Deputy President David Mabuza says an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Service Delivery at District Level is one of the interventions that is assisting struggling municipalities deliver services.
He said this when he fielded oral questions at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Wednesday.
“The President has appointed an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Service Delivery at District Level, primarily to accelerate service delivery and give support to the Municipalities that are struggling for various reasons, including those under administration.
“This area of work is focussed on unlocking bottle-necks as well as deal with emergent governance challenges that undermine delivery of quality services,” he said.
Freedom Front Plus’s Free State representative Armand Cloete had asked the Deputy President what was being done to improve municipalities that are currently under administration.
Mabuza said the Inter-Ministerial Committee would direct its work on several focus areas, addressing:
- Community and business forum disruptions that are stopping existing projects;
- Numerous compliance and related issues that have created serious challenges for municipalities in the Supply Chain Management and Procurement processes;
- Compliance issues around planning; and
- The security problems faced in the provision of electricity, water, and other services.
“These interventions, including the establishment of the IMC, are as a result of our government’s recognition that there are various challenges faced by municipalities, which over time have impacted on the quality of service delivery and the collapse of services.
“This has inadvertently led to sporadic protests which at times have turned violent, leading to destruction of public and private property.”
The Deputy President said that some of the interventions that government was implementing focussed on:
- improving governance matters at struggling municipalities through, for example, recruiting competent managers in critical senior positions and enforcement of compliance with the Municipal Systems Act and its regulations;
- professionalisation of corporate systems and processes like performance management system; and
- effective implementation of integrated service delivery models and resolving political infighting that affects administration and service delivery.
“Furthermore, there is effective support by COGTA and National Treasury with the implementation of Post-Audit action plans to reverse negative audit outcomes; and compulsory utilisation of data base on employees dismissed for misconduct, fraud and corruption.
“The above-mentioned measures will in no doubt strengthen the functioning of our municipalities especially those that are under administration so that they meet the expectations of our people as far as service delivery is concerned,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
