Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

(1)      Yes, the Department of Local Government has over many years built strong partnerships with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and various stakeholders in the training field, focussing on capacity building of officials and councillors. These partnerships have resulted in development of both accredited and informal councillor training programmes.

Capacitation of councillors was rolled-out over three phases as follows:

Phase 1: Focussed on the National Induction Programme for Councillors.

Phase 2: Accredited councillor training, which was facilitated by the Department in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. This phase was funded by a donor partner, the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

The accredited training programme consisted of nine modules, which included the following:

• Rules of Procedure: Conduct at Meetings of a Municipal Council
• The Role of the Councillor in Procurement
• Oversight in Local Government
• Delegation of Powers in Local Government
• The Constitutional Mandate of Local Government
• The Law Governing Decisions and Decision-making in Local Government
• Code of Conduct for Councillors: Procedures for Disciplinary Hearings and Investigations
• The Roles and Responsibilities of Municipal Councillors in terms of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA)
• The Role of the Speaker and Mayor in Local Government

This phase of councillor training was rolled-out post the 2011 Local Government elections and has resulted in a total of 1481 training incidences for councillors registering for this training programme.

Phase 3: Structured information sessions to enlighten councillors on the functional areas and responsibilities of stakeholders were rolled-out during the 2012/13 financial year. These information sessions were facilitated  by the Department of Local Government in partnership with Sector Departments in the Western Cape Province, the Auditor General and SALGA. One accredited training module on the role of councillors and officials within the MFMA was also presented. A total of 973 training incidences for councillors were registered and key officials also attended some of the training sessions.

The number of councillors participating in the above-mentioned training programmes is an indication that there is an appetite from councillors to attend the above-mentioned training programmes.

The relevance of this training has necessitated municipalities in the province to request a repeat of specific modules for newly appointed councillors. Furthermore, the Department of Local Government, in collaboration with the Department of the Premier and the Hanns Seidel Foundation has played a pro-active role in identifying the need for refresher training; hence five modules were repeated during 2014, which resulted in 231 councillors being registered on the programme.

Leading up to the 2016 Local Government elections, the Department has pro-actively commenced with the development of the 2016-2018 Councillor Training Programme. The aforementioned training programme will be refined to include two new modules on Communication and Public Participation, as well as the role of councillors as Commissioner of Oaths, in addition to the previous modules that will be consolidated into seven modules.

A Local Government Training Steering Committee oversees the integrated and coordinated approach on training rolled-out to municipalities in the Western Cape.

(2)      Yes, the content of the aforementioned councillor training programme was facilitated through the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, which is an accredited Higher Education Institution. The nine modules were all accredited and were pitched at NQF level 7 (at the level of a BA Degree or equivalent qualification). The planned programme for roll-out during 2016 to 2018 will also be facilitated by an accredited Higher Education Institution.