By Bonginkosi Masiwa

WHILE there has been significant progress in some key performance areas in Buffalo City, the municipality must continually strive to meet the service needs of its citizens, and give people a say in how those services are delivered.

This is a tall order for any municipality, however skilled or unskilled it is in dealing with its residents’ needs. Buffalo City is one of the stronger municipalities in the province, with a sizeable tax base and skilled officials, but it too faces very real constraints and needs to look at its turnaround time.

Many complain that the wheels of government move too slowly, far too slowly to make any real difference to the huge social and economic backlogs inherited from the country’s past. But there have been a number of municipal programmes, which may be viewed as a step in the right direction since the Peer Review was undertaken five years ago in 2002.

The city has since embarked on a drive not only to retain current investment but also to woo new investors in its attempt to foster local economic development (LED). At a recent conference aimed at forging a stronger partnership with business, a commitment was expressed by both the city fathers and business leaders to seek common solutions to the problems bedeviling businesses and the city’s vision and quest for a just society.  

All the city’s 45 ward committees completed training on their roles and functions earlier this year and according to the municipality’s department of public participation, there are plans to further capacitate them on municipal performance management systems as a way of strengthening municipal accountability.

However, the municipality needs to strengthen programmes in the following areas according to the Peer Review Report:

Service delivery

There are a number of key service extension challenges the municipality faces – particularly the incorporation of a large rural area within BCM’s jurisdiction. The Peer Review Report stressed a need for an approach that would ensure an adequate focus on rural areas.

Local economic development

There is a strong need for the consolidation of economic development initiatives and to forge stronger partnerships with business, other spheres of government and other key stakeholders to both develop and drive a city development strategy or plan.

A common criticism of BCM internally and from external stakeholders is that “problems never get resolved”. However, the report recommends that BCM initiate the establishment of a formal city development partnership under the leadership of the Mayor which comprises provincial government leaders, organised business, major companies, parastatals, tertiary institutions and other relevant stakeholders to drive the economic development of the city.

The initiative will require appropriate institutional support and should be able to develop a coherent strategy, mobilise key stakeholders, target and secure new strategic investments, unblock obstacles to development and business growth, develop an aligned approach with the Nelson Mandela Metro and the Amathole District Municipality, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other relevant government agencies to ensure that the fundamentals for sustained growth are in place.
There is also a need to improve key infrastructure to facilitate new investment including central business district (CBD) renewal, the provision of transport and service infrastructure for the West Bank and the development of the city’s beachfront.

Community participation in municipal processes

The role and purpose of ward committees requires development if these bodies are to be effective and sustained. Many ward committees are not functioning and a larger, more developmentally compelling vision for them needs to be introduced. The report also suggests that more positive ways of “incentivising” ward committees had to be found to encourage the active and sustained participation of volunteer members, many of whom were unemployed.

However, the report also recommends that BCM initiate processes to build and develop the role of the ward committees and enhance their effectiveness. 

Possible actions could include:

• The allocation of limited discretionary funding to ward committees for use in their wards in building community cohesion and involvement;
• Improved training and information for ward committees, including information related to service performance in their area;
• The development of ward-based action plans possibly through the community-based planning approach;
• Non-cash incentives for ward committee members to encourage participation;
• The provision of stronger support from the administration by upgrading the current administrative back-up function, to encompass community facilitation and development support;
• Improved communication with the residents – to this effect the municipality has taken action in the form of developing a municipal newsletter and website that are accessible to the public.

At a time when the country is being rocked by violent service-delivery protests, it is crucial for municipalities to continue striving for excellence. They must timeously meet the service needs of residents and provide feedback on how much progress has been made towards realising the reviewing teams’ recommendations
The Local Government Transformer August/September 2007
What is the Peer Review mechanism?

Buffalo City Municipality voluntarily embarked on a Peer Review exercise together with Johannesburg in November 2002. The concept of Peer Review was adopted from the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which was introduced by the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).

It is an instrument voluntarily acceded to by member states of the African Union as a self-monitoring mechanism aimed at ensuring the policies and practices of participating states tally and conform to the agreed and mutual political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards.

At local governance level, the idea was to have groups of “peers” consisting of officials from a municipality and from government visiting the municipality under review and spending time experiencing and observing how it functions. The exercise was under the guidance of the South African Cities’ Network and was meant to encourage municipalities to engage with developmental challenges in their areas and help the authority assess its current achievements and its capacity to change.

The basis for the assessment was a specially constructed benchmark for an ideal South African municipality. This benchmark focused broadly on the four themes of development, leading and learning, democracy and community engagement and performance, and is drawn from the prescribed key performance areas (KPAs) for municipalities.

The Local Government Transformer August/September 2007