PRESENTATION TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES SELECT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS Ms NOMUSA DUBE NCUBE (MPL) MEC FOR COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS KWAZULU NATAL PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL INTERVENTION IN TERMS OF SECTION 139(1)(b) AT UMKHANYAKUDE DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY 16 FEBRUARY 2016
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PRESENTATION TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
SELECT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS
Ms NOMUSA DUBE NCUBE (MPL)
MEC FOR COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS
KWAZULU NATAL PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
INTERVENTION IN TERMS OF SECTION 139(1)(b) AT
UMKHANYAKUDE DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY
16 FEBRUARY 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. PURPOSE
2. FORMALITIES
3. BACKGROUND
4. BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE
5. RESOLUTIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
6. SUMMARY PROGRESS REPORT ON THE RECOVERY PLAN
7. DROUGHT RELATED MATTERS
1
The purpose of the this report is present to the Select
Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional
Affairs (the Select Committee) the reasons for the
intervention in terms of section 139 of the constitution
at Umkhanyakude DM as well as ancillary matters
1. PURPOSE
2
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2. FORMALITIES
• On 7 October 2015 the Provincial Executive resolved to
intervene in Umkhanyakude District Municipality in terms
of section 139(1)(b) of the constitution
• On 08 October 2015 the Minister and the NCOP were
notified of the decision to intervene in line with section
139(2) of the constitution
• The Minister approved the intervention within the
prescribed timeframe of 28 days
• The NCOP on the other hand has until the 6th of April
2016 to either approve or disapprove the intervention
3
3(a) BACKGROUND
UMKHANYAKUDE DM AND FAMILY OF MUNICIPALITIES
POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
MUNICIPALITY
NUMBER
OF SEATS
2011
NUMBER
OF SEATS
2016
EXCO
SEATS
2011
POLITICAL PARTY
REPRESENTATION ON COUNCIL
ANC IFP NFP
Umkhanyakude DM 29 31 5 14 10 5
Umhlabuyalingana LM 34 35 6 22 8 4
Jozini LM 40 40 8 21 15 4
Big 5 False Bay LM* 725
Plenary 3 3 1
Hlabisa LM* 16 3 4 9 3
Mtubatuba LM 38 40 5 16 15 7
* Municipalities merging after the 2016 local government election
Notes
• As can be seen above, no party obtained sufficient majority to govern on its own at the District
Municipality, thus the municipality is governed by a coalition between the ANC and the NFP
• The UKDM ExCo is constituted as follows: 2 ANC, 2 IFP and 1 NFP.
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3(b) BACKGROUND (cont.)
• For a number of years, the municipality was limping from one
problem to another. The problems were indicated by persistent
governance, financial and service delivery challenges that the
municipality was unable to resolve despite provincial and national
government support.
• During the first quarter of 2015 several indicators from the
municipality itself, from KZN Cogta, from the DWS and from
Provincial Treasury showed that the municipality was experiencing
serious governance, financial and service delivery problems.
• As a consequence, on 27 March 2015 Cogta proposed a self-
imposed Recovery Plan and Payment Plan which was accepted by
the municipal council. However management failed to implement
the Recovery Plan and Payment Plan between April and June 2015.
5
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3(c) BACKGROUND (cont.)
• In July and August 2015 KZN Cogta and Provincial Treasury
deployed a Support Team comprising of financial, technical and
governance experts at the municipality in line with Sec 154 of the
Constitution.
• Engagements were held with different stakeholders on the 8th , the
21st and the 24th of September 2015 including the municipality
itself, DWS, Salga, Provincial Treasury, Political Leadership and
Labour Unions.
• It was at these engagements where it became apparent that the
Support Team was unlikely to succeed in turning around the
municipality unless the intervention was elevated to a section 139
constitutional intervention. This course of action was then
recommended to the Provincial Executive by the MEC for CoGTA
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4(a) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE
GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL MATTERS
• The Council and the Executive Committee were meeting regularly, however the
implementation monitoring (oversight) and lack of consequence management pointed to poor
performance on the part of ExCo and Council.
