BACKGROUND:

 

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, formerly Local Government was renamed to realign it with National imperatives. With 21 Municipalities and 61 Traditional Leaders in Mpumalanga, the department’s role is to monitor and support the municipalities and the institution of Traditional Leaders to discharge their mandate and responsibilities. The department is responsible to strengthen Cooperative Governance in the province as well as to improve the development of Capacity of the Institution of Traditional leaders.

 

This means we will make government work and function better in a more integrated way and ensure that the institutions of Traditional leaders are transformed, to play a big role in partnering with government to accelerate development. In the 2008/09 financial year the department held successful elections to reconstitute the first traditional councils. The elections were held to elect 40% members of the Traditional Councils and Traditional leaders appointed 60% to represent them in the councils.

 

Over the years, municipalities have had to grapple with challenges in discharging their full mandate, owing to lack of adequate resources such as funds and expertise. Consequently, the majority of municipalities failed to comply with legislative prescripts such as the Municipal System’s Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), however, the situation has now been turned around through the intervention of the department.

 

This intervention has seen an increase in municipalities that receive unqualified reports in respect of Financial Statements by the Auditor-General, while the number of those with disclaimers has been reduced gradually. The department is also helping municipalities with Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and Local Economic Development (LED) in order for them to be financially viable.

 

The Municipal Infrastructure Grant programme is aimed at providing communities with basic level of services by the year 2013 through the provision of grant finance aimed at covering the capital cost of basic infrastructure for the poor. Due to huge number of backlogs recorded by Stats SA during the census 2011, the programme has been extended up to 2016 to ensure that all households have access to basic services e.g. water, sanitation, electricity, solid waste etc. | CONTINUE | >>

 

 

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