Chair and hon members, in the state of the nation address given in February this year, his Excellency the President outlined certain key growth factors which he advised would be both vociferously and aggressively persuade by government in 2011.
The year 2011 was heralded to great applause, I might add, by the ANC as the year of job creation. Economic growth was fundamental to this and a key factor thereof was that of infrastructure development.
In the local government elections campaign held in May, his Excellency the President once again promised that no stone would be left unturned in respect of job creation and service delivery to all areas and people of South Africa.
The harsh reality is that by 31 March this year figures released by Treasury indicated a spend of only 45% by South African municipalities over the preceding nine-month period. Treasury itself conceded as much when it released a statement saying, and I quote, "Capital spending remains slow and this is a concern for government." The question is: What is government doing about this?
Another serious problem is that of laziness or even complete negligence by municipal officials in carrying out their mandate in respect of the payment of creditors. Municipalities enter into contractual agreements with many small business enterprises. These enterprises in turn employ a large number of workers, but they are being squeezed by our municipalities and, in some instances, even going into liquidation because of very late payments by municipal managers.
As the IFP we want to say to government that you are not helping but in fact hurting the ordinary people of South Africa. It is time to stand up and be held accountable. It is time to deliver on your promises in respect of service delivery and job creation, otherwise this country will witness more violent uprisings and toyi-toying by our communities in an effort to give voice to their disappointments and frustrations. I thank you.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, good afternoon. The ANC inherited a local government that was dysfunctional, unco-ordinated, unequal and geared to serving a society of few people. These obvious inequalities are defined by the informal settlements that lie all over the show. The advent of democracy meant that these imbalances must be addressed.
The democratic governance in local government is a new phenomenon, as it was introduced in 2000. Today, 11 years later, that legacy will manifest itself in different forms, and that's what the ANC government must reverse to extend services to all people of South Africa, including Khayelitsha, Kwa-Langa, etc.
Therefore, the underspending in infrastructure must be understood in the context of the reconstruction and development of our country. This government is investing a lot on financial resources in infrastructure, to bring back the dignity of our people and create a better life for all. Maybe it is also important not to generalise too much about the underspending. However, the ANC does not necessarily condone it. Therefore, the question is: What is it that should be done, as the member was asking what the government is doing about it?
In 2006-07, the municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, expenditure was at 97%. It did go down the following year to 93%. It went up to 96%, and later this year we understood that it is at 86%. This is just one grant. It excludes the MIG for cities that is accounted for within the equitable share of municipalities. This is not an end in itself, as this grant is meant to augment other infrastructure resources of the municipalities.
The government has created support systems in order to improve infrastructure spending in local government. For example, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, which is the initiative of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, was aimed at creating a dedicated and focused institutional mechanism for managing and co- ordinating the provision of technical support. It was also aimed at the creation of a technical capacity in local government for the accelerated and sustainable provision of municipal infrastructure and services.
The proposal to establish the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, Misa, as a ring-fenced government component under the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, was approved recently in August, by the Acting Minister. It is currently being evaluated by the Department of the Public Service and Administration, as provided for in Chapter 6 of the Public Service Act.
Meanwhile, the department is simultaneously undertaking the process of institutionalising and putting the agency into operation. The process entails creating a programme-management unit to run Misa operations; consultations with the relevant stakeholders at all three levels of government on Misa programmes and its operational model; contracting of technical experts, including planning and engineering professionals, to give practical effect to Misa programmes; and managing the transition from the Siyenza Manje programme.
The target is to get Misa support programmes for municipalities off the ground by 11 November. This process of contracting technical experts, currently under way, has an initial target of getting 115 experts on board. In order to improve the spending on infrastructure, the Division of Revenue Act enjoins the municipalities to submit to National Treasury detailed plans of their envisaged project plans for the next financial year, and even for the outer year of 2013-14.