• Portfolio committees and the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) were not meeting
as they were supposed to, thus failing to exercise effective political oversight over
management.
• The municipality did not have an Audit Committee following the expiry of contracts of the
previous committee. An Interim Audit Committee was appointed for three months pending the
appointment of the Audit Committee proper. Their contracts had also expired before the Audit
Committee proper could be appointed.
• The municipality admitted that its organogram was bloated and could not be funded on a
sustainable basis and that the municipality had in past years hired and absorbed staff in non-
core functions. The municipality was failing to rectify this matter.
• Despite numerous attempts by KZN Cogta to support the municipality and family of
municipalities, intergovernmental structures as well as the associated technical support
structures remained dysfunctional. 7
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4(b) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
FINANCIAL VIABILITY AND MANAGEMENT
• The cash flow situation at the municipality had deteriorated to the point where the
municipality was persistently failing to meet its financial commitments . Thus the ability
to pay back its short term liabilities, was 0.65:1 against the norm of 1.5–2:1 (circ. 71
National Treasury, 17 January 2014).
• Although management had developed a cash flow plan, there was no commitment and
urgency to take decisions that were critical to the sustainability of the institution
• The 2014/15 AFS of the municipality showed that the municipality had only about R12.6
million in cash and cash equivalents against unspent conditional grants of R31.5m as at
30 June 2015 pointing to the use of conditional grants to fund operating expenditure
• The Municipal Manager had admitted that the municipality had outstanding creditors of
R130m as at 30 June 2015 which indicated poor financial and project management
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4(c) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
FINANCIAL VIABILITY AND MANAGEMENT
• The Provincial Treasury found both the operational and capital budget of the municipality
to be unfunded / in deficit to the amount of R117m, this was later reduced to R57m.
• The internal control environment remained weak. The management persistently failed to
implement policies and procedures of the municipality leading to the ballooning of
Unauthorized, Irregular or Fruitless and Wasteful (UIWF) expenditure.
• The municipality adopted cost cutting measures at the beginning of 2015 but
management failed to implement the measures.
• During the 4th quarter (ending 30 June 2015) the KZN Cogta quarterly assessment found
that the municipality’s poor revenue collection record persisted at 44% against the
norm/benchmark of 95% (circ. 71 National Treasury, 17 January 2014).
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4(d) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
BASIC SERVICE DELIVERY FAILURES
• The municipality remained one of the poorest performers in terms of the “blue
drop” assessments conducted by DWS.
• The municipality remained one of the poorest performers in terms of the “green
drop” assessments conducted by DWS.
• Project management and supervision of consultants was poor.
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4(e) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
FINANCIAL VIABILITY AND MANAGEMENT
• The municipality consistently failed to produce an updated audit action plan to
track the progress being made in addressing the issues raised by the AG in the
2013/14 management letter and audit report.
• Due to cash flow challenges the the municpaltiy is struggling to pay its creditors.
• Persistent poor audit outcomes: Qualified (2012/13), Qualified (2013/14) and
Disclaimer (2014/15)
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4(f) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
BASIC SERVICE DELIVERY FAILURES
• The municipality was utilizing conditional grant funds, MIG funds in particular, to
meet operating expenditure, in contravention of the grant conditions as prescribed in
sec 17 of the Division of Revenue Act, 2015
• The absence of a revised Water Service Development Plan (WSDP). According to
DWS, the last revision was dated February 2012
• Under-spending on the 2014/2015 Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) programme
resulted in R40m of the original allocation of R206m being stopped in terms of
section 19 of the Division of Revenue Act (Act 10 of 2014)
• The municipality had lost the 2014/2015 implementing agent status for the Municipal
Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG)
• The municipality also lost their Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme
(ACIP) funding for 2015/16 which was given to Mhlathuze Water to implement the 3
waste water treatment works (WWTW) refurbishments for uMkhanyakude (R13m)
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4(g) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
BASIC SERVICE DELIVERY FAILURES
• The expenditure on Repairs and Maintenance in 2013 / 2014 was 2.46% of PPE
(Property, Plant and Equipment), as extracted from the AFS for that financial year.
