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Up one levelNewsletter 81- Municipal living conditions in brief- 23 July 2010
In 2007, there were 12 500 611 households in South Africa. Some 8 819 521 (71%) of them lived in formal housing and 1 804 432 (14%) in informal housing. There were 1 459 380 (12%) households living in traditional housing and 417 291 (3%) in other types of housing. On average, 96% of households in municipalities had access to piped water while 85% had access to electricity.
Newsletter 80- Why some schools work - 16th July 2010
The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs. Angie Motshekga, has received much praise after announcing reforms to the Outcomes Based Education curriculum. However, the impact of the reforms will now be dependent mainly on the ability of the department to effectively manage and resource underperforming schools.
Newsletter 79-South Africa’s welfare state-9 July 2010
This newsletter gives a municipal review of the four social grants with the highest number of beneficiaries in 2007: the child support grant, old-age grant, disability grant, and foster care grant.
Newsletter 78- Qualified audit reports prevail in municipalities-2 July 2010
Of the total of 283 municipalities in South Africa, 247 submitted audit reports for the 2008/09 financial year. Out of this total, only four municipalities received clean audits. Altogether 36 municipalities did not submit reports. This was revealed by the Consolidated General Report: Local Government Audit Outcomes 2008/09.
Newsletter 77- Alleviating poverty in your municipality- 25 June 2010
In 2009, the Municipal Outreach project held Major Urban Poverty Challenges Identification (MUPCI) workshops in the eight municipalities covered by the project. The findings from these workshops were published in the Supplement to the South Africa Survey 2008/09. Following this successful venture, between July and September 2010 the project team will embark on another set of workshops: the joint Urban Poverty Intervention (UPI) and Anti Poverty Intervention Implementation (APII) workshops.
Newsletter 76-Education and the poverty challenge- 18 June 2010
Government policies such as no-fee schools have provided households with some relief in the cost of obtaining an education. However, research shows that household poverty still plays a role in inhibiting access to education.
Newsletter 75-Municipalities score an own goal in the 2010 Soccer World Cup- 11 June 2010
With just a few hours to go before the 2010 Soccer World Cup kick-off, there is mounting excitement. However, if the financial returns of this tournament are anything to go by, then there is not much to be excited about, particularly for the host cities and their municipalities.
Newsletter 74- Dissatisfaction with service delivery recipe for unrest - 4 June 2010
A survey conducted earlier this year shows that more than half of residents are unhappy with the service delivery they receive from their local municipality. The residents also report that they wait too long for basic services.
Newsletter 73- Unqualified initiatives and qualified audit reports- 28 May 2010
Last week’s newsletter was based on the performance agreement signed by the minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, Mr Sicelo Shiceka. In the agreement, the minister committed himself to achieving a number of targets by 2014. If met, these targets are set to improve service delivery. This week’s newsletter will focus on one of these targets, which is that all municipalities in the country are to achieve clean audits by 2014.
Newsletter 72- Disagreement with the Performance Agreement -21 May 2010
On 29 April 2010, cabinet ministers signed performance agreements with president Jacob Zuma. These performance agreements have a direct bearing on municipalities, particularly the agreement signed by the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Mr Sicelo Shiceka.
Newsletter 71 - Positive Expansions to South Africa’s ART Programme-14 May 2010
In April 2010, two major national health programmes were launched: the South African Antiretroviral Guidelines 2010, and the HIVCounselling and Testing (HCT) campaign. These programmes are seen as a gateway into HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
Newsletter 70: National service is no panacea - 7 May 2010
The Minster of Defence, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, has proposed a campaign of national service to deal with the problem posed by high numbers of badly educated and unemployed young people. However, an obvious flaw in her plan can be found in its numbers.
Newsletter 69 - The South African family in crisis - 1 May 2010
In July 2009 the Institute published a study on the state of the South African family through its monthly publication, Fast Facts. The study saw significant media coverage and generated much debate in South Africa. The study however left the Institute with more questions than answers.
Newsletter 68 – The economics of the economic hub – 23 April 2010
Gauteng, the province in which three of South Africa’s six metropolitans are situated, is the country’s largest source of skills and gross domestic product (GDP). This newsletter provides an overview of the province’s economic activity and performance as published by the Gauteng Treasury.
Newsletter 67 – Employment equity in black and white– 16 April 2010
Data received from Commission for Employment Equity in 2009 paints a picture of inequality both in terms of gender and in terms of race.
Newsletter 66 – Road accidents: Provinces show mixed record – 9 April 2010
With the Easter weekend just behind us, this week’s newsletter reviews some of the latest road accident statistics published by the Institute in the 2008/09 South Africa Survey.
Newsletter 65 – Batho pele – 2 April 2010
Batho Pele which means ‘people first’ is a campaign that was adopted as a white paper in 1999 to improve service delivery, transform the work ethic of public servants, and place citizens at the centre of planning and operations. This campaign seems still to be fiction, according to the Service Delivery Review volume 7 number 2 of 2009 published by the Department of Public Service and Administration.
Newsletter 64 – The highs and lows of municipal finances – 26 March 2010
One of the excuses given to communities protesting against poor service delivery is lack of money. Communities should question this response as this holds very little truth for most municipalities. A report released by the national treasury reveals that more than R15 billion was not spent in the 2008/09 financial year.
Newsletter 63 – Sixteen months later – 19 March 2010
Sixteen months into the Municipal Outreach Project the project has proven itself to be one of the most successful outreach and research projects operated by the Institute.
Newsletter 62 – More money, less spending – 12 March 2010
The war of words between ratepayers’ associations and the minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs has once again placed local government inadequacies at the fore. The ratepayers’ associations claim municipalities do not use the money paid to them by ratepayers to provide essential services. Data released by the National Treasury shows that most municipalities do not spend money which they have in their operating budgets.