The receiving officer of a municipal infrastructure grant must, by 31 May 2011, submit all technical reports to the sector department responsible for water services, sport and recreation, roads and transport, including environmental affairs matters for all projects to be implemented for 2012- 13. The responsible sector department must evaluate the reports and provide final recommendations to the receiving officer by 29 July. The receiving officer of the municipal infrastructure grant must summit all the project registration forms, including business plans for the projects to be implemented in the next financial year, to the provincial department of local government by 31 August.
The provincial department must provide full recommendations to the receiving officer by 30 September 2011. The receiving officer must submit a detailed project implementation plan of all projects to be implemented in the 2012-13 financial year to the transferring national officer by 31 October. Such details should include timelines regarding project designs, initiation of procurement, and environmental impact assessment, EIA, approvals.
The above are measures that will assist only in part the MIG, which is only a fraction of the infrastructure budgets of municipalities. The introduction of comprehensive planning in municipalities and master infrastructure plans in the Integrated Development Plan, IDP, will improve municipal spending in that all the municipalities will have the designs of all infrastructure projects well in advance and will be able to plan the procurement of this through the current Supply Chain Management policies.
The Misa, Public Services and Utilities, PSU, capacity-building framework seek to address these challenges. The fact that around 24% of engineering capacity in the municipal sector is above 50 years requires that the acceleration of training in these fields must happen, so that the Misa might have the people with experience to assist municipalities in this regard. The sector departments are required to support ... [Interjections.]
Hon Sogoni, will you take your seat, please?
Mr Chairman, on a point of order: Is the hon member allowed to read from two different speeches? We don't know where he is and it's a cause for great concern, sir. There is something very schizophrenic about the speaker and I'm worried about his good health ... [Interjections.]
Hon Ellis, that is not a point ...
I didn't make a point of order.
But I didn't say it's a point of order, so can you take your seat, please!
... But Mr Chairman, we are generally worried about the ... [Interjection.]
I can see you are worried, Mr Ellis; will you take your seat, please? Before you continue, hon Sogoni, I just want to address the point. Members can reflect on notes in front of them and address the House, and I think that's exactly what the member is doing.
But how many ... [Interjections.]
Hon Ellis, will you take your seat, please? Take you seat, Mr Ellis.
Two different speeches; I am confused.
Take your seat. You may continue, hon Sogoni.
Thank you very much hon Chairperson. When I'm done, I will give the hon member the notes that I'm reading from.
The sector departments are required to support and monitor the implementation of projects as agreed in the March 2011 Minmec of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. Section 154 of the Constitution and section 34 of the Municipal Finance Management Act imposes a responsibility on national and provincial governments through legislation to support municipalities. Whereas the law allows for withholding or stopping of funds to a municipality that is not performing, the national department must still demonstrate measures it has taken to support the municipality.
There is further support from the National Treasury through the financial management grant to build financial capacity in lower capacity municipalities. Again, this programme will also contribute to the absorption and employment of young financial professionals by mentoring them under the experienced and retired accountants.
To us, members on my left, this is an important programme of the government that must be supported by this House. I thank you. [Applause.]
Mr Chairman, one of the most disturbing things about the slow pace of expenditure on municipal infrastructure is that it is a declining trend. In the 2008-09 financial year, the rate of expenditure of municipal infrastructure grants was 85%. It went down to 75% in the 2009-10 financial year. That left close to R2,2 billion unspent.
Let's remember what this money is for. It's supposed to cover many of the services that are vital to the poorest of our citizens: electricity connections, storm water drainage, street lights and sanitation. When this money isn't spent, it's the poorest of our citizens who lose out. Therefore, this debate cuts to the heart of our struggle in South Africa to bring the basics of an acceptable life to all of our citizens.
The SA Institution of Civil Engineers makes the point that the state of a nation's infrastructure is one of the best indicators of its likely prosperity. It's also worth pointing out that, out of the 13 DA-run municipalities, before the recent municipal elections, 12 - in other words 93% - spent 100% of their municipal infrastructure grants. All municipalities in the Western Cape spent 100% of their infrastructure grants during the 2009-10 financial year.
