Municipal managers discuss burning issues

MUNICIPAL managers from various municipalities in the Northern Cape gathered in Upington yesterday to reflect on many of the burning issues in local government, some of which affect service delivery as well as the image of local government.

The Municipal Managers Forum was established by the SA Local Government Association (Salga) as a formal platform for municipal managers to meet and discuss matters of influence in the administration of local government, to share best practices for the acceleration of service delivery mechanisms in the Northern Cape and to enable interchange towards informing policy-making discussions on matters impacting local government.

Salga spokesperson, Thotoane Shale, said yesterday that some of the key issues discussed included Salga’s Municipal Audit Support Programme (MASP), municipal debt owed to Eskom and water boards, application of Section 139 interventions, assessment of senior managers through Salga’s Municipal Leadership Competency Assessment Centre and the devolution of Municipal Health Services in the Northern Cape.

“As part of the support programme, the MASP, which was established in 2014, some municipalities were identified as redzone ones, based on unfavourable MFMA audit outcomes that had to be improved to ensure the sustainability of these municipalities,” Shale said.

For the current financial year, based on the 2016/17 MFMA audit outcomes, Joe Morolong, Phokwane, Siyathemba and Ubuntu have been identified as red-zone municipalities that will form part of the priorities of MASP for the 2018/19 financial year.

– Patsy Beangstrom