Standing Committee on Appropriations 17 August 2010

1. Standing Committee on Appropriations 17 August 2010 Role of SALGA in capacity building at local government level

2. Local Government Context • Overview of the evolution and transformation of local government : • Pre-interim phase(1994 – 1995); • Interim Phase(1995 – 2000); • Final Phase (2000 – beyond) which entails: • Establishment (2000 – 2002); • Consolidation (2002 – 2005)(Project Consolidate as key intervention); and • Sustainability (2005 – beyond)(5 YLGSA/LGTAS as key interventions)

3. Context • State of LG Report that resulted in the Local Government Turnaround identified a number of capacity constraints facing local government in the implementation of the system of developmental LG. • The State of Local Government in South Africa Report recognises the needs for improved capacity and skills for both councillors and municipal officials • Municipalities have poor skills base and lack of training and career pathing • Lack of skills development programmes or committed training in many municipalities has come strongly to the fore during the assessment • Under-investment in people, particularly where technical, management and leadership skills are required;

4. Context • The LGTAS identifies the root causes for some of the problems in municipalities, which includes capacity and skills constraints •  It further states that everyone must rise to the challenge of ensuring our municipalities are sites of excellence and they are led and staffed politically and administratively with office bearers and public servants who are responsive, accountable, efficient, effective, and carry out their duties with civic pride. •  The LGTAS highlights the core areas of concern from the evidence-based findings such as serious leadership and governance challenges in municipalities and inadequate human resource capital to ensure professional administrations, and positive relations between labour, management and Councils. • Five strategic objectives are identified that will guide the LGTAS interventions, one being to improve performance and professionalism in municipalities.

5. Context With regard to the skills and capacity of municipal officials, the following questions need to be addressed: •  Is the municipality recruiting and retaining enough municipal officials and are these officials qualified and experienced? • What are the vacancy rates in a municipality against averages? (organisational development and filling of critical posts/ recruitment and retention policies) • What is the level of experience (number of years) of the municipal manager and CFO? (professionalise administrations) • Do the municipal manager and CFO have a tertiary qualification? (professionalise administrations)

6. A Multi-dimensional Approach to Capacity Building Institutional Capacity Capacity Individual Environmental Capacity

7. KEY STRATEGIC ANCHORS • Thought Leadership – build capacity at LG level through practice analysis and strategic research; • Advocacy-Heart – influence capacity building policy and practices and advocate through effective stakeholder influence around these issues • Co-ordination-Voice- coordination, facilitation and integration of players in capacity building space; and • Authentication-Hand - The standardization and quality assurance of capacity building programmes and integration towards efficacy and optimization.

8. SALGA’s Skills Programmes • Co-ordinate  the  programme. • Source  funding. • Market  the  programme. • Assess  impact  of  the  programme. • Monitoring  and  evaluation. Executive Leadership Development Councillor Training • Intensify  capacity  building  programme for Councillors. • Revise existing  material. • Impact  assessment. (LODLOG): Capacitate  Seni or  Leadership • Ensure  participants  prepare  micro projects. • Develop  selection  tool  for  participants. • Select  provinces. Traditional Leadership Capacity Building • Ensure traditional leaders understand their role in local governance. • Form  partnership  with  relevant  departments  and  institution. • Secure  funding  from  LGSETA. • Develop  training  programme.

9. CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECTS

10. CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECTS

11. PROJECT STATUS

12. P3 Programme • Programme approved by SALGA in 2008 in partnership with the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (funding from EU and SIDA) to run a partnership programme aimed at enhancing the capacity of SALGA while working with selected municipalities. • The European Commission grant comprises 75% of the funding with the remaining 25% is provided by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) with the SALAR being the Lead Partner. • The programme supports actions aimed at promoting an inclusive and empowered society in partner countries and two of its specific objectives are to: • facilitate interaction between Local Authorities and Non-State Actors in different contexts and support an increased role for local authorities in decentralisation processes. • strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations and local authorities, with a view to facilitating their participation in defining sustainable development strategies and in implementing actions aiming at poverty reduction.

