Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Developmental Planning

1. (1) For the intervention that commenced on 31 July 2015 to be executed in terms of

section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution, the Administrator was required to ensure that the Municipal Council is enabled to take all and any decisions as may be necessary for the restoration of the proper executive functioning of the Municipal Council. Membership, including office-bearer positions was retained. The Administrator was furthermore tasked with the implementation of the Support and Good Governance Package proposed by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). The said intervention did however, not have the desired effect. The Provincial Executive consequently amended the terms of the intervention as from 28 September 2015 by vesting all executive authority of the Municipal Council in the Administrator for the remainder of the six month intervention period. In addition all accounting officer responsibilities now vest in the Administrator until such time that an acting municipal manager is appointed. Under the amended terms of the intervention, councillors also retained their membership but not their respective offices. The key interventions therefore, were the restoration of the functioning of Council and good governance. The COGTA requirements were linked hereto by the setting of the following objectives:

• Creating a functional and responsive municipality;
• Bringing the municipality to a state of normalcy;
• Conduct an audit of state of services in communities;
• Ensuring a sound financial management system and processes, and
• Regain the community’s trust.

2. With regard to the restoring of a functional Municipal Council, less emphasis is being placed on this aspect of the intervention, as the powers of Council are now vested in the Administrator. Nevertheless, the following work was completed within the earlier part of the intervention:

• Establishment of section 79 and 80 committees,
• Establishment of an MPAC committee,
• A disciplinary committee,
• Training of councillors on the functioning of committees including MPAC , and advice on legislative planning,
• A review of the Rules of Order.
• Training and capacitating of councillors on various subjects.

From a financial perspective, a process of identifying debtors was initiated and a committee of officials who monitors the cash-flow of the Municipality on a daily basis, was established under the guidance of the Administrator. Income, expenditure and cash-flow are strictly monitored.

From an administrative point of view, delegations to certain officials were withdrawn to prevent further ill-considered decisions in respect of legal and human resource matters. Arrangements were made towards the filling on an acting basis of the vacant posts of Director Technical Services, Chief Financial Officer and Municipal Manager. Appointment in acting positions has since been made in the posts of Director Technical Services and Chief Financial Officer whilst the appointment of an acting municipal manager is being consulted with the Minister for COGTA in line with the conditions of the intervention. The review of the current municipal staff establishment has been identified as a priority and the ground work for this process is currently under way with financial assistance from the Department of Local Government on a co-funding basis.

Municipal infrastructure and the particular challenges within the Municipality adversely impacting on service delivery to the community, are being addressed. In this regard an engineer from the Department of Local Government was seconded to assist the Municipality.

Community participation has been identified as an important building block to regain the trust of the community and measures are being put in place to deal therewith.

It must be emphasized that working towards the recovery of the Oudtshoorn Municipality by way of this intervention, is not limited to the work done by the Administrator and the Municipality but is indeed a joint effort between all three spheres of government.

3. As part of the intervention the Administrator will focus comprehensively on restoring good governance in the municipality in order for it to function within acceptable norms and standards. The focus will in particular but not exclusively be on the following:

• To commence with a comprehensive organisational review which will determine the mandate of the Municipality, the capacity required to give effect to that mandate, the appropriate placement of existing staff where possible and the recruiting of suitably qualified staff;
• The determining of outstanding debt and the making of suitable arrangements for repayment which would  both be affordable and sustainable for the Municipality;
• Dealing with all outstanding litigation by and against the Municipality;
• Improving infrastructure to ensure the effective delivery of municipal services, and
• Recommending options for a suitable management dispensation for the Cango Caves.

4. The Administrator was appointed for a period of six months which ends on 30 January 2016. The recovery effort is of a comprehensive nature and it is unlikely that all projects embarked on, of which some are long term and others short-term, will be finalised within the intervention period. Where possible, timelines were set. The Department of Local Government together with the Provincial Treasury, will after three months into the intervention report to the Provincial Executive on progress made and remaining challenges.
5. My Department of Local Government has, prior to the intervention, through its monitoring processes, identified various shortcomings and issues of concern within the Municipality. These shortcomings and concerns together with those raised by the Administrator and the Provincial and COGTA support teams, are now being incorporated into a comprehensive support plan. The continued effective monitoring of the required action and execution of the support plan, will ensure that the recovery of the Municipality is taken forward, even beyond the current intervention.