In contrast to this, 10 municipalities did not spend a cent of their municipal infrastructure grants. Another 41 spent less than half their grants. Almost all of those were municipalities controlled by the ANC. So, what are the reasons for this inability to spend on infrastructure?
Well, there are many. Some of them are more technical or procedural. Sometimes it's because tranches of funding from national government arrive too late in the financial year for the projects to be undertaken, if there is to be proper financial compliance.
There is another problem that may be delaying projects. Engineers, who often motivate for these projects, know that current Treasury regulations mean that winning tenders are chosen by giving disproportionate weight to price. That may mean paying for materials that are cheap, but will not last long. In this case, "goedkoop koop is duur koop" [cheap buying is expensive buying].
Not wanting to waste the money may be cause enough to sit on it. The possibility that this is happening is surely enough reason to re-examine those regulations so as to include a greater weighting for quality, longevity and sustainability of infrastructure that is built.
The SA Institution of Civil Engineers says that there are sometimes problems with co-ordination between different spheres of government which have interlocking responsibilities. This may result in nonsequential project completion because of the failure to co-ordinate. These are procedural matters which can and may even be fixed relatively easily.
But, there are other problems that have their roots in the politics of the ruling party, which will not be so easily put right. The first of these relates to skills. An engineer told me that the planning process is flawed. He says too much weight is given to public participation processes.
Now, those processes are necessary, but they can only take place effectively when they are guided by sufficient technical knowledge. People may know that they want sanitation, but they may not know that, in order to get a sanitation system that works properly, there needs to be a necessary expansion of reticulation works. The result is that toilets are installed and connected to the sewerage system, but the reticulation cannot then handle the load and there are sewage spills and the degradation of the surrounding environment and quality of life together with health risks - this is exactly what happened under the ANC in Cape Town.
That lack of technical capacity is apparent as a recurring theme in any discussion of infrastructure. South Africa starts at a disadvantage, having - by proportion of the population - up to 20 times fewer engineers than are found in Western Europe, the United States and India. Skills have gone and are difficult to attract back.
It's common cause that smaller municipalities do not have the financial resources to attract engineers. One of the more successful interventions has been the Siyenza Manje project that deploys technical experts to smaller municipalities in need. But the success has been threatened by the department, moving responsibility for that project away from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, DBSA, to one run directly by the department. That has immediately caused uncertainty amongst the deployed professionals, and has led to at least one resignation that I know of. Why mess with success? The government should explain.
This points to another reason that engineers are reluctant to work in smaller towns. They simply don't want to work for municipalities that are badly run. Who wants to work for a company with bad management, where decisions that should be technically motivated are rather driven by whim, factionalism and political populism? And it's not just me saying that. Factionalism in the ANC hampers delivery, and those are the words of the Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Yunus Carrim, who admitted this earlier this year.
There've been numerous reports about factional fighting in provinces like North West, which is tied to the spending of money on infrastructure projects and attempts to win kickbacks from that spending. Has the situation improved since the local government elections? Possibly too early to say, but so far it doesn't look good.
Let's take, for example, the District Municipality of Nkangala in Mpumalanga province. In the last two financial years they've managed to spend only a third of the money allocated for infrastructure. They're sitting on some R500 million. Yet in one of the local municipalities in that district, Thembisile, tens of thousands of people are without clean water.
It needs to be said in this debate that the hard figures of money spent do not tell the full truth about what is happening. Sometimes the money is spent, but the infrastructure is still not delivered. That's because the companies given tenders cannot perform and cannot complete projects. By way of example, there's a 400-metre stretch of tarred road between the N4 and the town of Belfast in Emakhazeni Local Municipality. The road has potholes and is too narrow. A project to fix and widen it was begun two years ago. Work has been done, but it has been of a poor quality. New contractors have been appointed and they say they will begin soon.
