1 strategic planning workshop portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs...

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STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOPPORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON

COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES OF THE MUNICIPAL DEMARCATION BOARD AND OTHER ISSUES

Landiwe J Mahlangu Chairperson: MDB Nondumiso Gwayi Deputy Chairperson: MDB Hillary R Monare Chief Executive Officer

06 August 2009

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REPRESENTATION AND DOCUMENTS

● From the Board: Mr L Mahlangu – Chairperson: Municipal Demarcation Board Ms N Gwayi – Deputy Chairperson: Municipal Demarcation Board Mr RH Monare – Chief Executive Officer

● Documents Tabled: MDB Strategic Plan 2009 -2013 Circular 3/2009

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OVERVIEW

The Board Strategic Themes, Key Outputs and Measurable Objectives Strategic Theme/Priority 1: Facilitate accountable local government,

contribute to free and fair local elections and promote democracy. Strategic Theme/Priority 2: Determination and Re-determination of

Municipal Boundaries. Strategic Theme/Priority 3: Assessment of the Capacity of District and Local

Municipalities. Strategic Theme/Priority 4: Board is supported by an effective and efficient

organisational structure. Strategic Theme/Priority 5: Ensuring Good Governance. Strategic Theme/Priority 6: Ensuring Sound Financial Management.

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OVERVIEW

Capacity of the Board: Budget for the MTEF Period 2009 to 2013.

Capacity of the Board: Expected other Income.

Suggested Areas for Policy and legislative Review

Enhancing the Stability of Municipalities

Enhance the Independence and effectiveness of the MDB

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THE BOARD

Current Board assumed office on 20 Feb 2009. The Board comprise of the following members:

Mr. Landiwe Mahlangu (Chairperson) Ms. Nondumiso Gwayi (Deputy Chair) Dr. Vuyo Mlokoti Khosi Tshililo Jeffrey Ramovha Prof. Nico Steytler Me. Wendy Ovens Mr. Ashraf Adam Mr. LD Tsotetsi Me. Lynelle John Me. Grace Castle

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STRATEGIC THEMES, KEY OUTPUTS AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES

Strategic Plan for the period 2009/10 -2012/13 approved by the Board. Plan identifies six strategic themes to focus and guide the organisation

over the next four financial years. The themes therefore represent our strategic priorities for the period, and

they are as follows:1. Facilitate accountable local government, contribute to free and fair

local elections and promote democracy.2. Determination and re-determination of municipal boundaries and

categorisation and re-categorisation of municipalities. 3. Assessment of the capacity of District and Local municipalities in

order to advise MECs for local government in their decision to adjust powers and functions between District and Local municipalities.

4. Ensuring that the Board is supported by an effective and efficient organisational structure.

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STRATEGIC THEMES, KEY OUTPUTS AND MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES

5. Ensuring that good governance arrangements remain in place at the Board.

6. Ensuring sound financial management.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 1: Facilitate accountable local government, contribute to free and fair local elections and promote democracy

By its delimitation of municipal wards, the Municipal Demarcation Board

creates the spatial environment within which citizens/voters can exercise

their basic rights, express themselves with respect to the councillors to be

elected, and local matters such as service delivery.

Ward delimitation must be done in terms of Local Government Municipal

Structures Act, 1998, in preparation for the 2011 local government elections.

The process requires action by key stakeholders.

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In terms of the Structures Act, 1998, the National Minister of Cooperative

Governance and Traditional Affairs must publish a formula for the

determination of the number of councillors.

This is followed by the actual determination of the number of councillors by

the MEC’s responsible for local government, the determination of the

number of wards by the Municipal Demarcation Board and then the

delimitation of ward boundaries by the Municipal Demarcation Board.

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The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has now

gazetted the formula for the determination of the number of councillors, by

Government gazette No 32407 of 15 July 2009.

As a result of the delay by the Minister the delimitation process is behind

schedule by some four months.

