By Sibusiso Mboto
THE South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has called on municipalities to undertake capacity building initiatives to improve service delivery.
According to SALGA CEO Makhosi Khoza current indicators are that municipalities are not capable to deliver on housing programmes. She was making a presentation on the readiness of municipalities to deliver housing during the second day of the KwaZulu-Natal Housing Summit yesterday.
She told delegates that the research conducted by SALGA in July 2004 showed that municipalities lacked resources, and did not have capacity and finances to be developers in order to fast track the mandate of providing houses for all people.
"The research was carried out in different forms, we used questionnaires, telephonic interviews for follow up, paid visits to municipalities," Khoza explained, adding the research was carried out in all the municipalities in the country.
Another challenge Khoza highlighted was the lack of understanding regarding the Integrated Development Programmes (IDPs) by municipalities. IDPs are action plans carried out by municipalities as part of the service delivery mandate.
"People on the ground have no understanding of how IDPs work and how they can be part of the process, primarily because most of them are in English." She said over 80 percent of the municipalities had their IDPs in English and challenged mayors to see to it that swift changes take place.
eThekwini Municipality is in the process of being accredited as the first municipality to develop housing. The municipality is renowned for improved service delivery capability that has seen it win the Vuna Awards a number of times. The awards recognize excellence in service delivery by municipalities.
Current legislation had not made any provisions for municipalities to be developers. Provincial housing department spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said the municipality would be expected to create bylaws to facilitate the process. The operations of the municipality will be closely linked to those of the provincial housing department.
The accreditation of eThekwini will also serve as a model for other municipalities in this regard
Source: BuaNews
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