COMPONENT B: PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY
2.3.1 INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
2.3.1.1 National Intergovernmental Structures
The National Forum, i.e. The Municipal Managers Forum, facilitated by the Department of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) meets twice per annum. New legislation and its implications, as well as challenges for local government, e.g. financial sustainability, professionalism and oversight structures are discussed.
The Directorate: Infrastructure Services represented by the Director: Infrastructure Services as a member of the national WRC/SALGA Municipal Benchmarking Initiative in Water Services, which collaborates in a national programme towards the improvement of water services, co-driven by SALGA and the Water Research Commission (WRC) and in collaboration with Ethekwini Municipality, MILE (Municipal Institute of Learning), representatives of other municipalities, the Institute of Municipal Engineers (Imesa) and the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS).
2.3.1.2 Provincial Intergovernmental Structures
Office of the Municipal Manager
The Municipality is a keen participant of joint intergovernmental planning initiatives of Provincial Government. MinMay (Provincial Ministers, Provincial Heads of Departments, Mayors and Municipal Managers) and the Premier's Coordinating Forum are provincial forums for fruitful interaction regarding local government cooperation and challenges. These meetings are held twice per annum. The Provincial Municipal Managers Forum meets quarterly.
Chief Audit Executive and Chief Risk Officer fora are held on a quarterly basis in conjunction with Provincial Treasury where all municipalities share best practises and consult on areas of improvement.
Stellenbosch is represented on the Provincial IDP Managers Forum, the Provincial Public Participation and Communication Forum, all of which are facilitated by the Provincial Department of Local Government.
Financial and Corporate Services
The Finance Directorate participates in several provincial fora on a quarterly basis. The fora include the Supply Chain Management forum, the Municipal Property Rates Act forum, the Management Accountants forum as well as the Chief Financial Officer Forum.
The Municipal Court is in full operation and collaborates with the Department of Justice on a regular basis.
Planning and Economic Development
The Municipality is represented by the Manager: Spatial Planning on the task team set up by DEA&DP to revise the Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF). Through this inter-governmental process Stellenbosch Municipality is able to provide input into the format and substance of this document that will have a legal bearing on all local municipalities in the Western Cape.
The DEA&DP and the Municipality established a working group to consult monthly or more regularly as the need arises about environmental authorisation applications and land use (spatial planning) matters.
Slow response times to applications by developers, entrepreneurs, farmers, service providers (Eskom, Telkom, cellular operators, etc.), waste management bodies, mining operators and roads authorities, cause delayed investment and infrastructure provisions. This has negative effects on the economy, hence the working group was established to increase the speed with which the applications are administered.
The working group consists of the technical role players and it is overseen by the portfolio councillors of the Municipality. This structure ensures prior commitment to and understanding of matters to be reported to the relevant portfolio committees or council. The working group is administered by the DEA&DP and meetings are in liaison with the Directorate: Planning and Economic Development, who must invite and ensure attendance by affected internal role players.
Quarterly meetings involving Pniel Primary School as a pilot school is looking at combined initiatives from the Municipality, Department of Health, Department of Social Development, Education and DCAS to address issues relating to poor school performance.
Regional Forum Meetings between Provincial Department of Human Settlements (PDoHS) and Municipalities in the Cape Winelands region:
The PDoHS and the municipalities in the Cape Winelands Region meet on a quarterly basis to discuss all new housing policies and budget related matters in housing delivery. During the meeting, all the housing officials of the various municipalities are present to share their new innovative ideas. The overall performance of each municipality is discussed in detail as well as mitigating options if the need arises.
Applications of new and existing projects are also discussed with the feedback from the PDoHS. The municipalities receive information relating to: beneficiary administration, outstanding approvals, informal settlement challenges, title deed transfers, farm worker evictions and other matters with regards to the housing delivery. Legislation and court rulings are also discussed to ensure that senior officials are aware of any new implementation programmes, circulars and legal precedents. Each of the five municipalities is given the opportunity to host this engagement.
The Informal Settlements Department also represents the Municipality at the bi-monthly Informal Settlements Support Programme (ISSP) meetings of the Provincial Department of Human Settlements (PDoHS). The latter program aims to interpret National and Provincial guidelines with respect to
upgrading of informal settlements. The purpose of these monthly meetings is to discuss best practices in informal settlements within the Cape Winelands region.
The Informal Settlements Department furthermore collaborates between various Municipal Departments and Stats SA. The collaboration is aimed at regularising the Municipality’s data collection efforts into a format that is acceptable to Stats SA and that the collected data eventually will meet the standards as required by Stats SA.
