The Good, the bad and the ugly of the WRDM Mayor’s maiden State of the District Address

They say the proof is in the pudding but only time will tell if West Rand District Executive Mayor, Councillor Hullet Hild’s dessert, or State of the District Address (Soda) rather, will go down well with the public.

Hild who only took office in January this year delivered his maiden Soda at the Mogale City Centenary Hall on Monday afternoon, March 7.

Also read: ‘Let’s work together to make West Rand succeed’ – new mayor

Just like the State of the Nation addresses there are promises, many of them. But the bottom line is, action speaks louder than words.

Here are the good, the bad and the ugly from the mayor’s speech:

The good …

WRDM striving for clean governance:

• The district achieved an unqualified audit opinion for the 2020/ 2021 financial year and managed to reduce the number of audit findings from 28 to 20 over the past three financial years.

“The District has no findings under supply chain management due to the effective systems and controls in place to reduce unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. This is a clear demonstration by the District to strive for the attainment of clean governance.”

Government-private sector partnership ‘key’ to tackling unemployment:

• “Our approach is to strengthen our partnership with the private sector, which continues to play an important role in job creation whilst we as government have to create a conducive environment for businesses to thrive.

We will fight to create much-needed jobs in this District and we urge local municipalities to get on board with creating conducive environments for business to expand their operations and for new investors to flock to the region.”

A West Rand Mega Park along the N12:

• WRDM is planning to establish a unique industrial, international Agri City and Fresh Produce Market known as West Rand Mega Park on the West Rand, which Hild said are at an advanced stage.

The Agri-City will include industrial and manufacturing to complement the development to enable value-chain creation with local SMMEs. The West Rand Mega Park project is earmarked to be implemented along the N12 near Lenasia. It will be a major catalytic project and enabler of future growth in the Rand West region. The Food Hub will include a fresh produce market, meat market, egg and dairy market, seafood market, flower market and liquor market. Furthermore, the development will include cold storage facilities, The Square – a public square with a number of restaurants, Agri Processing and a 40 000 square metre Wholesale Mall.

Even BIGGER plans to revive the Krugersdorp Game Reserve:

• The Krugersdorp Game reserve is owned by Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM) and has been made available to the WRDM through the then WRDA to facilitate investment and the development of the game reserve.

We are working very closely with Mogale City and the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency (GIFA) to revive the game reserve. It includes a 100 hectare enclosed lion sanctuary, which attracts considerable interest with minimal marketing exposure.

“GIFA has appointed a service provider to conduct a feasibility study which will help the Institution to determine whether the proposed project is financially, legally and technically feasible for the Institution. The feasibility study is completed, and the final document will be presented to council in due course.”

A West Rand Academy in Rand West City:

• Located in the Westonaria Borwa area, the academy has been identified for re-industrialisation in line with the Gauteng provincial government’s Transformation, Modernisation and Re-industrialization (TMR) strategy. In order to realize this, Hild said the community of the WRDM needs to be trained in relevant skills to support the economic sectors that will emerge from the implementation of this strategy, which is driven by the WRDM.

“The WRDM, Sibanye-Stillwater, and South Deep Mine together with other stakeholders have identified that an academy or college is required in Westonaria since there are no institutions of higher learning to provide skills that will support the vision of the region to be developing the agriculture sector and reducing reliance on mining.

To support the municipality’s development plan (IDP) construction of the West Rand Academy has been initiated in a phased approach. There will be different schools or faculties, with the School of Agriculture and Engineering forming part of the first phase. The total project cost is an estimated R60 million, and Phase 1 is an estimated R25 million.

“Sibanye-Stillwater has donated the land for the academy. The total area is 14ha of which 5ha will be used for Phase 1. The consulting engineers have already been appointed and the construction should commence soon.”

An egg-packing facility in Rand West City:

• The WRDM has been approached by a group of potential investors who want to lease one of its facilities to open an egg-packing station in the Westonaria industrial area.

