Presentation to President Thabo Mbeki
Western Cape Provincial Imbizo 2007
Helen Zille
Executive Mayor of Cape Town
22 July 2007
Contents
1
Background
2
Local Government Responsibilities
3
Organisational Stability
4
Performance Review – Management Efficiency
5
IDP – Infrastructure Led Economic Growth
6
Local Economic Development
7
Housing and Basic Services
8
Key Programmes and Projects
9
2010 Soccer World Cup
10
Good Governance
11
Blockages
12
Conclusion
Background and context of this report
December 2005
Municipal Imbizo
1 March 2006
New Multi-Party Coalition Government
March 2006 to Present
Internal Focus on Organisational Stability
IDP Focus on Infrastructure Led Economic Growth
July 2007
Provincial Imbizo
Local Government’s Core Mandate
Local Government Responsibilities
The core functions that Local Government must
perform are set out in the following documents:
-
Local
Chapter 7, ss156 of the Constitution Powers and Functions of Municipalities
Part B of Schedules 4 and 5 of the
Constitution
Local Government Legislation
IGR Framework Act
Constitution
Local Government is also guided by:
-
White Papers
Programmes of Action
National
Province
1 March 2006
New Government Elected
Initial Focus on Organisational Stability
Legacy of 7 municipalities not properly realigned into 1 following formation of
Unicity in 2000
City initiated Organisational Realignment Project
- Executive Management Team aligned with Mayco portfolio structure
- Placement of 21 500 employees into 1 realigned organisational structure
with basic parity based on benchmark grades, salary scale & conditions of
service
- Reversing exodus of skills by proactively filling critical vacancies – So far
1800 new appointments made, 1200 to follow in year ahead
Focus for next 3 years
- to become internally efficient, to improve service delivery and to streamline
transactions with customers (businesses and general public)
Performance Review
Performance Review - Overview
Improved Balance Sheet
Improved Operational
Management
Recent Credit Rating upgrade: from A+long term / A1 short term to AAlong term / A1+ short term – the highest in South Africa next to Ekurhuleni
Extensive debt management campaign has reduced outstanding debt
owed to the City by R417 million
Improved capital expenditure in 2006/07 highest so far in Unicity ( 77%)
2010 stadium will be substantially complete by end of 2009
Procurement time reduced from 14 weeks to 8 weeks
Improved Services to the
Poor
Establishment of Indigent Register (budget for free basic services over
R400million)
100% rebates on rates to those registered as indigent and over 100,000
properties valued under R88,000.
R1,5 billion debt written off, mostly to the poor
Improved Perception Rating
for Cape Town
Rated No. 1 Long-Haul Conference Destination in UK’s Meetings,
Incentives, Conferences and Events international survey
Rated No. 1 City in Middle East/Africa Region and No.10 globally by US
Travel & Leisure Magazine
IDP focus: Infrastructure Led Economic Growth
Core objective is to increase public investment in municipal infrastructure and
services to lead economic growth and job creation
City implemented above-inflation increase in rates and service charges for new
infrastructure and to address service delivery backlogs, especially in sewerage,
electricity and transport infrastructure
Sustained under-investment in key infrastructure needs to be corrected
Capital budget therefore increased from R2.5bn (2006/2007) to R4bn
(2007/2008)
Operating Budget increased to ensure City has capacity to spend capital
budget (especially to fund maintenance and filling of critical vacancies)
Local Economic Development
Improve access to ICT by establishing Municipal Broadband Network (R400m business
plan currently under discussion)
Already established 4 Digital Business Centres to extend small business access to IT and
Web (Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Langa)
Improve SMME access to finance through Business Place; joint public/private sector
initiative (including Investec, Umsobomvu Youth Fund) with R2,1m loan funding granted
in last 12 months
Continued focus on internal efficiency, reducing transaction turnaround time and reducing
red tape (guided by WESGRO’s investment constraints review)
Build partnerships in Tourism to create labour intensive economic opportunities
Housing and Basic Services
Housing backlog in city: housing database currently contains around 400 000 applicants
With limited resources in context of massive scale of need, our focus is on provision of basic services
and an incremental approach to housing provision
City accelerated provision of housing opportunities –
2003/04 1 808 housing opportunities
2004/05 3 469 housing opportunities
2005/06 4 585 housing opportunities
2006/07 7 530 housing opportunities
Informal Settlements Master Plan sets out framework for provision of services & upgrading of all 226
informal settlements around City. Completion of phase 1(essential services) within 2 years.
