RAISING ISSUES AT THE NCOP SALGA highlighted the importance of young people participating in municipal Integrated Development Planning (IDP) processes.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) – one of the two Houses of Parliament – is mandated to look after provincial interests.
Even as we head towards the next local government dispensation, SALGA continues its important work of making important representations to parliament, regarding issues that affect its members, writes Rodney Weidemann
C
ouncillor Thembi Nkadimeng, SALGA president, recently addressed the NCOP Budget and Fiscal Oversight Workshop on the issue of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the role of parliament in the oversight of the budget. She pointed out that despite its pivotal role, local government was the last sphere to be considered and conceptualised during the formation of the current government structure. This has left it lagging behind the other two spheres, aptly demonstrated by the ongoing debate on the powers and functions of municipalities, the vertical allocation of finances from the fiscus and the continuing refinement of systems and policies affecting this sphere. The key question remaining is how do we bring about stability, capacity, institutional resilience, good governance, better resourcing and improved service delivery? Nkadimeng suggests that although most municipalities have established Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs), these are mostly undercapacitated and under-resourced – led by junior councillors, and most of their oversight recommendations have no binding effect and no follow-through or execution. SALGA proposed that as parliament was processing amendments to the Structures Act, that it also legislate the role of MPACs and fast-track it to formalise the role of MPACs so that they can play an effective oversight role.
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YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND DEVELOPMENT During the NCOP debate on Youth Month, SALGA once again raised the issue of youth unemployment. Despite government’s fairly considerable efforts, the country’s youth remain frustrated and consequently struggle with accessing tertiary education and economic opportunities. These challenge has been further compounded by COVID-19. Therefore, SALGA was keen to note some of the initiatives implemented by municipalities to expand youth development skills. These include: offering bursaries in line with the developmental needs of municipalities, prioritising youth from impoverished families; skills training workshops in partnership and linking to relevant Sectoral Education and Training Authorities (SETAs); and establishing a business advice and career guidance service, as well as literacy and reading development programmes. Other initiatives have focused on providing capacity-building for nonprofit and community-based organisations that render social programmes to the youth of the specific municipality; assisting in facilitating the flow of information for job seekers, especially first-time job seekers to access information about real jobs placement, linking tertiary-educated youth to job agencies seeking
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more targeted skills; and a drive for youth entrepreneurship to redirect youngsters towards becoming job creators instead of job seekers. Finally, SALGA highlighted the importance of young people participating in municipal Integrated Development Planning (IDP) processes so that youth interests can be effectively included in the goals, strategies, projects, and budgets of municipalities.
WATER BOARD PROPOSED TARIFFS SALGA undertook a review of the various water boards’ proposed tariffs for 2021/22. To determine whether the tariffs proposed by each water board were justified, SALGA took into consideration that bulk water tariff increases are required to ensure that water boards remain financially sustainable. However, this absolutely must be balanced with the need for affordability to municipalities and end-users. SALGA will continue to raise concerns about how water boards are driving tariff increases that are deemed to be excessive, particularly in respect of staff costs. Tariff increases awarded on this basis tend to disincentivise water board efficiency. Overall, the tariff increases requested by water boards have not been as high as some requested previously. It is SALGA’s view that those water boards that have adequately and realistically appraised the impact of their operating environment on their financial models and have considered the interests of their municipal customers, have proposed the most reasonable tariff increases. This year, where SALGA found the provisions for increasing input costs to be excessive, the organisation proposed adjustments. SALGA has developed a tariff assessment tool, which enables the computing of tariffs by changing assumptions. The tariff assessment tool also aims to standardise tariff input information by water boards over time. SALGA is pleased to report that it has met with the Department of Water, as well as National Treasury, to discuss ways it can effectively incorporate the tool into the processes of the 2022/23 tariff cycle. ▪
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