“We are processing their application. The station will create over 59 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs when fully operational. It will also assist the egg-producing farmers within the region.”

Important housing and development projects in the pipeline:

• The following projects are in different phases of development within the region: Afri-Village, Montrose, Westonaria Borwa, Western Megga, Dan Tloome and Elijah Barayi. In addition to these mega projects, Mogale City is currently proposing the development of the Nooitgedacht 534 JQ property as a mega human settlement project.

“This property consists of different portions of land that need to be integrated to form Valley Country Lifestyle Estate. This will be added to the rest of the mega human settlements projects.”

• The WRDM in collaboration with the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) and the assistance of the 3 LMs, has finalised the establishment of the West Rand District Municipal Planning Tribunal (WRDMPT) whose responsibilities amongst others is to resolve any development disputes in the jurisdiction of the West Rand.

Road Asset Management Systems (RAMS) grant funding and subsidised bus service to be established in the West Rand:

• The National Department of Transport (NDOT) has provided grant funding for the implementation of Road Asset Management Systems (RAMS). The strategic goal of the RAMS grant is to ensure efficient and effective investment in rural roads through the development of RAMS, and the collection of associated road and bridge inventory data, condition assessments and traffic information. Improved data on roads will guide infrastructure investment, improve accessibility to and mobility of rural communities.

The objective of the grant is to assist District municipalities to develop in-house skills and human resource capacity, and to create employment for unemployed graduates. At the end of the project, District municipalities (along with their local municipalities) should be able to fulfil their role as a transport planning authority and to utilise the RAMS as a planning tool for prioritising transport infrastructure expenditure.

The Gauteng Department of Roads & Transport has also indicated that they intend extending the Passenger Bus Subsidy Service to the West Rand. Interactions have commenced with a Project Steering Committee being put in place. A vast amount of groundwork needs to be undertaken before the service commences in the area. The taxi industry has been sensitised on the possibility of a subsidised bus service being established in the West Rand. All necessary processes are being followed and talks are ongoing.

More emphasis on public safety:

• To stay ready and alert, operational staff members in the Public Safety unit are required to undertake regular technical exercises; therefore on December 7 last year the Fire and Rescue Services in conjunction with SASOL SA conducted a multi-agency and multi-focused live emergency exercise in the Chamdor industrial area at the gas pipelines.

“The objectives of this specific exercise were to test the logistics, physical capabilities, communications, knowledge and skills necessary to be applied in any eventuality of a flammable liquid incident. The aim was also to ensure that all relevant role players in incidents of this nature were fully prepared. The exercise was an excellent training event from the point of view of experiential learning, helping participants to develop confidence in their skills and providing experience of what it would be like to use the plan’s procedures in a real event.”

• The Public Information Education and Relations section conducted 63 awareness programmes.

“We managed to address 3 054 community members through the awareness campaigns. The awareness programmes assist with curbing the number of community members perishing in fatal fires during our fire season, and to raise awareness regarding Covid-19.

• “Our Emergency Management Services are active in the agricultural sector by providing support and coordination to the 11 registered rural fire protection associations in the West Rand. This support assists to minimise the impact of wild land fires during the winter season, and consists of coordination and administration between the different provincial and national bodies responsible for giving effect to the National Veld and Forest Fire Act. The Emergency Management Services have an agreement with Working on Fire and deploy four teams to assist during major veld fires as part of our partnership with other state organs.

The WRDM is one of the few municipalities in the country that established its training academy for emergency services. This academy offers high-level training in line with national and international standards, resulting in world-accepted levels of competence in emergency management services.

“Courses on offer vary from basic firefighting and first aid training to more advanced training in hazardous materials, and various specialised fire and rescue courses. Also included is the officer development and competency training in support of efforts to improve proficiency levels.

