Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

1. Considerable progress has been made with regard to the recovery of Oudtshoorn Municipality since the commencement and conclusion of the provincial intervention. Implementation of recovery measures by Oudtshoorn Municipality is ongoing and the Department of Local Government is continuing to provide support to the Municipality in this regard.

In particular, the Department of Local Government continues to render support to Oudtshoorn Municipality on governance matters in terms of the Back to Basics Support Plan. This Support Plan is developed, updated and implemented on an ongoing basis with support from the Department of Local Government and in consultation with various stakeholders. The following governance support measures should be noted in this regard:

• Councillor Training:

The Department of Local Government has facilitated various workshops with Councillors and the Speaker of Oudtshoorn Municipality that were focused on the following:

• • The functions of MPAC;
  • Anti-Corruption;
  • Rules of Order By-Law;
  • Code of Conduct for Councillors;
  • Roles and Responsibilities of Councillors; and
  • Roles and Responsibilities of the Speaker.

• Functionality of Ward Committees:

The Department of Local Government co-facilitated a series of community awareness sessions on ward committee establishment processes. The Department will assist Oudtshoorn Municipality with the roll-out of the “Know your Ward Committee Campaign” post the ward committee establishment.

• Communications:

A new Municipal Website was implemented with the support of the Department of Local Government. The Communication unit within Oudtshoorn Municipality is now fully functional.

 Performance Management:

The Department of Local Government will assist with funding and hands-on support to ensure that a functional performance management system is in place and administered by qualified personnel. In conjunction with SALGA, the Department of Local Government will be assisting municipalities to ensure that performance management is cascaded to all levels within their respective administrations.

• Disaster Management:

With the assistance of the Department of Local Government, Oudtshoorn Municipality has commenced with a risk assessment for the town. Once the risk assessment has been completed and tabled before Council, a new risk prevention plan will be developed.

In addition to the above, the Executive Mayor of Oudtshoorn Municipality has appointed councillors to assist him in the execution of his duties pursuant to section 80 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998. While the councillors from the governing party are members of the mayoral committee, the agenda of the mayoral committee is distributed to all 25 councillors of the Oudtshoorn Municipal Council. The opposition parties also form part of the MPAC, Oversight Committee, the LLF as well as the Training and Bursary Committees of Council.