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STATEMENT BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR TO THECOUNCIL MEETING : 25 JANUARY 2012
Honourable Speaker, Chief Whip, Mayoral Committee Members, Councillors, Municipal Manager, Directors, Officials, invited guests and the Media, good morning and welcome to this Council meeting. It is my privilege to be with you on this day, after the Christmas and New Year festive season.
The African National Congress celebrated its Centenary at Mangaung in Bloemfontein two weeks ago. Being reminded of the bitter political past, the pain and suffering, and loss of innocent lives, we have been made to understand that after the long walk to freedom, South Africa is a better place in the continent. Therefore, when we discuss service delivery issues, we must not lose sight of the sacrifices that were made to get us where we are today.
An example of how we have changed as a country after 1994 is the conversion of the gallows in Pretoria Central Prison into a memorial and museum.
Road Accidents
1. There seems to be an increase in road accidents in the District, for example the several tragic road accidents occurred in the District recently:
· The most serious was two taxis between Aberdeen and Beaufort west in which 8 people lost their lives
· The accident that took the lives of 3 councillors of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, leaving the 10 in hospital seriously injured
· The Translux bus that overturned between Aberdeen and Graaff-Reinet yesterday.
We have embarked on a Road Accident Data Base project with the CSIR, and that study is to provide us with information as to where accidents are occurring more frequently. We need to look at the results of that survey and seek the intervention of the Department of Roads and Transport to implement whatever is necessary to make our roads safer for travellers in the District, be it road re-alignment, additional speed controls, fencing etc.
Matric results Honourable Speaker, allow me also to report the good news we received as Cacadu District. I am proud to announce that despite difficult conditions and circumstances in education, four young people from the District received the top Provincial Awards both from the MEC, Honourable Mandla Makhupula of the Dept of Education, and the Premier, Honourable Noxolo Kiviet and they are:
· Sipelo Skepe from Nqweba High School, Graaff-Reinet
· Phulusa Ngwenya from Nombulelo SSC – Grahamstown
who both received the MEC’s Award, and
· Stuart Welman from Union High, Graaff-Reinet
· Noelene Dixon from Victoria High, Grahamstown
who both received the Premier's award.
Speaker, I would like to present a token of appreciation from this Institution to our four students. We say - keep it up, and thanks to your parents, teachers and all those who stood with you for the past 12 years, and have made your dreams come true. Continue with the good work.
Report of the Auditor General
Honourable Speaker, Councilors, officials, partners in the fight for Good Governance, it is with great pleasure and pride that I can announce that once again, Cacadu DM has received an UNQUALIFIED Audit Report for the year 2010/2011. This is now the sixth year that we have managed to achieve this distinction. Councilors, this proves that your leadership is on track. I want to thank the Municipal Manager, Directors and officials for their commitment to good financial administration. I would be failing if I did not thank our Audit Committee, the team that keeps us on our toes. The Audit report has only 2 matters of emphasis:-
· Restatement of corresponding figures – corresponding figures relating to the prior year have been restated due to errors discovered during the year under review · Irregular expenditure- which was incurred as a result of contraventions of the Supply Chain Management requirements. This matter was reported in detail to the last Council meeting. As an institution, we are dealing with the issues raised by the Auditor General. Good Governance cannot be compromised as we are accountable to Cacadu Constituencies. We are still concerned about our local municipalities. We will only be able to say that we have done well when all 10 municipalities get Unqualified and Clean Audit Outcomes.
Annual Report 2010/2011
The annual reports of Cacadu District Municipality and Kouga Development Agency for the financial year 2010/2011, are being tabled today prior to being circulated for public viewing and comment. The report is prepared in the format required by National Treasury and the Provincial Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs. We have tried to comply in every respect with these requirements. This format is important for comparative purposes and benchmarking across municipalities.
A meeting of the MPAC must be convened to carry out a detailed analysis and review of these reports, and to draft an oversight report for discussion at the next Council meeting on 29 March 2012.
Progress reports
Today we are also considering the half-yearly financial report as well as the SDBIP for 31 December 2011. These two reports give us an indication of how we are progressing on various projects and programmes, as well as our expenditure.