“The academy offers commercial training courses aimed at empowering businesses and individuals who wish to obtain basic competence in the fields of first aid, firefighting and hazardous materials as well as any fire and rescue related competencies. The programmes in the fire and hazardous materials training are aimed at emergency services personnel and are open to suitably qualified persons across South Africa.”

• To ensure compliance with the national building regulations, the fire-prevention section conducted 263 building inspections at various premises in the District. The section approved 150 building plans and conducted 129 hazardous-material inspections, and 35 fire investigations were conducted to determine the causes of fires.

We firmly believe that effective fire prevention assists with limiting the number and size of major fires and fire-related fatalities, and also protect the economic infrastructure against fire damage.”

The PLAN for community safety/ social crime prevention:

• During the period under review, Hild said the Disaster Management and Community Safety sections worked tirelessly to improve the safety of communities. The Community Safety Plan speaks directly to matters relating to the enhancement of safety in the region. Interventions included in the Community Safety Plan are improved by-law enforcement, improved rural safety, reduction in gender-based violence, safety in public places, improved inter-agency relations, and community participation.

“These are all part of daily Community Safety operations; however they are not achievable by the WRDM in isolation but require multi-discipline, multi-sectoral interventions. It requires strong relationship with stakeholders and day-to-day joint efforts. In order to sustain these interventions, programmes such as the District Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee, Rural Safety Committees, Woman and Children Safety Campaigns, Road Safety Campaigns and Victim Empowerment, programmes are of vital importance, and include stakeholders such as NGOs, police, CPFs, local municipality Public Safety, Private Security Companies and more.

“Community Safety together with Fire and Rescue facilitated multi-sectoral and multi-agency operations during the year to ensure safe and resilient communities during law-enforcement operations, and a multitude of safety operations during the festive season. These operations included Arrive Alive campaigns, which aim to ensure that our communities and visitors travel safely on the roads. They consist of roadblocks, safety-awareness campaigns and by-law enforcement drives.”

A broadened communication hub:

• The social-media based, District Communication Hub, was broadened further in order to assist with both response and prevention of elements such as crime, accidents, fires, etc. The Communication Hub again is a multi-stakeholder, early-warning platform that also includes response. And it works exceptionally well. It is currently very active in Mogale City and Randfontein.

Out of the Communication Hub a new initiative was born (collectively with Fire and Rescue, Disaster Management and Community Safety) which is Response Services. Mogale Response Services was the first active unit and was followed by Magalies Response Services, and then Merafong Response Services. Response Services is a unit that involves ALL services, government, NGO and private services.

The goal is train everyone on many different aspects so that everyone knows exactly what to do at scenes, and how to do it. The next unit to be launched is Carletonville which will merge with Fochville. These units are collectively managed by Public Safety.

The establishment of By-Law forums:

• Two By-Law Forums were established in Mogale City and Rand West City. They operate on a multi-departmental manner which involves all departments such as Health, Electricity, Traffic Department, Town Planning, Building Control, etc that have enforceable laws. These forums plan and execute by-law operations and inspections, and take action against people who are non-compliance with a host of laws and by-laws such as Illegal Occupation, Illegal Buildings, non-compliance to fire safety, health-related issues, etc. The Merafong By-Law Forum is to follow.

Why the Disaster Management Act is ‘a must’:

• The WRDM is mandated in terms of section 43 of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 to provide disaster management in its area of jurisdiction. The Disaster Management section is constantly doing assessments of schools, factories, shops and other institutions in order to assess the safety of structures and evacuation processes in conjunction with all relevant role players.

All is well in the health department:

• Hild said the West Rand Health District has been the best performing district with respect to Covid-19 vaccination rollout in Gauteng since November 2021. The current performance per sub-district is as follows:
• Merafong City: 47% (83 821 out of a target population of 176 675)
• Mogale City: 37% (133 073 out of a target population of 353 973)
• Rand West City 41% (97 901 out of a target population of 238 739)

Overall the District is at 42,4% (314 795 out of a target population of 769 387).

