Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela says her office will partner with state organs such as the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) to address backlogs that hinder service delivery in municipalities.

Madonsela said her office had identified municipalities as the biggest area of intervention.

"We want to focus on systemic interventions because poor service delivery on its own is just a symptom of a system failure. We want to attend to the bottlenecks in the systems that result in poor delivery of services," she said on Monday.

She said most of the complaints received by her office in the Northern Cape related to basic services provided at municipal level such as low cost housing and water.

While most state organs in the province co-operated with investigators, Madonsela said her office will arrange meetings with heads of institutions that were still problematic with the aim of ironing out challenges and enter into memorandums of understanding to enhance co-operations.

In the event of non co-operation, which remains one of the biggest challenges for her office, Madonsela said she would go the subpoena route.

"A subpoena is not a declaration of aggression but simply a constitutional mechanism given to us to deal with non-responding organs of state," she said, adding that the Public Protector, like courts, has the power to subpoena people to assist in the investigative processes. 

BuaNews


Blue overalls on; thick white gloves on; begin work – the acting municipal manager, Vusumuzi Mavuso, swapped his desk for the street to get to grips with Buffalo City's over-burdened dump sites and uncollected refuse.
Early on Thursday, 4 February he was hands-on as 14 trucks from the City's solid-waste management section were dispatched to three problematic areas – Duncan Village, Quigney and Vincent. Six trucks were sent to Duncan Village, four each to the other suburbs.

Buffalo City plans to eradicate the litter on its streets and pavements over the next two months and says that problem areas will be assessed every weekend. The initiative was announced at a regular morning session with shop stewards, supervisors, drivers and team leaders.

Speaking at one of Duncan Village's refuse collection points, Mavuso said: "After seeing the refuse around the areas, in Duncan Village especially, I now have a good sense of what needs to be done."

The inadequate sanitation needed to be addressed urgently as it was affecting the dignity of the people of Duncan Village, he added. On a visit to the municipal public ablution facilities in the area, his frown indicated that he was not impressed.

"We need to find a better way of doing this – even if it's replacing these facilities with chemical ablutions, but the situation here is not acceptable for people."

Mavuso mucked in with waste management workers and cleaned up each refuse collection point in Duncan Village; and his dissatisfaction was clear at each stop. "People tend to dump everywhere – even in areas that are not suitable. It's causing a backlog in the waste management section."

But it was not all doom and gloom – while walking the streets of Duncan Village, Mavuso acknowledged the good work being done by the street sweepers and praised them for their role in cleaning the suburb.

Recent discussions with unions about staff shortages, unreliable workers and the dysfunctional waste collection system prompted him to get involved. "During these discussions I heard that [there were] serious problems with the refuse system they were currently using, which were caused by poor communication between employee and manager.

"The Office of the Municipal Manager changed that and opened the lines of communication between management and employees … [that is why] we are here today."

Mavuso is hopeful that this initiative will help to restore the city's dignity and boost municipal administration.

"The current plan is that management meets with employees at least once a quarter and at other monthly engagements with representatives in order to deal with problems as they happen,” he said.

The article is courtesy of www.buffalocity.gov.za
By Tabisa Mntengwana
5 February 2010

iLGM hosted a breakfast session on "Planning sustainable infrastructure development using alternative service delivery methodologies" on 24 February 2010 at the Woodmead Country Club in Johannesburg.

A presentation was delivered by Andrė Kruger of Absa Public Sector Banking

Andre Kruger has been a banker for most of his career working in the corporate banking sphere as well as specialising in the provision of banking services to the public sector in Southern Africa. Mr. Kruger focused on alternative service delivery (ASD) including public private partnership (PPP) projects for the last number of years. Mr. Kruger specialises in the conceptualisation of major infrastructure transactions and the subsequent formation of private sector consortiums that tender for PPP and ASD infrastructure transactions.

Andre Kruger completed his MBA studies at the University of Pretoria. He also completed an Advanced Credit programme at Chase Manhattan Bank, and an advanced Project Finance programme by Euromoney and an International Banking programme at Lloyds Bank.


Women’s Conference and Business Exhibition

The iLGM Women's Conference and Business Exhibition takes place from 25-26 March 2010 at the Umhlathuze Local Municipality Civic Centre in Richards Bay. The iLGM National Executive Council invites all the top leading women in local government as well as female leaders in the private sector to attend.

Please click here for detailed information.


The year started well for the iLGM with a presentation to COGTA by iLGM NEC member Mr Abram Luruli, on the draft Disciplinary Code and Procedures for Senior Mangers. Messrs Luruli and Vice President Luzuko Mdunyelwa prepared the inputs during December, and we owe them a big word of thanks for the time and effort put into the presentation. Our delegation was received by a group of about 20 COGTA officials and our inputs were well received and debated.