• The 2014/15 budget for repairs and maintenance for the year was slightly higher
at 2.52% of PPE. The norm is 8% (circ. 71 National Treasury, 17 Jan 2014).
• The municipality did not have a planned and preventative maintenance
programme in place, nor funds to finance such a programme. Consequently, this
had a negative impact on confidence levels in the value placed on PPE.
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4(h) BASIS FOR INVOKING SEC 139 AT UMKHANYAKUDE (cont.)
OTHER MATTERS
• Back To Basics Support Plan - The municipality took too long to adopt
their Back to Basics Support Plan. The assessment of the programme
in the municipality as at end of quarter four (30 June 2015) showed
that the municipality had to be re-categorised from being challenged
to being a municipality requiring intervention.
• Labour Disputes – The municipality was experiencing persistent
unprotected labour strikes due to the failure by management to
address labour matters.
• Service Delivery Protests - All service delivery protests recorded by
Cogta’s Rapid Response Unit in municipalities within the
Umkhanyakude family of municipalities during the period 1 January
2014 to 31 August 2015 were about water supply issues in the main.
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5(a) RESOLUTIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
• Intervention in terms of section 139 (1)(b) of the constitution be implemented and Cogta
assumes the functions specified in sections 51, 54a, 56 and 67(1)(h) of the municipal
systems act and the District Municipal functions in terms of the Intergovernmental
Framework Relations Act, 2005
• Directed that a Recovery Plan aimed at securing the municipality’s ability to meet its
obligations to provide basic services or its financial commitments be imposed on the
municipality, which Recovery Plan will
- (i) be prepared in accordance with national legislation; and
- (ii) binds the municipality in the exercise of its executive authority, but only to the
extent necessary to solve the crisis in its financial affairs and service delivery failures
• A Ministerial Representative be appointed at Umkhanyakude District Municipality (Mr MM
Sithole) Chapter 9 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, 53 of 2003 as amended as
well as becoming a compulsory signatory on the municipality’s bank accounts.
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5(b) RESOLUTIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (cont.)
- Ensure implementation of financial systems, policies and procedures
- Undertake all steps prescribed in sections 54A and 56 of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000
and associated regulations
- Undertake all functions listed in section 51 of the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, as
amended;
- Ensure the implementation of all governance systems and procedures, including oversight
mechanisms; and the functionality of all Council structures, including the Local Labour
Forum
- Ensure implementation of findings of any forensic investigations undertaken by the
municipality, agency or the relevant MEC in terms of section 106 of the Municipal Systems
Act, 2000 or any other relevant legislation;
- Undertake the functions referred to in section 67(1)(h) and Schedule 2 of the Municipal
Systems Act, read with any other relevant legislative provisions dealing with disciplinary
matters, including criminal and civil action;
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5(c) RESOLUTIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (cont.)
- Ratify all decisions of the Municipal Council and its committees, prior to
implementation;
- Ratify all decisions taken by the Municipal Manager and section 56 Managers in terms
of delegated or original authority;
- Implement a system to control and approve all expenditure including a system to
reduce and contain operating expenditure (cost curtailment);
- Review the organizational structure of the municipality, and implement remedial
actions which may be required;
- Prepare and implement a strategy to deal with service delivery failures with particular
focus on water and sanitation including a strategy to deal with service delivery
protests;
- Ensure the municipality complies with the requirements of the Intergovernmental
Framework Relations Act, 2005.
• Endorsed the appointment of a financial expert to assist the Ministerial Representative in
the implementation of the terms of reference including acting as Chief Financial Officer as
may be necessary.
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5(d) RESOLUTIONS OF THE PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (cont.)
