President Jacob Zuma says government’s Back-to-Basics strategy has, since its introduction, become an integral part of local governance.

Municipalities that have been supported through the Back-to-Basics Strategy were responding positively and showing signs of recovery.

The President said this as he opened the debate on his annual address to the National Council of Provinces on Thursday, under the theme: “Working together to build on the advances of our democracy for a better life for all”.

Giving an update on the progress of the Back-to-Basics programme since the launch in September last year, the President said the strategy has since been institutionalised and now forms part of the agenda in many government meetings, including in the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission – which he chairs.

“The Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Basic Services was established and it is functioning well. Provincial Back to Basics task teams were established and are conducting hands-on monitoring.

“The teams have developed municipal support plans, and these have been formally adopted by municipalities. Support and intervention packages were prepared and implemented for identified “hot-spot” municipalities.

Important lessons have been learned during the first phases of the Back-to-Basics strategy, he said, adding that this will assist in the implementation of the renewal programme.

Lessons learned include:

• That political instability and weaknesses in governance are two of the primary causes of poor service delivery at municipal level;
• Direct hands-on support yields improved performance;
• Citizen engagements are generally weak in those municipalities that are categorized as dysfunctional and at risk. He said this was a positive lesson picked up from various Section 154 support packages and the section 139 interventions.

Removal of bottlenecks needs urgent attention

Municipalities with weaknesses in governance and corporate management functions such as financial management, human resource management and supply chain management also tend to experience difficulties in service delivery.

Also evident is that municipalities generally have weak technical capacity in planning, project management, design and procurement of infrastructure, the President said.

“Some urgent delivery areas need attention such as the removal of bottlenecks in the provision of housing, water and sanitation. Corruption and fraud also remain a matter of concern in some municipalities.

“These lessons are instructive in the implementation of remedial programmes to assist struggling municipalities,” he said.