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Madam Speaker, Councillors, Acting Municipal Manager and officials, Members of the media, Members of the public
It is indeed an honour and a privilege for me to be granted this opportunity to present to you the 2011 – 2012 financial year budget.
The President in his 2011 State of the Nation Address signalled that government intends to deliver more and better services in a caring and efficient manner; hold political office bearers and public servants accountable; shift resources to new priorities; move from debate to effective implementation and decisive action and to work in partnership with communities, labour and business to achieve shared objectives. National Government’s main priority for each municipality is to do more within its existing resource envelope. He also announced that all government departments will align their programmes with the job creation imperative. That includes the provincial and local government spheres.
As we reach the end of another fiscal year and indeed the end of the term of office of the current Council we reflect with jubilation and pride in our past service delivery record. Yet whilst we succeeded in making good progress in addressing many areas of concern we also acknowledge that we could have done better in some others. We take pride in the fact that we always responded to any crisis by facing them head on and finding solutions where ever possible. One of the biggest challenges faced by the whole country in the previous fiscal year, the global economic crisis, is a testament of our resilience and commitment to making sure that we control, monitor and execute our budget with discipline and according to the guidelines as set out by the MFMA.
This budget has been guided by our legislative mandate as well as the key priority areas captured in the District Integrated Development Plan (IDP). As always most of our delivery efforts over the past years have been focussed on assisting category B municipalities in terms of infrastructure for the provision of free basic services as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) support. In the 2011/12 financial year our focus will be narrowed down to concentrate more strongly on O&M. The initial allocation towards O&M started at R350,000 in 2005 and has increased to an amount of R10m over the past five years. In the 2011/12 financial year an amount of R7,7m has been allocated to support the O&M at the local municipalities. It is a well-known fact that the economic base of our local municipalities is meagre and this entails that most of the projects of these municipalities are grant funded. This means that the municipalities will have infrastructure in place which they cannot maintain because of their poor economic base. As a result they are not able to maintain this infrastructure and it falls upon the district municipality to assist them in ensuring that the infrastructure is maintained.
We have also continued to assist our local municipalities with ad hoc administrative and financial management support in areas such as budget reforms, shared audit services for the district, institutional and administrative reforms, developmental issues (HIV/Aids and Social responsibility), governance and financial reforms. In rands and cents the contribution of this municipality on these services are: Internal Audit R772,275; Finance Management R338,000; Spatial Development R2,596,690; Performance Management R385,665; compilation of IDPs R385,665; Engineering advisory services R1,317,590 and Roads maintenance R597,890. Adding up to a total of R6,393,775.
In this current financial year we have experienced some structural changes in the make up of our municipality. The handing over of the roads function and District Management Area (DMA) will influence the contributions from National Government substantially and will have a negative impact on the cash flows of the municipality.
The abolishment of District Management Areas directly influenced grant funding from national government to the extent that the municipality’s allocation for equitable share decreased by R2,88m and MIG funding to the amount of R6,45m in 2011 was stopped totally. Rendering of other basic services mainly in Koopmansfontein will be transferred to the local municipalities, resulting in a minor loss of revenue to the amount of approximately R15,000 per annum while the loss of revenue from property rates will amount to approximately R700,000. The roads agency function will be transferred to the Department of Roads and Public Works. The 10% administration fees that were allocated to the municipality in this regard will also be lost.
Notwithstanding the decrease in the above-mentioned revenue, the municipality still succeeded in allocating R17,24m to local municipalities of which R7,70m is for operation & maintenance projects and R9,54m is for new infrastructure projects.
Madam Speaker, I would now therefore like to refer you to details on the annual operating and capital budget for the 2011/12 financial year of how we propose to invest the funds that have been entrusted to us. The total budget for the 2011/12 financial year is R109,220,934. The operational budget is R105,771,254 and the capital is R3,449,680. The largest portion of the budget is allocated to Planning & Development that includes IDP/PMS, Local Economic Development, Spatial Planning, Geographic Information Systems and Project Management & Advisory Services which forms part of Infrastructure Services.
The main focus is to assist local municipalities to increase the level of service delivery. Thus the total allocation of 44,69% indicates that the bulk of the municipality’s resources are aimed at better service delivery.
In terms of the allocations to local municipalities in the 2011/12 budget we will be giving Dikgatlong Municipality R3,812,000; Magareng Municipality will be receiving R4,420,000; Phokwane Municipality will be receiving an amount of R5,762,000 and Sol Plaatje Municipality R750,000. The District Management Area will still receive an amount of R2,500,000 for the 2011/12 financial year. This money will be utilized to provide for services such as sanitation, water and electricity on farms. Madam Speaker, allow me the opportunity to boast a little about the accomplishments of this municipality.
During the term of office of this Council we have allocated R154,765,363 to our local municipalities. Of this amount R45,657,174 went to Dikgatlong local municipality, R31,790,299 went to Magareng local municipality, R28,870,139 was given to Phokwane local municipality; R20,736,063 went to Sol Plaatje local municipality and the District Management Area received an amount of R12,870,676. Of the total amount allocated to municipalities the Frances Baard District Municipality was the main contributor, approximately 75%. Since 2003 the FBDM was shortlisted among the top ten for the Municipal Service Excellence Awards, better known as the Vuna Awards. The municipality won the provincial accolade in the 2006 and 2007 and was runner-up in the national competition for both years. In the 2008 competition our municipality was credited with the highest IDP rating (90%) and shared the honour with Kareeberg District Municipality for municipal financial viability and management.
The municipality has a healthy financial record, boasting with four consecutive years of unqualified audit reports from the Auditor-General. For the last two years the municipality received an unqualified audit with no matters of emphasis. FBDM successfully implemented more than 90% of the planned infrastructure projects throughout the district and the spatial development framework for all the local municipalities and the district management area were developed and adopted. We are averaging 86% with regard to ensuring access to basic services for the district. We have already reached the national targets for the provision of water, sanitation and the eradication of buckets in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively.
We are at the end of our term of office as Councillors, and as the second outgoing Council for this municipality, I think we are in a position to say that we have made a positive difference over the period. We need to try and continuously find better and more efficient ways of engaging with our stakeholders. I wish to end with a quote from Karl Marx: “If we have chosen the position in life in which we can most of all work for mankind, no burdens can bow us down, because they are sacrifices for the benefit of all; then we shall experience no petty, limited, selfish joy, but our happiness will belong to millions, our deeds will live on quietly but perpetually at work, and over our ashes will be shed the hot tears of noble people.” I want to sincerely thank all Councillors, the Manager, the management team, unit heads, officials, stakeholders, government departments and members of the public who gave input to this process. We have collectively debated and agreed on which are the best things to do for the community we serve, with the limited resources that we have. I believe that this was a team effort, and by sharing credit and thanking all involved, we will have more of your dedication and support.
I thank you