The next step - the determination of the number of councillors by the MEC

responsible for local government in a province – has become very urgent.

In this regard the Dept of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

has been requested to provide provinces with the voters roll that was used

for determining the formula – voters’ roll as on 12 February 2009, and this

has happened.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 1: Facilitate accountable Local government, contribute to free and fair local elections and promote democracy.

MDB requested MECs to prioritise the determination of the number of councillors, and to publish the numbers by 31 July 2009.

MDB also recommended to MECs that they keep the number of councillors for 2011 as closely as possible to the number of councillors determined in 2004 (for the 2006 local elections) and to deviate only where it is absolutely necessary and unavoidable.

By the morning of Monday 3 August 2009, four MECs – Free State, North West, Western Cape and Limpopo - had published their section 18(3) notices.

MDB has now released a circular (No 3/2009) to provide information on the new ward delimitation programme, and information and guidelines for participation in the ward delimitation process.

A more localised process is envisaged but some municipalities may require assistance.

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In view of the time lost, the MDB has revised its programme.

The original programme envisaged that the formula and number of

councillors would have been gazetted by the end of March 2009, and that

the ward delimitation process would commence in April 2009.

The original programme would have allowed some 17 months for the MDB

to delimit some 4000 wards, and some 6 months for elections matters

requiring the attention of the IEC and the Minister.

Importantly, the original programme was based on a scenario where

the Minister would declare the date of 02 March 2011, as the elections

date .

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 1: Facilitate accountable Local government, contribute to free and fair local elections and promote democracy

However the process has been delayed by some four months. Compliance with the original programme and preparations for the elections

is thus no longer feasible, and a revised programme, based on an alternative scenario, has thus become necessary.

The revised programme’s timeframes indicate that the MDB will hand final ward boundaries to the IEC by the end of September or beginning of October 2010, instead of the original date of the end of August 2010.

However the IEC has indicated that they need to have the final ward boundaries by 1 September 2010, to ensure that they are able to deliver a successful election.

Thus in an attempt to make up for lost time, and to strive towards handing to the IEC by 1 September 2010, the Board will adopt a staggered approach to the delimitation process.

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Wards will be delimited as and when the MDB receives the number of councillors from MECs.

Municipalities in provinces that published the number of councillors first, will thus have more time for local consultations.

An arrangement has been entered into with the IEC to pass on to them the ward boundaries as we finalise them for each province, so that they can start working on issues such as split VDs.

It has also been submitted to the Minister that a March 2011 election date is no longer possible.

A proposal has thus been made to the Minister for an election date as late as possible but before 1 June 2011 to remain within the 90 day period.

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REVISED TIMEFRAMES

Phase Action Responsibility Timeframe

Phase 1

(Preparations)

Publication of formulae for the number of councillors

Minister 15 July 2009

Publication of number of councillors

MECs By 31 July 2009

Calculation of the number of wards

MDB 3 August 2009

Phase 2

(Local Consultations

Mapping of Wards (Rolling process)

MDB August to December 2009

Provision of wards to municipalities (Rolling Process)

MDB

Consultations between municipalities and local stakeholders within municipal areas

Municipalities/Ward Committees/Provinces/

CDWs/Traditional Leaders/other stakeholders

Closing date for submission of municipal proposals to MDB

Municipalities 18 December 2009

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REVISED TIMEFRAMES


Phase 2

(Local Consultations)

Municipalities register need for meeting with MDB

Municipalities 18 December 2009

Phase 3 (Visits to Municipalities)

Visits to municipalities to deal with cases where no local consensus on ward boundaries could be reached.

MDB/Municipalities January to March 2010

Closing date for final submissions

Municipalities 2 April 2010

Phase 4 (Legal Process)

Prepare Map Set 2 for objections

MDB April to May 2010

Ward boundaries gazetted in provincial gazettes for objections

MDB/General Public/ All Stakeholders

June to October 2010

Consideration of objections, and possible public hearings.