13. P3 Programme • The two EU grants which enabled this programme are “Transparent Local Governance – a Toolkit” and “Local Leadership for Growth”. • At its basic level, this partnership is intended to provide assistance to the municipalities’ efforts to better serve their constituents by: • Promoting local economic partnerships in municipalities using analytical and participatory tools • Promoting transparent governance using approaches which enhance good practice in municipal financial management and citizen orientation • The programme has two components – the promotion of local economies and the enhancement of transparent LG while improving municipal finances and financial management. • The model is based on each country having a project manager who are supported by process facilitators who work closely with the municipalities.

14. P3 Programme The following municipalities were selected: • The Municipalities selected in the Eastern Cape are Elundini, Senqu and Maletswai municipalities in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality; and Intsika Yethu, Lukanji and Emalahleni municipalities in the Chris Hani District Municipality • Municipalities in the Free State selected for this partnership are Naledi in the Motheo District Municipality; Mohokare and Kopanong in the Xhariep District Municipality; and Setsoto in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District Municipality • In the Western Cape, Theewaterskloof, Cape Agulhas in the Overberg District Municipality as well as Hessequa and Mossel Bay in the Eden District Municipality

15. Funding Sources • The following organisations were approached for funding Capacity Building programmes: • SALGA and LGSETA signed an MoU on funding capacity building activities. • ELMDP generating revenue for capacity building programmes. • EU and Sida supporting SALGA’s capacity building programmes for member municipalities. The DBSA has changed leadership and the new manager is being engaged on possible funding and collaborations on capacity building. • The following are resources raised during the year under review: • GEMLOG-SIDA =R4million • LGSETA =R350-000 • GTZ =R250 000 • LODLOG-SISA =R5million • LGSETA and GTZ = R 2.8 Million

16. SALGA’S CAPACITY BUILDING BEYOND 2010/11 • SALGA’s next Councillor Induction (CI)Programme: • Planning for the CI commenced and steering committee established to address four phases; • Review of the 2006 CI done and planning for the 2010/11 CI commenced; • The following phases for CI has been mapped out: • Phase1: Towards a “Good Councillor” • Phase2: Material Development • Phase3: Coordination of sector departments • Phase4: Municipal orientation of Councillors

17. SALGA’S CAPACITY BUILDING BEYOND 2010/11 • CI Training Manual is being reviewed and will be completed in February 2011; • Induction Plans to be communicated in September 2010 • Accreditation of the CI programme; • Conduct Impact Assessment on International Programmes; • Develop and implement Regional Collaboration Strategy on Capacity Building;

18. Considerations • In the past a bigger external focus was placed on the capacitating of councillors than municipal staff. • 2011 will not only bring new councillors, but also new municipal managers and managers reporting to municipal managers who need to be capacitated and skilled in developmental local government and the principles of Ubuntu. • SALGA supports principle of professionalisation of municipal administration and minimum competencies for managers. • Acquisition and retention of scares skills needs to be addressed. • Career pathing for employees needs to be strengthened.

19. Proposals • Whilst SALGA champions a comprehensive Capacity Building programme, much more is necessary to improve the skills required by politicians and officials in terms of governance and associated accredited programmes. Need to invest in accredited capacity building programmes for politicians and officials. • Certain municipalities are battling to recruit the requisite skills due to a lack of response either due to not being able to afford the salaries or attract those skilled individuals to their (some times rural) localities. It is necessary to provide attractive career paths and associated incentives for municipal staff.

20. Proposals • The need to adopt a stronger approach to regulating those who enter the municipal service ensuring that those entering the pool have the requisite skills (professionalisation). • Siyenza Manje support to be extended to more municipalities, especially smaller municipalities who cannot attract and retain the skill and to explore shared services. • Expanding existing surveys such as the MDB assessments to include a greater focus on professional, management and leadership skills. • Actively discourage political influence/interference in the appointment of staff resulting in politically accepted appointments at the expense of the necessary and relevant skills required.

21. Way forward • In sum, more creative responses are required to address scarce skills, such as partnering with civil society, private sector and shared services options. • In moving forward on skills development, specific attention will need to be given to career pathing, defining and enforcing minimum competencies for certain posts, applicable programs for politicians and relevant management and leadership training. • SALGA has a critical role to play in ensuring the necessary skills are developed to effect a professionalised LG sphere.