MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Eden District Municipality (EDM) plans to become a water service authority and to take ownership of certain portions of electricity supply, especially renewable energy, within the district. Executive mayor (EDM) Memory Booysen says this will enable the district municipality to sell these services at a better than current rate to the municipalities that form part of the district.
This transpired at a first of its kind representative forum for integrated development planning, budgeting and performance management hosted by the EDM in Mossel Bay this past week.
None of the municipalities has a dedicated team of personnel to do fundraising.
This was seen as an area that should be discussed and planned in greater detail and may result in the establishment of a district development agency.
As the EDM has no taxpayer income base, developing sources of income is seen very important. This is partly the reason for emphasis on inter-government relations and the international stakeholder engagements that may result in twinning arrangements.
Risks of note
"We've battled the drought and the worst fires. The next disaster to hit this district will be waste management."
The mayor said adequate ways to handle waste effectively remainED a mounting challenge.
"EDM is nowhere near capacity for bulk infrastructure planning across the district. The solid waste issue may impact the health of the region's residents.
"While in excess of 200 people countrywide died of the recent spate of Listeriosis, EDM only accounted for three of these deaths, which is a clear indication of effective health controls."
He highlighted several socio-economic risk factors that impact on effective planning, some of which are the prevailing drought, the populations grant dependency that points to questions about financial stability, stagnating economic growth, and the limited tourism marketing and development in the region.
Cannot operate in silos
The Eden District Municipality consists of seven so-called B municipalities - Kannaland, Hessequa, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, George, Knysna and Bitou - and the district municipality.
EDM Speaker Mark Willemse said in his opening address it is important for local authorities not to operate in silos, but to understand their particular and related roles, complementing one another. "B municipalities are the EDMs biggest stakeholders. Fiscally the biggest challenge is to ensure a spirit of cooperation between the various municipalities, with the district municipality being the enabler to ensure that all stakeholders fully realise their roles and responsibilities."
EDM municipal manager Monde Stratu said the representative forum is important to get a sense of the planning done at individual municipalities to ensure that opportunities can be maximised and service delivery be optimised.
Ultimately, it is important that resources are not wasted nor duplicated.
Mayor Booysen's indication of a willingness to unlock land belonging to the EDM for use by the various municipalities for development was widely welcomed.
Mossel Bay the best
"It is important to achieve a measure of uniformity in this region where service excellence is expected as the norm.
I congratulate Mossel Bay on being rated the best municipality in the country by independent ratings agency Ratings Afrika. Mossel Bay shares this honour with Swartland (Malmesbury). All municipalities should learn from Mossel Bay's best practice norms, from what is being done to earn Mossel Bay the accolade as Best Municipality in the Country.
Representatives from all of the Eden District municipalities, governmental departments and ward committee members attended the first of its kind representative forum for integrated development planning, budgeting and performance management.
Roads infrastructure
Mayor Booysen said the EDM is the liaison with the provincial government and only acts as an agent for repairs to the district and provincial roads network.
"While B municipalities are responsible for the maintenance of their road network, district municipalities are not a part of the planning, nor sit on management meetings where roads infrastructure maintenance or development is discussed or budgeted for.
"We cannot continue with the status quo. We have lobbied the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) at national level. SALGA will convene all stakeholders so that districts may play a bigger role in the district's road upgrade and planning processes. This includes the gravel roads in the district."
Go George bus service
"An integrated public transport service should not be limited to George only. Public transport is a district municipal mandate, and the EDM will soon enter into engagements to have transport systems play a greater role in all municipalities in the district.
Eden District Municipality speaker, Councillor Mark Willemse, IDP manager for the Eden District Municipality, Mzukisi Cekiso, and Eden District Municipality's executive mayor Memory Booysen at the start of the IDP/Budget/Performance Management Representative Forum hosted in Mossel Bay.
Parks and resorts
EDM operates quite a number of public resorts and caravan parks, the most notable of which are the Calitzdorp Spa, De Hoek Resort, Victoria Bay and Swartvlei. Increases in booking fees will add to the coffers, and the municipality is doing away with long-term bookings several months ahead of the intended stay to make the booking process fairer to the ordinary salaried local residents.
Public participation
The mayor sees institutionalised public participation and awareness as a strategic direction for which several initiatives are planned, such as service delivery weeks, Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) roadshows, sector department and private sector engagements as well as international stakeholder engagements. He placed emphasis on initiatives to eliminate fraud and corruption.
He added that talks at national level are ongoing about the future of district municipalities.
"It is necessary to strengthen intergovernmental relations. EDM intends to lobby for Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) to again revert to the district municipality for equitable redistribution to the municipalities under its jurisdiction. Important strides have been made in establishing excellent international relations that may result in strategic partnerships on several levels."
Name change
As soon as the Garden Route District Municipality has been gazetted as the new name for the district municipality, the change-over will take place. This was necessitated as the current name causes confusion, also with an area called Eden in the UK. Research seems to indicate that tourism is suffering as a result of the existing name.
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