PROJECT CONSOLIDATE – MUNICIPAL IMBIZO

Preview on Ilembe District Municipality by the Deputy Director-General: Department of Provincial and Local Government (the dplg), Mr. Elroy Africa Pretoria,

10 December 2005

Introduction

The President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, accompanied by Cabinet Ministers, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal and members of the Provincial Executive will visit the Ilembe District in the KwaZulu-Natal province on Saturday, 10 December 2005. The Municipal Izimbizo programme is aligned with Project Consolidate, and will focus specifically on interacting with elected representatives in local government, senior municipal officials and members of Ward Committees.

Background

Project Consolidate, a hands-on local government support and engagement programme, was launched in October 2004. It is targeted at 136 municipalities throughout South Africa that need support to enhance service delivery, good governance and build municipal capacity. Since the launch of the Project, Government has been focusing on the service delivery challenges and capacity constraints that are facing individual municipalities. This was informed by a detailed assessment of challenges according to each province and the municipalities concerned. Government, together with its partners (state-owned enterprises, the private sector and development agencies), will be supporting these municipalities by targeting the following five Key Performance Areas (KPA's):

• Basic Service Delivery and Infrastructure;
• Local Economic Development;
• Municipal Transformation and Institutional Development;
• Municipal Financial Viability; and
• Good Governance and Community Participation.

In the context of Project Consolidate, the President, the Deputy President and Cabinet Ministers are pursuing the Municipal Izimbizo programme, whose objective is to support municipalities in the achievement of these key performance areas and to deepen local government transformation.

Brief profile of Ilembe District

The Ilembe District is the smallest of the province's District Municipalities. The majority of the rural inland areas are tribal authority areas, characterised by subsistence farming. The harsh landscape conditions make the delivery of infrastructure of roads, water, sanitation and electricity a challenge. Ilembe consists of four local municipalities located between Durban and Richards Bay, namely:

• E'Ndondakusuka;
• KwaDukuza;
• Maphumulo; and
• Ndwedwe

Out of the four local municipalities, e'Ndondakusuka is the smallest. The town straddles the mighty Tugela River, the traditional boundary between former Colonial Natal and the Kingdom of Zululand, the site of historical and cultural events. Ndwedwe Local Municipality accommodates mostly rural white and black communities who depend on subsistence farming and commercial agriculture. Maphumulo and Ndwedwe Local Municipalities have been targeted for support under Project Consolidate, a hands-on local government support. The main areas that require government intervention, under the auspices of Project Consolidate, are summarized below.