MDB Delimitation Committees

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REVISED TIMEFRAMES


Phase 4 (Legal Process)

Publication of Final Wards

MDB June to October 2010

Handover of final wards to the IEC

MDB/IEC

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 2: Determination and re-determination of municipal boundaries and Categorisation and re-

categorisation of municipalities

• Involves a continuous interactive process of reconfiguration and alignment of municipal boundaries.

• For the years 2009/10 and 2010/11, there will be no re-determination of municipal boundaries. Re-determinations were suspended at the end of August 2008.

• This is to create stability in order for preparations for the next local government elections in 2011 to proceed without hindrance.

• Board’s priority to work closely with other organs of state dealing with boundary issues. Board must work on an ongoing basis with institutions such as the Provincial Departments of Local Government, Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC), Statistics SA (StatsSA) , CSIR, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and others.

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• One of the important areas in which the Board plans to continue working closely with CoGTA, Rural Development and Land Reform, Water and Environmental Affairs and the Provincial Departments of Local Government/Cooperative Governance is an endeavour to create a credible set of boundaries for traditional areas, a project being led by CoGTA.

• Another area of work is with respect to assisting the Department of Justice & CD and the South African Police Service, to finalise the alignment of the boundaries of magisterial districts and police areas to municipal boundaries.

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• In 2008, the Board decided to re-determine municipal boundaries so as to allow for: The disestablishment of Metsweding District Municipality in Gauteng

and the local municipalities within its area, and the inclusion of parts of the Metsweding area into Tshwane and Ekhurhuleni metros.

The reconfiguration of Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape, by excluding Buffalo City local municipality from the district municipality, and re-categorising the municipality, with its current municipal boundary, into a metro.

The reconfiguration and disestablishment of Motheo District Municipality in the Free State, by excluding Mangaung local municipality from the district municipality, and re-categorising the municipality, with its current municipal boundary, into a metro.

The exclusion of Mbizana and Ntabankulu Local Municipalities from OR Tambo District Municipality and their inclusion into Alfred Nzo District Municipality.

The withdrawal of the declarations of all district management areas in South Africa, and the inclusion of the DMA areas into local municipalities.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 3: Assessment of the

capacity of District and Local municipalities

To provide quality annual assessment of Municipal Capacity and recommendations to MEC’s responsible for local government regarding adjustment of powers and functions.

To prevent ad hoc assessments, the MDB has thus far done capacity assessments on an annual basis

The purpose of the assessments is to empower MECs to adjust functions between district and local municipalities

The MEC may only adjust a function where a municipality lacks the capacity to perform a function

Once an adjustment has been made the MEC must regularly review the capacity of the affected municipalities, and re-adjust a function with the concurrence of the receiving municipality

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 3: Assessment of the

capacity of District and Local municipalities

Process involves: Gathering of data for all district and local municipalities; Collected data fully analysed and ready for report writing by end October

of each year; Issue 46 district reports including 231 local municipalities by December

of each year. Issue nine provincial and one national report by end of March each year.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 3: Assessment of the capacity of District and Local municipalities: Issues

We however want to raise a number of issues with respect to the annual assessment of municipal capacity going into the future.

In terms of section 85 of the Structures Act, the Board must consider the capacity of a municipality: when it determines or re-determines a municipal boundary; When so requested by an MEC for local government.

There are a number of developments that have arisen over the last seven years, that require us to consider other options to the current arrangement of assessments on an annual basis.

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The following are some of the developments: MECs do not implement the MDB recommendations on an annual basis. No MEC has ever requested the MDB for a full assessment of a

municipality. Ongoing annual adjustments have negative impact on the stability of

municipalities and service delivery in general. Poor/disappointing implementation of annual adjustments in time. For example, with respect to the 2004/05 municipal capacity

assessments and recommendations to MECs. the NW province adjusted in May 2005, only 2 months before the

beginning of the financial year. The EC adjusted in July 2005. KZN adjusted in September 2005, two months after the financial had

begun

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Resultant negative effects on IDP reviews, municipal budgeting, staff , infrastructure and also impact on regional coordination of projects and activities both at district and local level.