Engineering Services
The Directorate participates in the Stellenbosch River Collaborative Steering Committee with the aim of developing a multi-stakeholder collaborative governance process within which to deal with issues of water quality and pollution in the Stellenbosch rivers. The participants include the Winelands Water Users Association, Stellenbosch Municipality, Department of Water Affairs, the Department of Environmental Affairs, Cape Nature, WWF, Wildlands and key stakeholders in the wine industry such as Spier and the Distell group.
The Department of Waste Management is currently finalising their draft 3rd generation Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP), which is undertaken by GreenCape, a non-profit organisation that drives the widespread adoption of economically viable green economy solutions from the Western Cape. The IWMP gives direction regarding Waste-to-Energy, Alternate Waste Management options and Waste Management projects proposals.
The Department of Waste Management also embarked on a Waste Characterisation Study, to provide the information base in drafting a new approach towards waste management, which has been captured in the new generation, Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP). The 3rd Generation Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP), gives direction regarding Waste-to-Energy, Alternate Waste Management options and Waste Management projects proposals. This innovative approach was recognised by the DEA&DP when the Municipality was requested to assist three other local municipalities in taking this approach. The municipalities of Beaufort West, Prins Albert and Laingsburg were assisted in this manner by the visit of the Waste Management Department team, who trained the local officials as well as assisted in the first data collection exercise.
The Western Cape Provincial Government has identified Stellenbosch Municipality as a priority municipality for the implementation of the Provincial Sustainable Transport Programme (PSTP). To this end, the Western Cape Government through its Department of Transport and Public Works, has entered into a partnership with Stellenbosch Municipality (a Memorandum of Agreement was concluded in July 2016) to plan and implement sustainable transport initiatives. As part of this initiative, the Municipality has started investigating the possibility of implementing a scheduled public transport service within Stellenbosch.
The Western Cape Government as part of the Provincial Sustainable process also made money available for small systems improvement and R4m was given for non-motorised transport projects in Kayamandi, Cloetesville, Klapmuts and Idas Valley. The Department of Waste Management also embarked on a second Waste Characterisation Study, five years after the initial pioneering study was undertaken, to provide the information base in drafting a new approach towards waste management, which has been captured in the new generation, (IWMP). The 3rd Generation Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) was the first in the province; this innovative approach was recognised by the DEA&DP when the Municipality was requested to assist three other local municipalities in taking this approach. The municipalities of Beaufort West, Prins Albert and Laingsburg were assisted in this manner by the visit of the Waste Management Department team, who trained the local officials as well as
assisted in the first data collection exercise. Provincial government (D:EA&DP) officials were trained by Stellenbosch Municipality in 2012/13, and are now implementing a number of waste categorisation studies in other municipalities in the Western Cape. The national department, Department:
Environmental Affairs (DEA) would like to have this implemented throughout the country.
Stellenbosch Municipality is also represented at the quarterly Waste Management Officers Forums, where best practices, changing legislation, feedback from national and provincial government policy changes, etc. are discussed to keep all municipalities in the Western Cape abreast of all issues pertaining to waste management. The Western Cape Recycling Action Group (RAG) quarterly forums, although more geared at private sector contributions to waste minimisation, also provide the platform for municipalities to engage with each other and the private sector for waste minimisation opportunities.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has also engaged with this Municipality as its primary reference source in terms of testing a separation at source model on behalf of DEA, which the latter would like to implement nationally.
The Electrical Department is extensively involved with the other local municipalities’ electricity departments through the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU). This project is an initiative to implement energy saving and load shifting capacity within the municipal area and is being used with great success.
In collaboration with the Department of Energy (DOE) further energy saving projects were implemented.
At the Stellenbosch Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) energy efficiency Technologies on pumps were implemented. The Directorate: Engineering Services supports innovation and research and collaborates with various entities in this regard. Research was undertaken at one of Council’s Waste Water Treatment works to test nano-fibre technology as a new cost-effective and robust technology which could revolutionise the wastewater treatment sector in South Africa.
Community and Protection Services
Traffic Services liaises with Western Cape Government: Department Transport and Public Works on a continuous basis on matters related to transport administration and licensing, traffic law administration regarding motor-vehicle licensing and issuing of learner and driving licenses.
The department further engages with RTIA, RTMC, Director Public Prosecutions, Department of Justice regarding legislative requirements and adherence.
To execute the Safely Home Programme, the department interacts with various engineering entities such as provincial engineers and Cape Winelands District Council. The Western Cape Government developed the Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) which gave rise to policies, programmes and projects forming partnerships amongst government, citizens, civil society and business. Various spheres of government are being engaged to co-create a culture of wellness and safety in the workplace and to promote wellness and safety through integrated service delivery models in order to address the social determinants of health through interaction with Department Education, Health Department and SAPS.
