Nthamaga Kgafela                                                                                                                                        19 December 2008

Newsletter 2

The Municipal Outreach Project aims to assist in the capacity building of municipalities in combating poverty. The South African Institute of Race Relations is implementing the project due to its extensive experience and human resources in research, policy analysis and capacity building. The project is also funded by the European Union and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty. The extent of poverty in South Africa’s key urban areas has prompted this initiative, which will focus on the following six metropolitans and two district municipalities in South Africa; Nelson Mandela Bay, Ekurhuleni, City of Johannesburg, eThekwini, City of Tshwane, City of Cape Town metropolitan municipalities, and Motheo and Capricorn district municipalities.

A weekly newsletter is published every Friday at 12.00 on the dedicated project website, www.eumunicipaloutreach.org.za, and e-mailed to councillors, government officials and NGOs. The Fast Facts for Local Government is a monthly publication providing analysis of key development and policy indicators. It is designed to be read quickly by busy people. Fast Facts also tracks 170 socio-economic indicators in each issue.

The South Africa Survey has been published annually by the Institute since 1947. It is a 650-page statistical reference work on every area of the country’s socio-economic development. Made up of statistical tables and charts, the Survey tracks trends over time and offers forecasts where available. It also contains international comparisons and limited analysis. A supplement to the Survey dedicated to municipalities will be published with the Fast Facts from 2009. This will detail key research and findings from the municipal outreach project. Workshops will be conducted during each year of the project, the first one being the Major Urban Policy Identification Challenges Identification workshops to take place during 2009.

Councillors and officials are urged to attend and participate in identifying key challenges in combating financial poverty as well as the manifestations of poverty. This week’s newsletter focuses on the Vuna Awards for excellence in service delivery which took place during December 2008. The Vuna Awards reward exemplary performance. The awards, which are meant to recognise exemplary service delivery in South Africa’s municipalities, took place on 10 December 2008 at Emperor's Palace. These awards were introduced in 2003 by the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) in partnership with the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), National Productivity Institute (NPI) and South African Local Government Association (Salga).

Capricorn District Municipality (CDM) in Limpopo province which includes Polokwane, Aganang, Blouberg, Lepelle-Nkumpi, as well as Molemole municipalities took home the Vuna Award in the key performance area (KPA) of Service Delivery. The CDM’s executive mayor said in response to the win, that the accolade was a public statement of the municipality’s dedication to delivering services to voters. Despite this achievement, many challenges still face this district municipality. Poverty in the CDM is still disconcerting with 60 percent of households living below the poverty line. Moreover, 77 percent of the population is below the age of 40 indicating a high dependency rate on the municipality. While marked improvements in basic services have taken place in the past 14 years, almost 30 percent of households are still without water and electricity.

The City of Johannesburg was the winner of the Best Metropolitan Municipality category with a R2 million prize. Second place went to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan of the Eastern Cape, while another Gauteng metropolitan, Ekurhuleni, took third place. In a statement by Councillor Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, acting executive mayor of Johannesburg on winning the Vuna award, she said that Johannesburg is the best managed metro in South Africa and that is now official. The city is said to be the economic hub of South Africa, and the African continent as a whole. It produces 16 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and accounts for 40 percent of Gauteng’s economic activity. Yet only 68.2 percent of households lived in formal dwellings in 2007. 91 110 households did not have access to electricity, 55 429 did not have access to sanitation, and 47 164 did not have access to water. Moreover, 196 685 households did not have an income in 2007. The city also received special awards in the key performance areas for Local Economic Development and Institutional Transformation in Key Performance Areas (KPA) competing with other metropolitans.

Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality won the award for Service Delivery amongst metropolitans. Ekurhuleni also took the prize for Good Governance. The City of Tshwane received an award for Financial Viability. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry was the winner for the national sector department providing exemplary support to local government; and the Eastern Cape Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs was the winner for provincial government providing exemplary support to local government. All winning metropolitans acknowledged for their performance during the past year still experience key challenges with regards to poverty and inequality. High unemployment rates, high poverty rates, and large numbers of households still without access to basic services are some of the challenges the project seeks to address.

These awards seek to motivate municipalities that show exemplary performance and create an opportunity to analyse performance and rate municipalities in the same categories against each other. However, social and economic development challenges within these municipalities should remain priorities.

Contact Nthamaga Kgafela

Municipal Outreach Officer

Tel: (011) 492 0600 ext 2008

e-mail: nkgafela@sairr.org.za

www.eumunicipaloutreach.org.za