• Cogta requested further support from the Provincial
Executive Council to identify R40million required for the
operations and maintenance (at Umkhanyakude DM) as a
matter of urgency to attend to operational and
maintenance challenges
17
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6. SUMMARY PROGRESS REPORT ON
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
RECOVERY PLAN
18
6.1 SUMMARY PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
RECOVERY PLAN AS AT 28 JANUARY 2016
Focus Area/KPA Remedial
Actions
Targets met
/completed
Targets
not met
Percentage
Progress
(completed)
Basic Services & Infrastructure 11 2 (18%) 9 18%
Financial Viability and Management 43 13 (30%) 30 30%
Good Governance and Public Participation 11 3(27%) 8 27%
Local Economic Development and Planning 4 0 4 0%
Institutional Development & Transformation 18 0 18 0%
OVERALL TOTAL 87 18 (21%) 69 21%
The main area of challenge is with regards to provision of Basic Services & ageing
infrastructure. Various reasons for poor performance have been put forward by the
Ministerial Representative leading the intervention team at Umkhanyakude.
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6.2(a) UMGENI WATER INTERVENTION
PROJECT SCOPE
• The aim of the intervention is to rehabilitate existing Water Supply (and Sanitation) Schemes as
prioritized by the UKDM WSA.
PROJECT FOOTPRINT
• Umkhanyakude District Municipality is a Water Services Authority (WSA). It consists of five local
municipalities (LM’s) and one District Management Area (DMA). These local municipalities are
Umhlabuyalingana (KZ271), Jozini (KZ272), Big Five False Bay (KZ273), Hlabisa (KZ274) and Mtubatuba
(KZ275) and St Lucia Park (KZDMA27). The respective coverage of the local municipalities is illustrated in
the Figure below.
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6.2(b) UMGENI WATER INTERVENTION
IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION BACKGROUND
• During the course of October 2015, UW undertook a visual assessment of water and sanitation infrastructure. The findings of the report were then discussed and subsequently prioritized by the WSA.
• Thereafter UW had implemented immediate interventions. Work is currently being undertaken in all LM’s. The implementation (water and sanitation) covers the following system components:– Raw water source;
– Raw water conveyance line;
– Water treatment plant/ waste water treatment plant unit processes;
– Potable water storage;
– Distribution network;
– Safety/Health issues; 21
6.2(c) UMGENI WATER INTERVENTION
WATER SOURCES AND IMMEDIATE INTERVENTIONS
• The main rivers are the Pongola, Umfolozi, Mkuze, Hluhluwe, Msunduze and Ngwavuma. The major dams are the, Hluhluwe and Jozini dams and Lake Sibayi, which is a freshwater lake. Furthermore there are a large number of production boreholes or handpumps for a rudimentary level of service.
• Immediate Interventions for all Local Municipalities (1-3 months)
• Rehabilitation of ground water sources (production boreholes, hand pumps, windmills etc);
• Shemula bulk line rehabilitation;
• Jozini rising main to the command reservoir to feed the Machibini area;
• Sewerage treatment ponds in Mtubatuba, St Lucia, KwaMsane and MosvoldtHospital;
• Various leaks within the bulk reticulation;
• Installation of 107 Jojo tanks;
• Repairs to moveable assets viz the water tankers and;
• Supply of diesel generators -single and three phase for areas where there is no power supply or where there was a conversion from hand pumps to production boreholes.
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6.2(d)(i) UMGENI WATER INTERVENTION
• Progress to date – Jozini Municipality
Project Name Status
(% Complete)
Challenge
Shemula System - parallel line and replacement of
auxiliary valves (Resilient seated and Air Valves)
90 Pipe vandalism and theft
reported to WSA
Machibini – rising main to command reservoir 50 Numerous illegal
connections on the
existing rising main
Jobe Malobeni – pipe leaks and t-piece to feed reservoir 100
Comment:
The fixing of the
infrastructure has
benefited thousands of
households and
prevented service
delivery protests that
were on the rise,
especially in Jozini
Municipal area
Qondile Borehole - Hand pump converted to production
borehole
100
Ophande – repaired vandalized pump station and 100
Hlalanathi - Install dedicated pipeline from package plant