Department of Local Government Saldanha Bay
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DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SALDANHA BAY MUNICIPALITY REGIONAL MONITORING TEAMS MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE REPORTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED JUNE 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2. Departmental Diagnostic Report ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1 Municipal Governance ............................................................................................... 3 2.2 Public Participation ...................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Municipal Communications ........................................................................................ 5 2.2 Municipal Support ........................................................................................................ 5 2.4 Specialised Support ...................................................................................................... 6 2.5 Integrated Development Planning ............................................................................ 7 2.7 Municipal Infrastructure ............................................................................................... 8 2.8 District & Local Performance Monitoring .................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.9 Service Delivery Integration ...................................................................................... 14 2.10 Community Development Workers .......................................................................... 17 2.11 Disaster Management Risk Reduction ..................................................................... 18 2.12 Disaster Management Disaster Operations ............................................................ 18 2.13 Disaster Management Fire Services ......................................................................... 18 1. Introduction and Purpose The key objective of this report is to maintain a central source of information centred on the municipalities’ operations across directorates and to make that information readily accessible on an on-going basis, with a view to monitoring municipalities and identifying areas of support or intervention. In addition it should be used as a tool to encourage, facilitate and structure interactions between Directorates on qualitative issues that are related to the municipality. 2. Departmental Diagnostic Report This section contains the review of the overall municipal governance performance of the Municipality from the Department of Local Government’s perspective. Each directorate has provided context to their identified indicators followed by findings and appropriate support or recommendations. 2.1 Municipal Governance The Municipality is politically stable in that one political party has an outright majority. The council seats are distributed as follows: DA - 15, ANC - 8, COPE - 1 and Independent - 1. The Municipality had four (4) Council meetings for the period under review, which is in line with the requirement of at least 1 council meeting per quarter. No councillors were fined for non-attendance or failing to remain in attendance at council meetings and this bodes well for the functioning of the municipal council. The Municipality is in compliance with section 59 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000 (the Act), as its System of Delegations had been reviewed on 28 May 2012. In relation to a Roles and Responsibilities Framework as envisaged in terms of section 53 of the Act, it is reported that the Municipality does have such a framework. All councillors submitted their declaration of interest forms which is in line with Item 5 of the Code of Conduct. There are 2 councillors at the municipality in arrears for rates and taxes for a period of more than three month. Both councillors are settling the arrears by way of monthly debit order. The Municipality must not only ensure that all outstanding monies are collected but that councillors should be disciplined in accordance with the code of conduct. A further 5 councillors owe the municipality an amount in respect of legal costs. The amounts have been outstanding since 2008. No reasons are provided for the delay in the recovery of thereof. The Municipality must collect all amounts due to it, especially from councillors. No allegations of fraud and corruption were reported in accordance with s32(6) of the MFMA. The Municipality reported that it was currently involved in 6 litigation matters where it is cited as defendant / respondent. The most notable is the matter where an applicant successfully argued that the municipal tariff model on the calculation of capital contributions is invalid. The municipality has been granted leave to appeal and a court date is awaited. Key Challenges / Additional relevant information None Support Initiatives The department facilitated a 2 ½ day Municipal Public Accounts Committee training session which the Municipality attended, as it had established the Committee. 2.2 Public Participation Performance Management In the Saldanha Bay Municipality, public participation is a key performance area of the municipality and is included in the performance agreement of the Municipal Manager. The municipality does not have a dedicated public participation official responsible for ward committees and public participation; rather, the IDP manager is responsible for this. Ward Committee Budget and Expenditure The municipality reported that it budgeted R720 000 for public participation from their own revenue. The municipality reported that with the MSIG, a total of R911 000 was budgeted and to date R611 000 has been spent to support ward committees and public participation. Status of Policies It was reported that the Ward Committee and Out-of-Pocket Expenses Policy was adopted in June 2011. The Ward Committee and Out-of-Pocket Expenses policy is being implemented. It was reported that R500 is paid per ward committee member per month. Ward Committee Functionality The municipality reported that all 13 ward committees are functional in line with the provincial ward committee functionality indicators. The municipality reported that ward committee meetings take place monthly and in total, 39 ward committee meetings were held. Administrative support is offered to the ward committees and agendas are compiled and minutes are recorded at ward committee meetings by officials. Minutes are available on request. The municipality reported that the accountability and communication model is being implemented and that concerns are tabled and feedback is given to community members and community report back meetings were held in each ward. Key Challenges/Additional relevant information It was reported that the establishment of sub-committees and sector reports back meetings were a challenge. Recommendations It is recommended that support from the department be offered to the municipality to assist in the establishment of sub committees. Support initiatives provided to municipality A two day ward committee induction training programme was rolled out in this municipality in April 2012. 2.1 Municipal Communications 2.2 Municipal Support Organisational Design As from 01 April 2012, the Municipality appointed a new Municipal Manager, Mr L Scheepers. The Municipality has six (6) approved Section 57 posts, including the post of Municipal Manager, of which five (5) are currently filled. The post of Director: Strategic Services is vacant and the Municipal Manager is currently taking responsibility for this Directorate. The post was not advertised due to the current restructuring process. The Local Government: Performance Regulations for Municipal Managers and Managers directly accountable to Municipal Managers of 2006, Regulation 4 sub-regulation 5 requires that the employment contract and performance agreement of each Section 57 manager must be submitted to the MEC responsible for Local Government in the relevant province. The Municipality submitted three (3) Performance Agreements to the Department of Local Government. The Department has written to the Municipality requesting the submission of the outstanding Performance Contracts and Agreements. The Department of Local Government is currently assisting the Municipality with the Change Management process and the services provider will be on site until the end of November 2012. Through the Change Management process, the service provider has achieved the following: • Adoption of “8 Steps to Leading Change” by Senior Management of the Municipality. • Integration of Change Management processes and desired outcomes, with Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Performance Manage System (PMS) goals. • Framework for “Five Stages of Team Building” adopted and communicated to all Senior Management, for self-assessment and implementation. • Management Style Profiles completed by all Senior Management, to encourage mutual respect of diversity of skills and styles, towards their shared commitment to IDP goals and departmental service standards. • Municipal Manager has been assisted to define a set of “Customer Service Standards” both internal and external. The Department of Local Government and Provincial Treasury will support the Municipality with a “Revenue Enhancement Project”, which should commence towards the second half of the year. Performance Management System The Municipality has implemented a Performance Management System which was approved and adopted by Council on 30 June 2011. The Municipality has a functional electronic