At the iLGM AGM the meeting approved a range of new services from the iLGM ranging from a legal hotline to mentoring services. Some details are provided on the website, as well as an online form allowing one to access the services.

Our new closed online workgroup platform for municipal managers went live on the 29th of January and system invitations to join the group were sent out to around 220 municipal managers, that we have record of. The intention of this initiative is to create a virtual association where municipal managers can network, strategise and help form industry stances. If you are a municipal manager and you have not received an invitation please contact the secretariat and we will arrange accordingly.

Planning for the woman’s conference late in March in uMhlathuze is progressing smartly and you should have received registration forms by now. Initial commercial interest in the exhibition was also encouraging and we hope to bring members an excellent event in a great city. Sponsorship and exhibition enquires can be addressed to Marlindi at the secretariat on 011 789-1384.


Municipalities across the country have a lot to learn from the City of Johannesburg, according to the Mbombela Local Municipality executive mayor, Lassy Chiwayo.

Chiwayo led a delegation of Mbombela's mayoral committee members and portfolio managers to the city in a knowledge exchange visit, hosted by the Johannesburg Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, or Jike.

"Joburg is indeed a world-class city and we're looking forward to tapping into its experiences," he said.

Mbombela is in Mpumalanga province, to Joburg's east and incorporates the towns of White River and Nelspruit.

Johannesburg Executive Mayor Amos Masondo welcomed the visitors and had a protracted discussion with Chiwayo about local governance. "There are things that we pride ourselves on and that we can share with other municipalities," he said. "We are looking at greater things resulting from this interaction."

Chiwayo pointed out that he would send administrative teams from various council departments to gather more knowledge from Joburg, which had relevant lessons for Mbombela and other municipalities in South Africa and Africa. Learning from Joburg would help speed up service delivery.

"The City is a great eye-opener," he said. "We don't need to go abroad [to see how local government is run]. Joburg has relevant lessons for us."

Separation of power
In particular, the Mbombela delegation was impressed by Johannesburg's separation of power governance strategy. It allows to City to demarcate clearly the mandates of the political executive and the legislative functions of local government.

Masondo said the strategy played a critical role in helping execute the objectives of the City as mandated by the Constitution. It improved the relationship between councillors and administrators and allowed for accountability.

A pilot programme that has also been implemented by Emfuleni Local Municipality in the Vaal, Masondo announced that the Gauteng provincial government was busy introducing the separation of powers provincially.

"Our sense is that it needs to be rolled out in the province," said Johannesburg's City manager, Mavela Dlamini.

The strategy merges the Offices of the executive mayor and City manager to improve political and administrative interaction. It positions the City manager as the head of the Office of the Executive Mayor.

Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/4347/266/#ixzz0RiyhB4Kr


 

The City of Cape Town has won two national awards at the Annual Golden Key Awards ceremony administered and hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in conjunction with the Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC).

The award ceremony was held recently at the Emoyeni Conference Centre in Johannesburg. The City won the Best Municipality Award and the Best Deputy Information Officer Award in the Local Government category.

The Best Municipality Award was received for having the best strategy in the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000. The City's nomination was based on its integrated approach that includes:

    * the City Manager's decision to centralize access to information within the Legal Services Department
    * benchmarking the City against other public institutions
    * a continuous review of internal processes and systems
    * the use of the City website to provide access to information
    * provision of free access to the internet (an initiative of Smartcape via City Libraries)
    * the implementation of the Electronic Document and Records Management Systems, and
    * the implementation of the C3 notification complaints system

The Best Deputy Information Officer of the Year Award in the local government category was awarded to Ms Lulama Edith Gomomo, Manager of Statutory Compliance, for her initiatives and contributions in promoting openness and transparency in the field of access to information.

Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town
Media enquiries:
Lulama Edith Gomomo

South Africa has slipped four places from fifth position to ninth on the 2009 Index of African Governance largely due lower scores in the areas of respect for civil and political rights and the rule of law.

The Index of African Governance, produced at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, ranks all 53 African countries according to their ability to provide good governance for their inhabitants.

Mauritius, the Seychelles, Cape Verde and Botswana are the four best governed countries this year, while Tunisia, Ghana, Algeria, Namibia, South Africa, and Sao Tome and Principe round out the top ten best overall performers.

The bottom ten countries are Guinea, Zimbabwe, Angola, Eritrea, the Central African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo (Kinshasa), Chad, the Sudan, and Somalia.

Elsewhere in southern Africa, Lesotho is 23rd, Comoros 25th, Mozambique 31st. Swaziland is 42nd, down from 34th in 2008.

Nigeria is 38th, having moved up slightly since last year. In Central and East Africa, Malawi is 14th, Tanzania 20th, Zambia 24th, Rwanda 26th, Kenya 27th, and Uganda 28th.