We go down the road to Machadodorp, where a new sewage pumping station was scheduled to have been completed in November 2010. The extended completion date was the end of February this year. Well, as of last week, not a single litre of sewage has been pumped by that works after millions of rands have been spent. It seems quite clear that the officials don't know what they're doing, and they're giving contracts to people who don't know what they're doing.
It may be unstated, but the practical effect of the policy of this government is that jobs and tenders for comrades are more important than giving people clean water. [Interjections.] That's a political problem related to cadre deployment and its handmaiden, corruption. This government plays a double game on cadre deployment, saying that it is taking steps to end it, and yet it is still there for all to see, if you look for it.
Now, to spend wisely on infrastructure projects is not easy. It is made far more difficult by the policies of this government that guarantee extra hurdles are put in the way of any project going ahead. When there is a municipal infrastructure project, it is not enough simply to appoint a contractor who will build the best system for the lowest price.
Other factors are introduced, which make finding the best contractor more difficult. The council has to deal with whether or not the contractor has sufficiently good black economic empowerment, BEE, credentials. And there is the issue of gender. Councils are told that, where possible, they should give contracts to companies which are owned by women.
Then there is the issue of the geographical origin of the companies involved. There is always a great deal of pressure to appoint locally based companies, or at least appoint companies that will appoint workers from the municipality where the contract is being carried out.
Then, of course, there is the alignment of contractors to the correct faction of the ANC. If the contractor does not have the right connections, the contract may not be given and the money not spent.
All of this makes finding an appropriate contractor much, much more difficult. Is it any wonder that projects are difficult to initiate? Some of those things may be nice to have, but they detract from the mission of municipal government and should not be allowed to stand in the way of delivery.
This government has a wrong approach. Municipal government is there to deliver quality services effectively and financially sustainably for the municipality and cheaply for the consumer.
Chairperson, on a point of order: May I please know if it is parliamentary for a member to read the speech that he delivered in the House in the past as is. Thank you.
When you say in the past, do you mean today? Continue, hon member. [Laughter.]
Thank you, Mr Chairman. I am - you will notice -only reading one speech. [Laughter.] Now the point that you're seeking to obscure here is that municipal government is there to deliver good quality municipal services to everybody at low cost on a sustainable basis. And if municipalities were directed by those imperatives only, processes would be unblocked and projects would be undertaken.
There are more sinister concerns that are widely spoken about but difficult to prove, logically possible or even probable. Infrastructure projects are delayed until councillors or municipal officials can find a vehicle to carry out the project which is prepared, which directly benefits them. In plain language, they will not spend the money until they can spend it with somebody who will give them a bribe.
Running like a leaking municipal sewer through all this is a lack of political will; more accurately, perhaps, a subordination of a political will to do the right thing to the dictates of party or factional advantage. The procedural matters I described can and possibly will be fixed, but the political underpinnings of so much of this problem can only be changed when the voters decide to change the ANC for a party with a track record of success in local government, and that party can only be the DA. [Applause.]
If we go according to the other hon member's point of order, we could end up with hon Ellis running out of points of order. [Laughter.]
That's highly unlikely, sir.
House Chair and hon members, the topic for discussion today is long overdue. Municipalities have failed to govern effectively for almost two decades and yet we keep debating, without much progress and noticeable results. It is time to act on this issue and finally implement solutions.
We must address the roots of the problem and not the symptoms. The failure of municipalities to spend their budgets effectively remains a problem and becomes a greater obstacle for the socioeconomic progress of the nation. It is therefore of the utmost importance that this inability is not only debated, but acted upon immediately.
According to the Treasury, for the nine months as at 31 March, only 45% of the funds in all metros have been spent. The root of the inability to spend the allocated funds points directly to the deployed cadres' inability, poor financial management, poor project management and a lack of skilled personnel.
Proper financial management has to be in place in order for municipalities to collect revenue and function effectively. We are in need of a long-term strategy that will include a coherent supply chain alongside the technological solution.