MDB has already made some strong arguments in the past, for the suspension of section 85 of the Structures Act, for various reasons which include fiscal issues.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 4: Board is supported by aneffective and efficient organisational structure.

Our priority is to:

Continuously build the capacity of the Board’s internal machinery.

Streamline internal systems and processes to improve operational

efficiency, flexibility and work prioritisation.

Have Skilled, well-led and experienced staff.

Develop stronger relationships with Government and other state

agencies, data providers, data users and citizens.

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There are a number of internal challenges that the Board faces in its quest to fulfil its mandate.

These challenges are with respect to how we at the Board would like to structure the organisation better operationally, to enhance its pursuance of its mandate.

The challenges include: The need to identify critical skills and to make special arrangements to

retain them. Lack of opportunity of individual growth due to flat structure The need to develop a profile for the Board. This involves working out what

we want the Board to be known for, over and above its legislated mandate. The need to increase the visibility of the Board in a sustainable way.

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Flight of human resources, particularly GIS experts.

Inadequate and inappropriate funding from the fiscus.

Conflicting legislation (Demarcation Act, Section 23).

Optimising skills of board members without compromising governance

principles.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 5: Ensuring good governance

Strategic Theme 5: Ensuring Good Governance. Compliance with legal frameworks. Efficient and effective administrative processes and systems. Improvement of the quality and usage of management information. Planning and execution of activities within budget. Effective management of risks. Effective leadership, management and decision-making. External auditing; Improve effectiveness of the internal audit function, by ensuring full

compliance to Treasury Regulations regarding Internal Audit methodology;

Formulate and review policies and procedures.

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STRATEGIC THEME/PRIORITY 6: Ensuring sound financial management

Strategic Theme 6: Ensuring Sound Financial Management Effective management of working capital. Prepare and manage short and long term budgets. Control costs consistently.

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CAPACITY OF THE BOARD: BUDGET FOR THE MTEF PERIOD 2009 TO 2013

Amounts in Rand* Beyond MTEF

Item 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013

Total budgeted expenditure

35 865 000 44 457 000 32 229 000 33 897 000*

2008 MTEF Allocation

34 801 000 37 563 000 39 817 000 33 580 000 *

Variance (Deficit) / Surplus

(604 000) (6 549 000) 7 953 000 0

% Variance (Deficit) / Surplus

(2%) (17%) 20% 0%

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CAPACITY OF THE BOARD: EXPECTED OTHER INCOME

Items 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013

Revenue – Maps 85 000 95 000 105 000 112 875

Interest Income 375 000 250 000 260 000 204 250

Total 460 000 345 000 365 000 317 125

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Suggested Areas for Policy and Legislative Review

The need to enhance the stability of municipalities at local level for development and improved service delivery

Enhance the independence and effectiveness of MDB

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Enhancing the Stability of Municipalities

Fixing the number of wards/councillors in line with the Parliament and

Provincial Legislatures

Asymmetrical ward and proportional representative councillors to ensure

optimal balance between democracy and development

Review the criteria for ward delimitation to make it more “developmental”

Synchronisation of Ward and Municipal boundary changes

Reconsider the Voting district as the only building blocks wards

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Enhance the independence and effectiveness of MDB

Amend the Constitution to specifically list the MDB as a constitutional

institution to be consistent with PFMA to enhance its independence.

Consolidate all functions of MDB under one Act to minimise conflict and

inconsistency. Currently MDB functions and mandate is found in Municipal

Demarcation Act, and Municipal Structures Act.

Structure and where necessary legislate for consultation and public

participation

Specify roles and function of full time MDB members

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QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

1 strategic planning workshop portfolio committee on cooperative governance and traditional affairs...

Documents

local municipalities

accountable local government

local matters

mdb strategic plan

fair local elections

key outputs

capacity of district

sound financial management