Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers present here
...
... Tatana Baloyi na Tatana Sexwale ... [... Mr Baloyi and Mr Sexwale...]
... hon members of the NCOP, in particular the chairperson of the Select Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cogta, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, the hon MEC for human settlements in the Eastern Cape, my colleagues from the SA Local Government Association, Salga, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, we wish to agree with the Minister of Cogta when he stated in his Budget Vote last month that the more integrated our co- operative governance is, the more effective we will be as a state, and the greater will be our capacity to deliver services and ensure development. Minister Baloyi ...
... a vulavula ntiyiso. Ndzi hlamale ngopfu loko Tatana Groenewald a penda timasipala hinkwato ka tona hi tibulachi hi ku vula leswaku timasipala ti na vukungundzwana. Hi ntiyiso swi nga va swi ri tano kun'wana. Kambe a swi vuli leswaku vukungundzwana byi kona eka timasipala hinkwato ka tona ku ya hi leswi va swi vulaka. Ku ya hi leswi Tatana Groenewald a swi vuleke a ku na nchumu xa kahle lexi endliwaka hi timasipala ... (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[... was right. It was disconcerting for me to hear Mr Groenewald painting all the municipalities with the same brush by saying all municipalities are corrupt. Truth be told, it may not be the case in some. However, that does not mean that corruption is rampant in all municipalities like he stated. According to what Mr Groenewald said, there is nothing good that is done by the municipalities ...]
... which is a serious concern to us as Salga, and we believe that that notion should be corrected in this House. There are many good practices and pockets of excellence to be found at local government level. It is of critical importance to bear in mind the tremendous strides and progress that local government has made in the implementation and expansion of services to our people.
It is therefore important that we contextualise the microscopic lens we place on local government in a broader reflection of government as a whole. Local government represents government in all our communities. In that context, the so-called service delivery protests have become part and parcel of our democratic form of expression. We invite the hon Minister to work with us when going to municipalities to address these challenges, so that we are indeed more integrated in our approach.
We also agree that the best mechanism to build confidence between the people and the municipalities is to address the priority issues of accelerating service delivery, promoting good governance, enhancing sound financial management, rolling out infrastructure development and effective maintenance and intensifying the fight against corruption.
How best do we fight corruption at our local level? In terms of sound service management and good governance, this is critically important and it is a precondition for effective service delivery. The financial viability of various municipalities is a critical issue and we certainly want to repeat our call for the comprehensive review of the broader fiscal framework and vertical division. The review is needed to address the fundamental structural challenges, rather than introducing the minor ad hoc adjustments. Municipalities have been and continue to be grossly underfunded to perform the -big five| functions.
It is our confident hope that the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, as announced by the Minister, will not become another stop- gap measure but will support medium-capacity and smaller-capacity municipalities to improve their own technical capacity to operate and maintain infrastructure, as well as borrowing and investing in infrastructure. It is a reality that the country is not producing enough technical skills to manage technical services. The development of the necessary capacity- building initiatives and learning opportunities is critical if we are to make local government the employer of choice. It is correct that our Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency, Misa, should be our success.
While strengthening ward committees is important, it must not be seen as the be-all and end-all of public participation. Ward committees are but one vehicle for facilitating public participation, not a panacea for accommodating our active citizenry ideals. We remain committed to developing and encouraging integrated and holistic public participation approaches at local level, so that the municipal inhabitants indeed become active participants in the decisions and programmes that directly affect them. I ntiyiso ha amukela na ku khensa, Holobye, loko mi vulavula hi mhaka ya Community Work Programme, CWP, leyi humelelaka eka timasipala ta lomu hi tshamaka kona. I ntiyiso mhaka ya 1 miliyoni ya mitirho leyi lavekaka yi ta humelela. (Translation of Xitsonga paragraph follows.)
[It is true we accept and appreciate, Minister, when you speak about the issue of the Community Work Programme, CWP, that it is happening in our local municipalities. It is true that the issue of 1 million jobs required will be realised.]
In his speech, Minister Sexwale gave a broad overview of the sector. As local government, we wish to highlight two important subjects of primary interest to us. The first is the assignment of the housing function to six metros and the second is the Finance-Linked Individual Subsidy Programme, Flisp. These two programmes represent new approaches that will fundamentally shift how government interacts with the housing and property market, and how government better organises itself to scale up and deliver more efficiently. In short, these two developments are game-changers for the Human Settlements sector.
In his state of the nation address in February 2012, President Zuma announced an extended Flisp policy that pushes the eligibility threshold up to households earning R15 000 per month and expanded the maximum subsidy available to R87 000. Flisp has now become a smarter programme with greater potential to make a positive contribution in the gap market.
Your average teacher, blue-collar worker, policeman and nurse can combine the subsidy with the bond to purchase a new house in one of the accredited projects across the country, or to buy an existing house in the secondary property market. The Flisp budget for the 2013-14 financial year stands at R165 million and is estimated to benefit about 3 250 applicants. It is a marked increase from previous years but still falls far short of what is required.
We therefore implore the national departments and provinces to apply resources to build awareness and take-up of the Flisp programme country- wide and to continue expending the energy to manage and monitor its rapid scale-up. However, two problems persist. The first is the poor credit records of many households and the second is the reality that many of our people are still unemployed. Not only does one need income to access Flisp but one needs steady formal employment, backed up with a regular payslip. While we work with renewed energy to address the gap market and expand affordable rental housing opportunities, we must also remember that these initiatives are only successful as long as the economy grows and people are able to access formal employment.
The second major game-changer in the Human Settlements sector is the move to accredit municipalities and assign the housing function to six metros this year. We applaud the leadership and effort the Minister has demonstrated in pushing this initiative forward. This commitment to achieving targets on assignment and accreditation reinforces the importance of assignment in achieving integrated and sustainable human settlements.
With assignment and accreditation, built environment functions will be more fully centralised at the local government level. This is in keeping with international practice. Cities around the world are responsible for providing houses and managing and properly planning their urban areas. By putting these powers in the hands of the sphere of government closest to the communities, we ensure that local government can proactively plan for urban challenges such as migration instead of only reactively providing emergency services to slum areas. The targeted provision of support and capacity by provinces and the national department to these municipalities will be vital to the success of assignment and accreditation.
Hon Minister, we must not stop there. Assignment of the housing function must be progressively implemented to other metros and major secondary cities. In many instances, these secondary cities are as well equipped, and they stand ready to implement the full housing function. The chicken- and-egg dilemma of a lack of capacity should not be used to slow down the incremental devolution of the housing function. In conclusion, we are committed to working with the two departments to ensure an integrated approach to service delivery and that the developmental vision of local government is realised. Let us support the Ministers in the implementation of these two Votes and forge stronger partnerships with our provincial partners in addressing service delivery gaps.
We trust that the departments will take these issues into account as we roll out the various support programmes for local government. As Salga, we appreciate being part of this particular co-operative partnership and look forward to influencing its outcomes positively.
Ndzi khensa ndzi vuyelela. Inkomu. Khanimambo. [Va phokotela.] [Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.] [Applause.]]