Every municipality should have a clearly defined financial operation in place to ensure that money is spent optimally for cost-effectiveness. It is therefore vital that improved financial management is practised and critical senior positions are filled with suitably qualified people.
Municipalities' failure to collect money owed to them and to spend their budgets means that service delivery is severely compromised. According to Treasury, municipalities around the country are owed R62 billion for outstanding property rates and services fees. The government debt is also unpaid.
Currently South Africa is faced with a R1,5 trillion infrastructure backlog. It is unacceptable that, while money is available and people are waiting for service delivery, the municipalities are dragging their feet. The failure to spend the allocated funds also means that we have failed to deliver basic services to many South Africans.
The Bill of Rights of the Constitution, sections 26 and 27 states, and I quote: All South Africans have the right to adequate housing, health care services and sufficient food and water.
Almost in every corner of South Africa we continue to witness potholes, poor sanitation and poor infrastructure. Provincial and municipal roads are not well maintained, whether you are driving at Sekhukhune, Dewetsdorp, or on the R702 or R26 roads. What you see is a lack of road infrastructure maintenance.
Although South Africa has over 500 government-built dams and the infrastructure to connect them to water resources, rural communities are still lagging far behind with access to water.
In 2007 R1,6 billion was invested to eradicate the bucket system. Now, in 2011, as we speak, 1 480 houses at Botshabelo in Thaba Nchu still have this toilet system. By 2007 the National Bucket Eradication Programme deadline had not been implemented. When you drive along the N2 in Cape Town and pass Khayelitsha, you see the dehumanisation of our people.
The bucket system is one of the most demeaning systems of apartheid. Despite government's promises in 2011 for a better life for all, the system has not yet been eradicated. [Time expired.]
Chairperson, we are 17 years into the new South Africa and there should be no excuse for lack of service delivery. Reasons for the slow expenditure of capital budgets are: the appointment of a Minister whose attitude is, "Do as I say and not as I do"; the announcement of tenders, already knowing who they will be assigned to; the pretence of advertising jobs, knowing who the successful candidates will be; and the setting of high standards and requirements while incompetent appointments are still made.
This results in poor financial planning, incompetent officials, municipal managers receiving obscene salaries, lack of political leadership, municipalities receiving qualified audits and, in some cases, interns running the financial departments.
There is crisis in governance. We have situations where houses are falling apart, children are playing in sewage water on their way to school, and uncollected trash is resulting in little children playing with used condoms and rotting scraps. Potholes escalate by the day.
I suggest the following turnaround strategy that will bring us back to the Mandela euphoria: fire the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs; fire poor financial planners; fire incompetent municipal officials who receive qualified audits every year; fire those who are a constant source of crisis and corruption; and finally, fire those who show complete lack of political leadership. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, I will start by declaring my extra notes for referral. [Laughter.] Hon members, our guests and South Africans who are observing the proceedings through media, "Madume, Sanibonani, Reperile". [Greetings.]
The Constitution requires all spheres of government to provide an effective, efficient, transparent, accountable and coherent government to secure the wellbeing of the people and the progressive realisation of constitutional rights. South Africa is composed of national, provincial and local spheres of government, which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated.
Indeed, hon Chairperson, the monthly Capital Expenditure Report from the National Treasury for the third quarter, which ended on 31 March 2011, paints an uncomfortable picture. According to the report at national level, we stand at 45,7% on spending patterns of the municipal capital expenditure. As much as this is something, we need to work hard to improve. It is heartening to know that there are municipalities out there that have led the way in this regard.
Hon members, we have other municipalities in three different provinces that have reported constant spending trends well above 50% over the years, and the number keeps growing. Chairperson, I know that hon members will have an interest in finding out in which provinces these municipalities are.
I am at liberty to report to this House that these are in our own ANC-led provinces: Limpopo, North West and the Northern Cape, having reported improvements at an average of 63%, 52% and 61% respectively. [Applause.] Such improvements must be applauded and encouraged.