The expenditure to date is way below the envisaged amount we should have spent for this period. This can be attributed to several factors. We have only recently filled the positions of the Directors of Economic Development and Infrastructure and Planning. I trust that now, with their employment we will see substantial progress in this regard.
It is also clear that the Supply Chain processes are very onerous. With the emphasis on good governance and compliance, we cannot deviate from such regulations and policies.
It is crucial to mention that our planning capacity and our ability to implement projects must be reconsidered. There is a tendency to be too ambitious in seeking funding for projects and programmes, for which no formal plans have been developed. This is why today the Council is being requested to adjust some of these budgets to more realistic amounts.
Provincial Green Drop Scores
In terms of the Green Drop Scores recently published by the Department of Water Affairs, Cacadu District has scored very badly in wastewater management services. The report for 2010/2011 indicates that some of the local municipalities in our area have been classified as municipalities at critical risk and have been placed under regulatory surveillance. Our Environmental Health Manager must identify the treatment plants that are in high risk positions on the scorecard.
According to the report, the Regulator is not satisfied with the overall performance of wastewater services management of the local municipalities in the Cacadu District. The Water Services Authorities are to submit corrective action plans to the Department of Water Affairs. Areas where improvement is needed include the following:
o Effluent discharge
o Maintenance of ponds
o Cleaning of the sludge drying-up beds
o Overload of ponds
I urge municipalities to take prompt and decisive action to improve the situation, as the current situation is putting the health of our communities at risk.
Announcements
Ø CDM will be embarking on Road Shows to local municipalities. The purpose of these roadshows is to get closer to our local municipalities, hold open discussions on issues that are affecting us, including compliance with our constitutional mandate, and see how we can assist the municipalities in areas of need.
Ø We have included R1 million on our budget for training of unemployed graduates. The Mayoral Committee agreed to take on 10 Interns in different critical areas within the institution. This is in response to the question as to how the CDM will assist LM’s with capacity where there is a shortage of trained personnel. We intend employing them for a period of 2 years. We need to employ graduates who will be committed to drive the institution forward. A report will be coming to Council in this regard. Ø Relocation of our head office to Sundays River Valley, and the District Development Agency are matters that are high on our agenda. The issue of compliance with legislation has caused delays and prevented us from moving as fast as we would like on these two matters. However, we have successfully achieved the disestablishment of the Kouga Development Agency, and we can now move forward with the establishment of the District Development Agency.
Ø The MEC for Sport, Recreation. Arts and Culture will be paying a visit to the District on 7 February 2012. The purpose of the visit is to identify how her Department and the Municipalities in the District can work better together in functional areas of common interest. Matters to be discussed at the meeting include:
o Library services
o Sport and recreation services
o Management of Heritage resources
o Development and support of the creative industry sector and culture in general.
Local Municipalities have been requested to submit information to the District Municipality on these services in their areas, including number of facilities, staffing, etc together with challenges experienced in each function, to enable us to give the MEC a complete picture of how these services are rendered in the District. The deadline for these submissions is today, and as far as I am aware there has been very little response, if any, from the LMs. I would request the Local Municipality representatives on our Council to go back to their municipalities and make sure we receive the required information in time for us to prepare the presentation for the MEC.
Ø I have great pleasure in reporting that two hospitals in the Cacadu District, namely Midland Hospital, Camdeboo, and Andries Vosloo in Blue Crane Route, will be conducting training of Health staff. The Department of Health will require land for accommodation of learners, as many are expected to take part in this training, particularly in Graaff-Reinet.
Ø Bearing in mind the role of the CDM as a Centre for Co-ordination to improve the lives of our communities, I have requested the Director of Economic Development to prepare a part programme to deliver on the Jobs and Development Initiative, which must cover:
· Revitalising our towns
· Youth Jobs programme
· Agricultural Innovation Partnership Fund.
EPWP must be used as part of the programme to remove the barriers of poverty and give dignity back to our young and unemployed citizens. We will expect an item to be submitted to the Mayoral Committee and Council in this regard in due course.
May I thank you all and wish you a good year full of God’s grace.
K. E. KEKANA