Madam Speaker, Members of the Mayoral Committee, Honourable Councilors, Municipal Manager and your Senior Management Team, Community leaders, Distinguished guests and Ladies and gentlemen.

Introduction: Constitutional mandate

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa contemplated the mandate of local government as to represent the development processes in municipalities and in charge of municipal planning, budgeting and management. In this regard, municipalities are expected to discharge their responsibilities mainly by galvanizing the participation of communities for the betterment of their living conditions.

 Last year, this Council together with the help of communities adopted its blueprint programme of action in a form of an Integrated Development Plan for the year 2009/10. We then went further and developed our own Turn-around strategy which outlines key strategic areas of delivery in order to deepen and further consolidate the gains we have made in providing quality services and representing the interests of our people.

As this Council we again further identified the need to broaden the scope of participation in shaping our municipal agenda, by developing a 90 days programme that we have committed ourselves to actively contribute to the process of delivery to better the lives of local communities.

On the basis of that background this budget here today is both a political and financial instrument that we ought to use to ensure that our programmes are operationalised through seamless allocation of financial resources.

Political mandate

Coming out of a successful 52nd national conference, with resolutions that reflect both continuity and change, for us this budget is critical. The budget must therefore speak to the national priorities and respective budget votes must practically demonstrate the programmes we have set ourselves.

We were under no illusion when we said the budget needs to reflect the political choices to be prioritised in spending. The radical transformation of our communities cannot emerge spontaneously from the ‘invisible hand’ of the market. Rather conscious political decisions must be made and instruments such as the budget will be used to change the economic participation and development patterns in our communities.

This budget will have to bring into practicality the programmes of the ANC government for this year, especially the five key priority areas and other related urgent national tasks identified by the President of the Republic in his State of the Nation Address.

The popular mandate given to the ANC in the last general elections is evident of the fact that the ANC remains the best guarantor for success in the continuing struggle to build a people-centred developmental local government.  It is for this reason that the ANC has particular expectations about its cadres deployed in government and our municipality is no exception. Therefore our municipality needs to deliver to the people. We need to pull our collective strength to ensure that people who are indigent are the beneficiaries of our socio-economic programmes.

As we soldier on, we are particularly worried about the impact of corruption and the continued pursuit of material and economic gains have on the image of the ANC and our municipality. Especially when leveled against continued weaknesses in the delivery of services. A more rigorous implementation of ethics is needed to address issues of prevalence of corrupt practices and perceptions of corruption.

Our development plans as the municipality together with our own turn-around strategy reveal a strong sense of commitment towards development. However, the proliferation of service delivery protest across our district is an indictment of continued poor service standards.

We need to be resolute in our 90 days campaign to ensure that the budget continues to reflect the spending plans of implementing an intensive programme to meet the targets we have set ourselves.

We must further ensure that we dare not falter in our drive of ensuring continued public infrastructure investment as we see it as a critical catalyst to the growth potential of our local economy.

The Budget

This budget is a tool through which we can evaluate key policy objectives of our programmes. The challenge is to evaluate whether the budget meets the requirements of our development plans as a municipality and gives substance to the ANC’s 5-year plan.

It must be clear to everyone assembled here today that this budget is a product of our engagements with our people and as such it can be said with absolute certainly that this budget here today is politically determined, and not based on any technical formula. Formula’s follow political decisions and considerations.

The decision as to where money goes is not just simply a structural decision but it represents and reflects a political choice.

The ever present possibility of antagonistic relations between our municipality and our people presents unique challenges in our ability to advance our development agenda. If left unchecked, the tensions would stand to foment anti-government sentiments, due to a perception of corruption and our perceived inability to render quality services. Community anger over the service delivery question limits the strength and depth of our social contract with our people and weakens the legitimacy of our local government order. Meanwhile, other opportunistic forces exploit that anger to mobilize support of our people against our municipality and its democratically elected representatives.

This budget has been developed under the context of the tough economic conditions which have consequences for what we have set out to do. However, it is commendable to see that our municipalities’ investment on development projects remain the single largest expenditure on the total budget reflecting our seriousness in our call for People’s Government for People’s Power. It further demonstrates a good balance in addressing the economic challenges faced by all classes of our community despite the turbulent local and international economic climate.

The capacity of our municipality to deliver services is highly dependent on our ability to bill and collect revenue from our own sources. The budget shortfall would no doubt add further strain on our Turn-around strategy and other related development programmes.

We cannot continue to be having the competition between local priorities and national priorities fighting for space. The issue of alignment, planning and intergovernmental relations must begin to show results.The proper alignment can help government programmes to talk to each other and set the correct tone for the broader policy project of creating a unified public service and a truly delivery arm of government; hence issues of planning and inter-governmental relations must be at the centre of our development efforts.

It is our strong and well considered view that our municipality’s development plans are sound; however, challenges are around strengthening capacity, transforming the financial system and achieving greater co-operative governance

Key questions that we need to ask ourselves which the administration needs to be seized with:

• Does the budget vote promote growth in real terms, and is it structured to being pro-poor, employment creating and tackling poverty?
• Does the particular budget vote help to sustain communities?
• Are the goals that the ANC has set itself in terms of reducing poverty and unemployment by 2014, demonstrated in the budget votes?
• Have the commitments to the Millennium Development goals and other internationally binding agreement being factored into each specific budget vote?
• Do the expenditure trends in each budget vote reflect the needs of a developmental local governmental system and the ANC’s developmental agenda?
• Do the budget votes; align themselves to the goals of the Manifesto, the Jan 8th statement, SONA, state of the province address and IDP, etc.
• Does the budget reflect engendering, and how are services that arise from the budget geared at delivering services to women?