Credit must be given to the political leadership, officials and communities in the mentioned provinces. We hope that the improvements do not stop here, but will grow; and that in the spirit of promoting intergovernmental relations, these practices will be shared with others as lessons.
According to the Auditor-General's Consolidated General Report on the Local Government Audit Outcomes for the 2009-10 financial year, there are notable improvements in the audit results of a number of municipalities. Hon members, I again proudly mention that over and above the aforementioned, three more municipalities in the ANC-led provinces, namely Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, have all submitted their financial statements on time. This must be a standing practice for all our municipalities. [Applause.]
I'm very sure that hon members do remember that in the previous financial year there were 85 reported disclaimers. This year the number has gone down to 54. [Applause.] We should also mention that about 121 audit outcomes were reported as unqualified outcomes and others with findings.
These findings seem to be similar within a number of municipalities and they range from payments not made or paid within 30 days as required. On this one, Chairperson, most municipalities are serial offenders in terms of complying with the law and the Municipal Finance Management Act, MFMA, the lack of financial management and internal controls, and so on.
Chairperson, as we mention the few findings, one has to wonder why, what is it that is not right? We therefore feel that proper and qualified personnel should be recruited to address this challenge. The issue of using municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, funds on unintended programmes should also be addressed.
This is an area of concern for all of us, although there is an improvement. The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs should ensure that MIG policy is reviewed, like the institutional arrangements to support infrastructure planning, project preparation and management and contract management. The establishment of a national communication task team for a coherent and co-ordinated message campaign is also needed.
There is another hot potato. There is a practice called "fiscal dumping". As the financial year ends, many municipalities do not want to be seen underspending. Therefore, they dump the money. This really hampers the ability of our own municipalities to deliver services. Our own people cannot wait long for services. They deserve better service delivery. And, by the way, the Constitution compels us to provide these services, in spite of colour, creed, religion or the geographical space they occupy, as long as they are South Africans.
Oversight and monitoring is an important and a relevant task to be performed over the executive. The interventions of appointing consultants by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the support given by the National Treasury and provincial treasuries to municipalities are indeed valuable. Meanwhile, the departments should play an active role in monitoring and overseeing those consultants so that the issue of value for money and "Operation Clean Audit" is realised by 2014.
Early warning sign systems should be put in place so that they can assist in providing the municipality with sharper and more immediate preventative measures. The SA Local Government Association, Salga, is expected to have already inducted councillors with the aim of capacitating them with general understanding of their leadership role and of legislation that guides local government in key municipal processes of a developmental local government.
Salga is also urged to speed up the process of developing a method of work for Municipal Public Accounts Committees. Hence, councillors who are delegated to sit in those committees must receive the necessary support from all stakeholders to empower them to play an effective oversight role over municipalities' finances.
Hon Chairperson, as I conclude, let me remind South Africans that local government is a key part of the reconstruction and development efforts in our country. The aim of democratising our society and growing our own inclusivity can only be realised through a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system that is part of the developmental state. Together with our communities, we can make local government work.
Ke a leboga. [Legofi.] [Thank you. [Applause.]]
Chair, I am very pleased that Mr Ellis has returned to the House, because I shall give him a personal copy of my speech after I've made it. Chair, the slow expenditure of capital budget by some municipalities ...
Hon member, there is a point of order.
Could I persuade Mr Ainslie to give it to me now, so that I don't have to listen to him? [Laughter.]
I want both: You must read and listen. Chair, the slow expenditure of capital budgets by some municipalities is a cause for concern. However, opposition parties participating in the debate today need to locate the discussion in the wider context of the enormous strides the ANC government continues to make towards local government transformation and ensuring that the majority of our people have access to basic services.
During today's debate, hon Lorimer, in particular, of the DA and hon Msimang of the IFP have adopted a very narrow and limited view of what has been achieved at local government level. All is not doom and gloom, as the hon members would have us believe. Let us look at some facts which put the matter in perspective. I have here the latest Estimates of National Expenditure for 2011, which analyse service delivery for the 2009-10 financial year.