The Index measures governance according to service delivery across five major categories of analysis: Safety and Security; Rule of Law, Transparency and Corruption; Participation and Human Rights; Sustainable Economic Opportunity; and Human Development.
 

iLGM Young Managers Forum was held at Umhlathuze Municipality on 29 & 30 July 2009, and the Gala Dinner was held at the beautiful Canefields Country House in Empangeni.

Municipal leaders were warmly welcomed by the City Manager of Umhlathuze Municipality, who emphasised the fact that there’s great hope for South Africans even under the current gloomy economic climate. He said we tend to ignore some of the good things that set us apart from other countries, like our good weather, which is excellent for tourism. He also stressed the importance of us having a good relationship with God, as Young Managers.

The Keynote address was then given by Mr Mnqayi, the Mayor of Umhlathuze Municipality. He alluded to the challenges Municipalities face, for example the skills shortage. He asked Young Managers to try and be innovative and think out of the Box. He also requested that Municipalities take a serious look at protests, such as the protests from communities on service delivery and added that they look at what the communities concerns are.  He also pointed out that officials within Local Government must stand their ground and guide politicians and must not execute requests from politicians that are against the Municipal Management Act.

He stressed that Young Managers need to be more responsible and must get out and visit the communities in which they operate. They need to understand the issues within their areas of operation and not just be office bound and sit under air-conditioned offices doing office work only. He encouraged Young Managers to work hard and to leave a good legacy behind. Managers must change things around and pride themselves in their achievements, which are easily measured through the Audit outcomes.

Talk from Chairperson of the KZN Chapter of the iLGM – Mr S’ya Nkehli
Mr Nkehli said Young Managers must really think of how the current Economic meltdown impacts on Local Government and find alternate plans to minimise the impact of the economic crisis on job losses, sustainability of service delivery within the Municipalities. He explained that communication was important, particularly with our communities. “We need to make sure we engage the communities on their needs and ensure that we’re delivering to them the needed services effectively,” he said.

He congratulated all the KZN Municipalities who have done very well in terms of Audit reports. He mentioned the good relationship iLGM has with the Department of Local Government and how the KZN Chapter would like to grow it from strength to strength.

Other talks included and covered the following topics:
- The importance of work ethics & good corporate Governance.
- Fraud & Corruption within Local Government and how to detect and prevent it.
- Talk on the Financial Management & Policies within Local Government by the CFO of Umhlathuze Municipality.

Gala Dinner
Deputy City Manager, Mr Nhleko, opened the proceedings who made us feel very welcomed in the City of Umhlathuze.
The Keynote address was made by the Honourable MEC, Willies Mchunu, who until recently, was MEC for Local Government & Traditional Affairs.  He touched on Government’s commitment to working closely with Municipal leaders, and emphasized the importance of communication between Municipalities and their communities, amongst other important things.

Around 20 delegates attended the iLGM workshop and panel discussion on “Local Government:  Supply chain management challenges” recently.

AMEU Affiliate member, BOB WALLIS opened the presentations with an overview of the Local Government Supply Chain Management Challenges faced by large and medium size suppliers.

In his presentation Bob outlined some of the procurement principles as well as the present challenges faced in the supply chain. These challenges included the lack of technical expertise and experience, inter department conflict, unrealistic budgetary processes and over standardised tender processes. On the positive side Bob suggested that local government look at empowering their personnel by technically training them and holding them accountable. He also suggested that an emphasis be placed on the engineering and financial issues and avoid over complication.

iLGM president, DUDU MASEKO  said that although there are problems within Supply Chain Management  people in local government should look at the 80% of the good they do, but also try to improve on the 20% of the issues that need attention.

She added that the role of iLGM was to serve as a platform for City managers to share experiences about some of the challenges they face and possible solutions.

LINDI BESTER, of the Johannesburg Roads Agency delivered a presentation on “Service Delivery Issues that can be related to Local Government Supply Chain Management Practices”. She also added that a collective way of dealing with the lack of skills was needed.

SANDILE NGCOBO, who serves as a Board Member of the Supply Chain Association, spoke on the “Regulatory Reform of Local Government Supply Chain Management”. After the workshop Sandile commented that the necessary work has been done accordingly and there was now a guideline in place in managing procurement, but it was now a matter of implementation.

HILDA NDIWENI, also of Johannesburg Roads Agency delivered her presentation on “System Issues preventing payment of suppliers and possible Regulatory Changes to streamlines this process”. She said local government was capable of turning the negative perception of government around, but it had to come off the paper and put into practice. Concerning the skills shortage Hilda said: “We should start with ourselves. We must challenge ourselves”.

The workshop appointed a committee to form an iLGM stance on Municipal Procurement Practices, needs and legislation.