Rate of housing delivery constrained by:
Land shortage for housing: 8,750 hectares required
Delays in Housing Accreditation for Cape Town
EIA, TIA and other legislative processes – It currently takes between 18 to 24 months to release
land before a housing project can start
Key Programmes & Projects
Presidential Urban Renewal Programme:
-
Continued progress on key anchor projects as well as the eight projects being
implemented as part of Project Consolidate
Funding issues with regard to certain projects (e.g. Budgeted funds late or not yet
available for Lentegeur Public Transport Interchange & Station Upgrade)
Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP):
-
Well established and mainstreamed, 10 817 jobs created to date
City’s draft policy to guide employment of people from community within EPWP presently
being debated in Committee system of Council - policy became necessary to counter
irregularities arising from patronage in selection of workers
2010 Soccer World Cup
2010 stadium will be substantially complete by end of 2009
Critical risk:
- exposure to excessive price increases from construction industry with serious
capacity problems
- demanding timelines are being closely managed
2010 Joint Host City Transport Plan in being implemented
As part of World Cup:
- Green Point common area is being redeveloped into consolidated sports precinct
& urban park
- 23 public viewing spaces being established (one in each sub-council)
Good Governance
Provincial Imbizo & IDP Workshops: Various Provincial Imbizo & IDP Public-, SubCouncil- & Ward workshops held for public to identify their local & metropolitan priorities
-
Problem: Need for better coordination between City and Province as
times/programmes of the Provincial Imbizo process clashed with City’s IDP public
participation
Ward Forums: City is implementing ward forums to facilitate participation by local
communities. In this regard, the City is exercising its discretion as granted by Section 72
of the Municipal Structures Act
Strengthening of Institutions: CTRU, Wesgro and other agencies to improve
governance. Performance review of CTRU showed failure to meet required standards.
Engagement between City and CTRU is ongoing.
Critical Challenges
Blockages
Housing - biggest constraint is access to well-located land for incremental
housing development – will be facilitated by:
- Making available state-owned land for affordable housing (e.g.
Culemborg, Youngsfield, Ysterplaat)
- Provision of funding by Dept of Land Affairs will assist acquisition of land
for housing. City has not had response to repeated requests in this
regard.
Housing - delay in granting City Phase 1 of housing accreditation is limiting
capacity to accelerate housing delivery (backlog of approximately 400 000
grows by 16,000 per year – we must therefore create over 16,000
opportunities per year to reduce backlog)
Housing - Development & investment will be facilitated by reducing ‘red tape’
with respect to planning legislation & EIA / housing subsidy applications
Blockages (continued)
Budget - implementation of projects and expenditure of budget can be improved through:
- better alignment of planning & budgeting processes of all spheres, including SOEs
- speedier transfer of funding
- review of supply chain management regulations
- Issue of unfunded mandates critical & requires urgent resolution by Provincial &
National Government
Electricity – Problems around electricity provision by ESKOM – delays in electricity
provision in Eskom supply areas
Safety and Security – Important that organisational structures set out in National Drug
Master Plan adhered to by Province and City so that roles / responsibilities within spheres
of government are clearly defined and two spheres can co-ordinate
Conclusion
City made substantial progress to ensure that foundations of service delivery
are firmly in place
Focus in terms of 2007/08 IDP & Budget is on infrastructure-led economic
growth for job creation
Room for improvement of co-operative governance – in many areas our role as
local government would be greatly facilitated through better coordination
between spheres of government
City is committed to intergovernmental processes within its constitutional
mandate
Enkosi
Thank you
Dankie