It indicates a massive increase in basic services to our people in four main categories. This implies significant capital expenditure taking place during the period, as well as a high level of competency on the part of officials and the political leadership in our municipalities. According to this report, basic services increased as follows over the last financial year: firstly, in terms of basic water, an estimated 1,2 million households that were not serviced in the previous financial year are now provided with potable water. This touches the lives of approximately 5 million of the poorest of the poor.
Secondly, in terms of basic sanitation, an additional 680 970 households have been provided with sanitation.
Thirdly, 965 636 households have been given increased access to roads. This means that approximately 3 million additional people now have access from their homesteads and villages in the deep rural areas of the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, North West and elsewhere to schools, hospitals and places of work. This on its own represents, in my view, a massive developmental outcome. Of course, backlogs in road infrastructure persist. There are still parts of my constituency of Ndwedwe in KwaZulu-Natal where access has not improved since the days of King Shaka, but we are getting there.
In terms of community lighting, 464 183 additional households were connected to the grid over the past financial year. The village of Sonkombo in my constituency is next in line to be connected. A municipal infrastructure grant, MIG, allocation of R20 million has been spent on building an electrical substation in the area. By the end of the year, and for the first time in history, the lights will go on in Sonkombo.
Chair, hon Sogoni has dealt at length with MIG expenditure. I simply want to add that it is clear from the expenditure trends that he refers to municipalities' capacity to absorb funds that has improved significantly since the inception of MIG. The MIG expenditure has succeeded in reducing backlogs faced by many municipalities across the country. Take my district municipality of Ilembe, for example. The water backlogs in 2001 affected over 76 000 households. According to National Treasury, by 2007 this had been reduced by 36 000 households, a reduction of almost 50%. I know that further MIG amounts have been spent since 2007, and I am confident that things have improved even further since then. What is happening in Ndwedwe, Sonkombo and Ilembe is being replicated in villages and towns across all provinces, and the DA and IFP need to take cognisance of that fact. [Applause.]
Chair, we do concede, however, that in some instances capital expenditure is a concern that needs to be remedied, and hon Sogoni has dealt with this at length in his speech. Hon Msimang asks what government is doing. Hon Sogoni has given lists of interventions on the part of government, and I suggest that hon Msimang reads that speech very carefully to understand the interventions that have been made.
That these interventions are succeeding is borne out by the audit outcomes referred to by hon Chiloane when she addressed us. I know that the hon Chiloane is passionate about the need for effective audit committees. She will be very pleased, therefore, to learn that Minister Mthethwa, acting Minister of the department, announced earlier this week, at the SA Local Government Association, Salga, conference in Durban that all municipalities would have to have public accounts committees established by 30 November. This will provide good governance and help achieve clean audits. [Applause.]
Members have expressed concern with regard to capacity constraints, especially with regard to personnel, not only the high vacancy rate in our municipalities, but also the calibre of municipal officers employed. The Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament to address the professionalisation of local government administration and, when implemented, I have no doubt that it will go a long way towards improving the situation.
Mr Lorimer mentions cadre deployment. Let me say that in the vast majority of cases, those deployed by the ANC to the Public Service meet the very high standards expected of them. However, the Bill makes it mandatory for municipalities to employ appropriately qualified and competent people. Cadre deployment is in any event preferable to the purge of senior, competent and experienced officials, almost always black. That is the first order of business the minute the DA takes over control of a municipality. [Interjections.] An example is Cape Town, in 2006, when the municipal manager and other senior black staff were axed. Purges of black staff happened at the same time in Stellenbosch and Eden. Now they are forcing out - I think he may already have gone - the municipal manager in Knysna. Plettenberg Bay is next. They are trying it with Oudtshoorn, but they don't control Oudtshoorn so they won't get it right. [Interjections.]
Hon members, order please!
