INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PLAN (IDP) 2020/2021 FOREWORD BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR Once more, our communities in Emfuleni will undoubtedly exercise their democratic right to meaningfully participate in their municipality‟s annual planning processes through both the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the budget for the 2020/2021 financial year. The IDP and Budget Public Participation are mechanisms aimed at redressing the impact of over 300 years of colonization, exploitation and oppression of the masses of our people which subjected the nation to immense poverty, inequality and unemployment. The IDP and the Budget, as legal instruments, seek to expresses the balance between the people‟s aspirations and the availability and utilization of resources. This is done in order to realize the developmental agenda of the democratic government as dictated to by the electoral mandate. In our preceding IDP report as a municipality we presented substantial programmes that were guided by the imperatives of the Financial Recovery Plan (FRP) of the Municipality. That report further gave details on planned interventions by both the national and the provincial governments in assisting the Municipality to achieve a speedy recovery. IDP reports are presented to the general public as well as to various stakeholders as a detailed account of progress made from the previous financial year. To a greater extent, the substance of the last IDP was influenced by various government policies aimed at ensuring that service delivery is given priority in the current crisis, with a more pointed focus on water and sanitation and other related infrastructure backlogs. The draft IDP and Budget published during the public participation process attracted an insurmountable volume of significant comments from the public, the political leadership and management. All these comments were taken into considerations. The public responses confirm the requirements of the Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000 which defines that the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is one of the core functions of a municipality in the context of its developmental agenda. Undoubtedly, a people‟s driven municipality must be reflected in the quality of the participation of stakeholders. This was visible in the recent round of public participation which included an online participation. This year‟s ELM IDP and the budget were further influenced by the declaration of the National State of Disaster following the global impact of the spread of the Coronavirus or COVID -19. This led to the lockdown of South Africa. These developments compelled the Municipality to review many of its critical decisions in order to accommodate the new and challenging environment brought about by the pandemic. To this end the Municipality adopted all the necessary measures aimed at contributing towards the health and safety of all local communities. The Municipality also established COVID-19 command structures which are in constant communication with local communities. The Municipality appreciates the public cooperation in combating the spread of the Covid-19. The national and provincial government have played a pivotal role in supporting ELM and our budget does not reflect the volumes of interventions on several key services such as waste removal, clearing of illegal dumps, roads maintenance, electricity and other special interventions that have benefited the municipality. Once more, our communities in Emfuleni will undoubtedly exercise their democratic right to meaningfully participate in their municipality‟s annual planning processes through both the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the budget for the 2020/2021 financial year. The IDP and Budget Public Participation are mechanisms aimed at redressing the impact of over 300 years of colonization, exploitation and oppression of the masses of our people which subjected the nation to immense poverty, inequality and unemployment. The IDP and the Budget, as legal instruments, seek to expresses the balance between the people‟s aspirations and the availability and utilization of resources. This is done in order to realize the developmental agenda of the democratic government as dictated to by the electoral mandate. In our preceding IDP report as a Municipality we presented substantial programmes that were guided by the imperatives of the Financial Recovery Plan (FRP) of the Municipality. That report further gave details of planned interventions by both the national and the provincial governments in assisting the Municipality to achieve a speedy recovery. IDP reports are presented to the general public as well as to various stakeholders as detailed accounts of progress made from the previous financial years. To a greater extent, the substance of the last IDP was influenced by various government policies aimed at ensuring that service delivery is given priority in the current crisis, with a more pointed focus on water and sanitation and other related infrastructure backlogs. The draft IDP and Budget published during the public participation process attracted an insurmountable volume of significant comments from the public, the political leadership and management. All these comments were taken into considerations. The public responses confirm the requirements of the Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000 which defines that the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is one of the core functions of a municipality in the context of its developmental agenda. Undoubtedly, a people driven municipality must be reflected in the quality of the participation of stakeholders. This was visible in the recent round of public participation which included an online participation. This year‟s ELM IDP and the budget were further influenced by the declaration of the National State of Disaster following the global impact of the spread of the Coronavirus or COVID -19. This led to the lockdown of South Africa. These developments compelled the Municipality to review many of its critical decisions in order to accommodate the new and challenging environment brought about by the pandemic. To this end the Municipality adopted all the necessary measures aimed at contributing towards the health and safety of all local communities. The Municipality also established COVID-19 command structures which are in constant communication with local communities. The Municipality appreciates the public cooperation in combating the spread of the Covid-19. The national and provincial government have played a pivotal role in supporting ELM. Our budget however does not reflect the volume of interventions on several key services such as waste removal, clearing of illegal dumps, roads maintenance, electricity and other special interventions that have benefited the Municipality. The Water and Sanitation challenges which negatively affected the quality of the Vaal River are receiving serious attention from national government through the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Human Settlement. We are grateful for the progress registered to-date. The allocated budget of more than one billion rand has been gazetted and is being managed by the Department of Water and Sanitation. The East Rand Water Company (Erwat) was appointed as the implementing agent for the first phase of the water intervention project. Stakeholder participation on the implementation of the FRP and all activities related to the government are of critical importance. Mayoral Strategy Sessions held over the last few months produced clear integrated approaches for management aimed at pulling the institution out of the muddy terrain. The ELM refined machinery is informed by these strategies. Our Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plans (SDBIP‟s) are at the core of the implementation of the IDP with a special focus on the impact we make in the communities we serve. We have customized the SDBIPs to carry priorities on cost saving, revenue generation, quality service delivery and an improved customer services. All departments are developing strategies that inform their planning. The FRP implementation is at the centre of all planning across departments. Our economic development has taken a huge leap on integrated planning. The Municipality is working with both provincialand national government departments on several initiatives aimed at growing the local economy. With the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the lead, together with the Sedibeng District Municipality (SDM), we are considering a development of a comprehensive master plan for the regional economy within the context of District Development Model. The broad vision that embraces the Fezile Dabi District Municipality in the Free State province under the Vaal 21 Vision has been enhanced by the introduction of the Blue Economy as the lead game changer together with the Vaal River City, Development of Student City and other catalyst projects. Organized business, civil society and the public will be fully consulted through various platforms to ensure maximum local participation and benefits to local business and the local economy. Our Special Development Framework has been amended to accommodate these actions. The internal institutional capacity has been enhanced by the appointment of the municipal manager and other members of the executive management team. As previously promised, our journey to fill critical posts is on track. The appointment of the Municipal Manager was part of that promise and has been fulfilled. The adoption of the organizational structure and filling of all other critical vacancies is