Standing Committee on Appropriations

 17 August 2010

Role of SALGA in capacity building at local government level

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)

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;

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.

Context

A Multi-dimensional Approach to Capacity

Building

CapacityIndividual

InstitutionalCapacity

Environmental Capacity

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.

Executive Leadership

Development

Executive Leadership

Development

Councillor Training

Councillor Training

(LODLOG): Capacitate  Seni or  Leadership

(LODLOG): Capacitate  Seni or  Leadership

Traditional Leadership

Capacity Building

Traditional Leadership

Capacity Building

Co-ordinate  the  programme. Source  funding. Market  the  programme. Assess  impact  of  the  programme. Monitoring  and  evaluation.

Intensify  capacity  building  programme for Councillors.Revise existing  material.Impact  assessment.

Ensure  participants  prepare  micro projects. Develop  selection  tool  for  participants. Select  provinces.

Ensure traditional leaders understand their role in local governance. Form  partnership  with  relevant  departments  and  institution. Secure  funding  from  LGSETA. Develop  training  programme.

SALGA’s Skills Programmes

CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECTS

NAME OF PROJECTS PROJECT DESCRIPTION PARTNERSHIP

Local Democracy and Local Governance (LODLOG)

Support democratic consolidation process in South Africa and improve the competency of local politicians and officials in the field of Local Democracy and Governance. About 100 trained so far, including 6 from Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.

Swedish Partners

Gender Mainstreaming and Local Governance-Swedish Partners (GEMLOG)

Aimed at building the capacity of South African Local Authorities in gender equality and leadership, 32 trained in this pilot

Swedish Partners

Local Labour Forum (LLF) A programme aimed at restoring the relationship between the employer and organised labour

LGSETA

9

CAPACITY BUILDING PROJECTS

NAME OF PROJECTS PROJECTS DESCRIPTION PARTNERSHIP

Municipal Skills Development Programme (Microsoft IT)

Programme is an initiative that will help Local Governments to use Technology more effectively and efficiently in improving service delivery.875 officials trained so far.

Microsoft SA, Post Office, DBSA,

Councillor Induction

7000 ,2006, newly elected Councilors inducted on their roles and responsibilities.

CoGTA, GTZ, SALGA, LGSETA

Councilor Development 8794 participants trained on the programme.

LGSETA, SALGA

10

PROJECT STATUS

Project Name Participants Sponsorship

Executive Leadership Management Development Programme (ELMDP)

A total of 2055 participants graduated from this programme since its inception in 2006 till to date

Municipalities since 2006 till 2008 and LGSETA in 2009

LODLOG 32 SKL & LGSETA, SALGA, SALA IDA

GEMLOG 28 SKL & LGSETA, SALGA, SALA IDA

Municipal Finance Programme

1170 LGSETA, DBSA and DPLG

Ward Committee Training 2580 SALGA

Municipal Governance Certificate

373 UJ & LGSETA SALGA

Councilor Induction In 2006 a total of 7000 Councillors were inducted nationwide

UJ, SALGA

11

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.

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.

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

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

15

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

16

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;

17

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.

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.

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.

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.