Chair, I can't see the time on my screen. Mr Lorimer talks about ANC municipalities. Let us look at just two DA-controlled municipalities. Let us look at Midvaal in Gauteng. Earlier on, hon Chiloane referred to capital expenditure estimates, which indicate the extent to which capital expenditure has been made. If you look at this document, which you are going to have a copy of afterwards, in these monthly capital expenditure reports for the third quarter ending on 31 March this year, Midvaal has only spent a shocking 12% of its budget, by far the lowest in the province. If you look at the Gauteng list, it is by far the lowest in the whole of Gauteng province. [Interjections.]
For a long time, the ANC has been saying that there is something wrong with Midvaal. Now, party leaders, including Premier Helen Zille, have been accused by a former DA councillor of ignoring reports of rampant fraud and corruption in the municipality, first reported to her as long ago as 2005. A charge of obstructing the course of justice has now been laid against the premier, and we look forward to the outcome. [Interjections.]
Chair, this comes hot on the heels of the communications tender scandal in Cape Town, now the subject of an investigation by the Public Protector; so much for good governance on the part of DA. I look forward to how the Auditor-General audits this tender. The DA, and they have done it again today, Mr Lorimer, is fond of patting itself on the back for its clean audits in the city and province, but unqualified audits tell only a small part of the story. They do not give a picture of value for money. They are no indication of the quality, extent or demographics of service delivery. [Interjections.] Anyone familiar with the City of Cape Town can be in no doubt that services are skewed to favour the wealthier suburbs at the expense of the poor who live on the Cape Flats, in Langa, Gugulethu and elsewhere on the margins of DA delivery. Last week, I drove from Acacia Park through Goodwood to the airport. Leaving Goodwood and entering Hanover Park was like crossing into another country, the difference in service delivery is that stark.
You've changed. You used to be a nice guy.
The news this week that the Cape Town Metro has only spent 71,5% of its capital budget is a blow to the poor of Cape Town. For it is they who are in the greatest need of capital expenditure on housing, water, electricity, sanitation and the other basic necessities of life.
Both the Auditor-General and the Accountant-General have on numerous occasions identified a lack of leadership as the root cause of poor performance at local government level. The call, therefore, by the ANC in the City of Cape Town for the mayoral committee to be reshuffled in the light of this under-expenditure due to poor leadership is very appropriate and one which needs to be taken seriously.
Yes indeed, there are some cases of slow capital expenditure. These need to be addressed. I have no doubt that the measures implemented by the department to intervene have already started turning the situation around. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Mr Chairman, I am sorry. The hon Ainslie assured me that he was going to give me a copy of his speech. Now he walks off without giving me one. [Laughter.]
I am sure he is going to give it to you.
Roy?
Do you want to see these lines?
Hon Chairperson and hon members, I would like to thank this House for engaging in this debate in the manner that they did. The comments made and the views put forward convinced us in the IFP that, indeed, the debate was worthwhile. However, I would like to also underscore the remarks made by the hon Ramatlakane from Cope when he said that the same debate was long overdue. He said that it was time for action. Indeed, this is an indisputable fact.
The last speaker before me has already referred to the input made by the hon Sogoni, especially the number of interventions that are being introduced by the ruling party in the municipalities. Indeed, these have been noted and are appreciated. However, these interventions which look so beautiful on paper are only one side of the coin. On the other side of the coin is implementation. This is where many of the officials in the South African municipalities have let us down.
I have been allocated only three minutes and therefore I won't comment on each and every input made by the members. However, I would like to say that hon Lorimer of the DA hit the nail on the head when he elaborated on the lack of skills on the part of officials. He particularly referred to engineers. I would like to add to his list by saying that we are also lacking municipal managers and chief financial officers. These are at the forefront of delivery, and yet are among the officials that let us down.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that low expenditure does not only deprive citizens of this beautiful country of basic services, but it also translates into fewer jobs in this climate of so much unemployment. I thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.