THE STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
at 30 June 2013
4.2.4. City mentorship in Namibia
4.2.4.1 Setting the development context in Namibia
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(i) Provide a pre-need assessment on challenges of members related to urban development, urbanization and poverty reduction in the country; (ii) prepare the mission activities, mobilize relevant local actors to be involved; (iii) describe the expectation to the mentors regarding specific inputs; and (iv) provide accommodation transport and any operational requirement for the mentor.
Whilst recognizing that Mzuzu City Council’s capacity to develop and implement plans are far from eThekwini’s, the essence of the spirit of the partnership is captured in the following sentiments, as recorded in eThekwini Municipality’s (2010a: 4) inception report:
… there is a need to look at the potential that each city has to turn around things for the good of its residents in the short-term and for the possibility of becoming a stronger regional player in the longer term.
It is this vision of making a contribution to the growth of a stronger African region that has been a strong motivator for the eThekwini Municipality to provide support not only to its Malawian counterpart, but to its western neighbor. The background to this mentorship process with Namibia is turned to next.
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Table 4.3: Comparison of the Namibia and South African development contexts (UCLG, 2014: 3)
Namibia South Africa
Independence and political system
Republic of Namibia
1990: independence from South Africa
Republic of South Africa
1960: independence from British rule 1994: formation of a democratic government
Population in 2013
2.1 million
2.56 population/ km2
53 million
40.19 population/ km2 Economy
GDP/ capita in 2013
US$ 5 656
Industry: 30.9% of the GDP Service: 59.4% of the GDP Agriculture: 9.6% of the GDP
US$ 6 847
Service: 68.3% of the GDP Industry: 29.2% of the GDP Agriculture: 2.4% of the GDP Mining industry: 9% of the GDP Administrative
division
14 regions and 121 municipalities 9 provinces and 55 districts: 9 metropolitan areas and 46 district municipalities subdivided into 284 local municipalities
Role of local government
Services provider to citizens:
water supply, cemeteries, sewerage and drainage, tourism promotion, street and public spaces, buy and sell land and buildings, etc.
Water and sanitation services, refuse collection and disposal, town planning, urban roads, gas services, district heating, electricity, health
infrastructures, tourism promotion, etc.
Sources of local government revenue
Rates: 30%
Electricity supply charges: 30%
Water rates: 30%
Other: 10%
Grants and subsidies: 50%
Own contributions: 24%
External loans: 18%
Other income and donations: 8%
The vast geographical extent of Namibia is appreciated when one compares its population density of 2.6 people per km2 in relation to South Africa’s 40.2 people per km2. From a local government finance perspective, the table shows a glaring difference between Namibian and South African municipalities, with the former drawing 90% of its rates, water and electricity charges to fund themselves, whilst the latter relies on grants and subsidies for its municipal functioning. With regard to urban governance in Namibia, ALAN notes that unlike South Africa’s “spheres of government”, Namibia has a “3-tier government structure”; with Central Government comprised of several ministries and departments; 13 regional councils; and 56 local authorities made up of three categories of local government which include municipalities (Part I and Part II), town councils and village councils (ALAN, 2010: 2). As in South Africa, however, Namibia’s cities,
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towns and villages are responsible for the provision, operation and maintenance of most municipal infrastructure including roads, drainage, water supply, sewerage, street lighting and solid waste management.
While some local governments in Namibia have developed local level policy and regulatory instruments to help govern these functions, ALAN in their proposal to Cities Alliance for funding of their CDS note that “many municipalities lack resources, both in terms of monetary funds and institutional capacity, required to effectively execute their municipal responsibilities” (ALAN, 2010: 3). ALAN (2010) further accepts that the Central Government has several national strategic frameworks in place to guide development processes and implementing economic and social programs nationally. One such document is the overarching Vision 2030, which aims to transform Namibia from a middle income country to a highly developed nation by 2030. The 3rd National Development Plan (NDP) is also in place and is the five year development plan of Central Government (ALAN, 2010).
ALAN’s (2010) proposal contextualizes the urbanization challenge, explaining that following independence from South Africa in 1990 and the subsequent end of the apartheid system of controlling the movement and settlement of people based on race, Namibia’s urban areas saw an increase in informal settlements. In-migration to urban areas, ALAN (2010) contends, is typically motivated by the search for employment and a better quality of life, fuelled by the degradation of soil and unsustainable farming practices in rural areas. As is the case in Malawi, the issue of a general lack of skill and institutional capacity that also affects both the short- and long-term planning efforts of local governments has been identified by ALAN (2010).
An important acknowledgement is made by ALAN who accepts that while partnerships between the three tiers of government has been envisaged, “inter-governmental cooperation is lacking with national and regional development plans not necessarily corresponding with local level needs”
(ALAN, 2010: 4). This has been the starting point for a bottom-up process of strategic planning driven by municipalities in Namibia, supported by ALAN and the National Ministry. The Otjiwarongo Municipality is one of five municipalities supported by ALAN and has been taking the lead in the development of the CDS with support from the eThekwini Municipality.
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