Mainstreaming designated groups

The ANC was born out of the desire to unite and serve the people. As Councillors we are particularly worried about the gap which seems to be widening daily between our municipality and our people. We need to rally behind our programmes and instill unity throughout to ensure that we deliver services to our people. The organs of people’s power must be seen to be actively working and demonstrate to the people that ANC leads and the ANC lives.

Issues of mainstreaming cross cutting issues need to find practical expression in all our development programmes including all budget votes. Moreover, we need to be concerned about the 2% disability target which has not been reached or achieved yet. Our failure in this regards undermines all our noble efforts of ensuring an inclusive society.

Issues of youth empowerment are important and must be linked with the integration of a more strategic youth development policy to have a full-scale drive toward a more intensified youth development strategy.

Correcting the injustices of the past requires that women increasingly become the beneficiaries and decision-makers in respect of strategies to overcome poverty in our areas. Developmental local government has a central role to play in leading and sustaining rural development and that current and future appropriations need to respond to such demands. It is on this basis that we support the 50/50 position. Our movement has long realised that no meaningful freedom can be achieved without the genuine emancipation of women.

Among the key proposed interventions we have said we are going to: 

• Expand our infrastructure programme.
• Improve services and assets among poor communities.
• Intensify specific interventions in poor households.
• Address the increasing feminization of poverty in our locality.
• Ensuring effectiveness of institutional organs.
• Respond to the huge challenge of youth unemployment.
• Integrating gender-specific actions into policies.

As the ANC we have committed ourselves in intensifying our offensive against poverty and improving our infrastructure to ensure that we achieve sustained levels of growth and development. Therefore, the current expenditure patterns seem to reflect a drive towards this policy directive.

Spending on operating expenditure is fundamental in the delivery of services. This is the case because policy directive is focused on capital investment that has consequential operating expenditure. However, a way must be found to regulate spending on personnel.

Municipal service provision is by its very nature inherently labour intensive and national policy dictates that labour intensive methods be used. As government’s commitment to create jobs, we must then appreciate the link between capital and operating expenditure as envisaged by national policy.

Madam Speaker, as a municipality we have taken giant strides in addressing the many challenges that we faced and have taken practical steps to empower our people to rally behind our vision of a shared common destiny. The Oversight Model that we have developed is but one of the achievements of this term of this Council.

Today, with the legal framework made possible by the ANC-led government, our Constitutional order respects and protects everyone. Today, everyone can exercise his or her right to vote and to own land. Today, the elderly are enjoying the fruits of the sacrifice they made during the struggle for our liberation. Today, the government has a strong social security net to help the needy and the elderly, to protect the weak and the vulnerable.

Today we can claim that ours was a revolution for better humanity, a revolution for the advancement and emancipation of the child, the youth and the elderly.

Today, we must maintain this revolutionary spirit to uplift our communities from the scourge of poverty and HIV/AIDS. We must make even greater strides to always remember that the sacrifice for our struggle for liberation was life itself.

The spirit of African leadership

“Leadership reality is not absolute; rather, it is socially and culturally determined. Across cultures, human beings are coming together to perform certain collective acts, encounter common problems which have to do with establishing direction, co-ordination and motivation. Culture affects the way in which they can be resolved” – Richard Pascole).

Management is emotional, social, spiritual, political and rational and is subjectivity.

In the structure of scientific revolutions ‘men whose research is based on shared paradigms are committed to the same rules and standards for scientific practice’.

Hence some of the few characteristics of African leadership practices are shared through listening.

Servant leader that seeks to identify and clarify the will of the group.

Empathy: The servant leader that strives to understand and empathise with others.

Persuasion: clearest distinction between the conventional authoritarian leadership style and that of the servant leadership.

Healing: servant leaders seek to nurture their abilities to ‘dream great dreams’ – visionaries.

Ability to create a shared agenda and vision that is capable of transforming the status quo.

Self discipline: cherish a warrior tradition, doing very ordinary thing in an extraordinary manner, ‘walk to talk’.

Consciousness: leaders have to be sharply aware and reasonably disturbed. They must have the inner serenity and high degree of personal consciousness.

Announcement of mayoral committee reshuffle.

• Councillor Nkapu Ranake has been retained in her capacity as the MMC for Finance.
• Councillor Johnny Thabane has also been retained in his capacity as MMC responsible for Infrastructure, Water, Electricity and Sanitation.
• Councillor Florence Vundisa who was MMC responsible for Health and Social Development would be now in charge of Corporate Services.
• Councillor Maki Malisa who was heading Corporate Services would be now responsible for Health and Social Development.
• Councillor Nomvula Thulo formerly leading Waste Management, Parks and Cemetries would be now heading Public Safety and Traffic.
• Councillor Rebecca letsoenyo formerly responsible for Public Safety and Traffic would now be heading LED, DP and Tourism.
• Councillor Moepadira formerly responsible for Sports and Recreation would now be heading Housing.
• Councillor Mike Muir formerly responsible for LED, DP and Tourism would be now heading Sports and Recreation.
• Councillor Sello Pitso formerly responsible for Housing would now be heading Transport, Roads and public works.
• Councillor Mabandla Ronyuza formerly responsible for Transport and Roads would now be heading Waste Management.

Madam Speaker, with those few words, I hereby table the report.

I Thank You.