The Municipality engages in numerous partnerships to facilitate service delivery.
Table 2:40: Municipal Partnerships
Name of Partner/ Partnership Purpose
Mayor/Rector Forum A partnership with the University of Stellenbosch to ensure aligned development planning and that the Municipality draws from the university’s expertise and resources.
Name of Partner/ Partnership Purpose Memorandum of Cooperation
between the Stellenbosch Municipality and Stellenbosch University (SU)
Cooperation in terms of closed circuit television in the interest of the security of the town and the campus with a view to a crime-free university town.
Landfill Monitoring Committee A partnership with the Devon Valley residents, whereby residents monitor the Stellenbosch landfill site.
IMESA (Institute for Municipal Engineers South Africa)
A partnership with IMESA aimed at strengthening knowledge and capacity related to municipal infrastructure and service delivery.
Integrated Development Committee (IPC)
A partnership with the university and other stakeholders aimed at exploring spatial and urban planning possibilities for Stellenbosch to meet the needs of the Municipality and university.
Department Social
Development, DCAS, Cape
Winelands District Municipality Joint implementation of programmes focussing on common issues within WC024.
SALGA Municipal Benchmarking
Initiative A partnership aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness through comparative process benchmarking, peer-to-peer operational knowledge sharing and iterative performance improvements.
Stellenbosch River
Collaborative A partnership was formed between various role players to improve the water quality in the Eerste River catchment, with the focus on the Plankenbrug river.
Bergriver Improvement Programme
A partnership was formed to improve the quality of the storm water run-off from the Langrug Informal Settlement. The project entails the implementation of biomimicry, waste recycling and a Sustainable Urban Drainage lab.
LTAB A partnership was formed between political leaders to discuss Land Transport-related matters that affect transport in the area.
Transport Working Group A Transport Working Group was established to discuss transport related matters that affect Stellenbosch, including all relevant governmental institutions and other role players.
IPC The Integrated Planning Committee is a working group between the City of Cape Town,
Stellenbosch, Saldanha, Overstrand, Theewaterskloof, and Drakenstein Municipality that discuss all transport related matters to effectively promote regional planning
NMT Working Group A working group that discusses all Non-Motorised Transport matters in the Stellenbosch area. The group consist of NMT users, officials, representatives from the university and the disabled fraternity.
Drought Steering Committee
This is a committee consisting of a panel of roll players in the drought intervention plan including consultants to discuss, plan, manage and action the Drought Intervention strategies that culminated from various source documents including WCWDM strategies, WSDP, AUDIT REPORTS and various Master Plans and processes. It also oversees the SCM and construction phase of the plans.
GreenCape The GreenCape partnership represents a cooperation with the province’s 110% green initiatives, focussing on alternative waste management initiatives and energy efficiency.
CSIR A partnership aimed at multidisciplinary research and development by supporting innovation in Stellenbosch.
Genius of Space
This initiative developed from, and forms part of the Western Cape 110% Green Initiative.
The Biomimicry Genius of Space project is a registered flagship project of 110% Green.
This initiative combines two priorities of the Western Cape Government – the Berg River and the Green Economy – to find an innovative solution to water pollution in the Berg River.
General Municipal Partnerships
District Intergovernmental Structures
The Cape Winelands District Municipality’s Executive Mayor is Chairperson of the District Coordinating Forum which has been established in accordance with the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act, No. 13 of 2005. This forum meets quarterly and seeks to promote and facilitate intergovernmental relations between the district municipality and the local municipalities in the district. The Stellenbosch Municipality participates in this forum and the Cape Winelands District Municipal Managers Forum and benefits immensely from this involvement by being exposed to good practises in other municipalities and strengthening the relationship with the district municipality in forging joint partnerships in the interest of good governance and service delivery. The Cape Winelands District Municipality supports community development and use indigenous sports
Name of Partner/ Partnership Purpose
to create social cohesion amongst communities in the district. Special focus and attention was given to our communities in rural areas. Stellenbosch, Drakenstein and Breede Valley Municipalities have participated in various indigenous games which were hosted by the Cape Winelands Municipality. The relationship between Stellenbosch Municipality and the district municipality has dramatically improved and the Community Services Department has managed to exceed all expectations in this regard. A targeted approach was followed and sports were used as a catalyst to cement this relationship with the district.
The areas that the Department of Community Services targeted were communication, sharing of resources, capacity building and financial resources. The improved relationship between the district municipality and Stellenbosch Municipality enabled the communities to also participate in the Provincial and National Indigenous Games.