drivers for the municipality are the estimated amount of R15,19m or 28,83% of the total salaries and grants.