The District will continue strengthening outreach campaigns across all local municipalities through advocacy, communication and social mobilisation activities, and persuading community members about the benefits of vaccinating, whilst also addressing the myths and fake news.”

Furthermore, a total of 4 027 food premises including restaurants were inspected to ensure compliance with Environmental Health Standards. Numerous other activities were undertaken relating to restaurants as part of the ministerial Covid-19 compliance monitoring drive. Some of the expired and condemned food stuffs which were deemed unfit for human consumption were removed from the shelves by the Environmental Health Practitioners.

A total of 160 food samples for bacteriological analysis were collected. A total of 468 food safety training sessions were conducted to ensure food safety. In relation to potable water, a total of 276 samples through collaboration with local municipalities were analysed in accordance with the Water Quality Standards methodology SANS 241. Analyses of water samples have shown bacteriological compliance rate over 86,25% which means that potable water in the West Rand complies with the South African National Standards (SANS) 241.

Big strides in social development:

Ensuring that children are safe and healthy at Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDCs), a total of 733 ECDCs were inspected in collaboration with other state organs, particularly Social Development Department. various health-awareness campaigns and talks were conducted district-wide. The health talks targeted men and women health issues such a cancer and other lifestyle diseases. Campaigns to create awareness on gender-based violence were also conducted.

In collaboration with various stakeholders, 20 schools were reached with education on teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, alcohol and substance abuse, bullying, human papillomavirus (HPV), and medical male circumcision. Gauteng Department of Health reported that more than 23 000 girls below the age of 18 gave birth between April 2020 and March 2021. There is a need to reach out to more schools to curb the scourge of social ills amongst young people. The District also coordinated the HIV/AIDS door-to-door programme which reached out to 173 110 people in 43 247 households.

Our air is of good quality:

• Air-quality monitoring is done through the two Air Quality Monitoring Stations located at Mogale City and RWCLM to ensure compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards as obligated by the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act. These stations monitor pollution levels of various toxic pollutants in order to ensure that communities are not exposed to polluted air. Due to budgetary constraints the South African Weather Services (SAWS) continues to assist the Municipality with managing and maintaining these stations. A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the WRDM and SAWS for 2021/22 has been signed by both parties.

Strong stance against corruption:

• WRDM is continuing to work with CoGTA, Provincial Treasury and TEI to address issues of fraud and corruption, and assist the Municipality in building an ethical environment.

“Corruption in all its forms will be dealt with in this District. Those who are still busy with this practice must know law-enforcement agencies are coming for you and you will have no place to hide. Rather visit SAPS and tell the truth, but don’t steal from the poor. You are not assisting us to build the nation if you steal funds that were meant to benefit our people.

I remind members of this administration that if you find yourself to be implicated in wrongdoing and corruption of any nature you will be removed. We cant claim to be against corruption and at the same time have implicated members on our administration, that will not be allowed , not under my watch so be warned, and that is a promise.”

Substantial relationships with mining houses on the cards:

• In line with strengthening intergovernmental relations, Hild said, “We have, for the first time concretely concluded an approach where the WRDM is in the centre for interaction with mining houses, with the latter agreeing to use the IDP to inform their SLPs. As a result they have postponed the SLP December submission in order to link it with the IDP. Our discussions are not only about labour recruitment and project hand-outs, but about a partnership which will open up the procurement process of mines to our people, and leveraging on the assets to unlock economic activities beyond mining.”

Bob’s revival is proof that ‘baie hande maak ligte werk’:

• Regarding Sports and Recreation, various games were funded by the Provincial Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture and gained momentum over the years. The games sought to unite people within the District, create access to sport through mass participation, identify and select talented players, and promote various sporting codes.

“I will visit sports facilities in the entire region for oversight and fact-finding. All of us sitting here know very well the effect sport has on us as a nation, and we must do everything possible to get our facilities up and running.

I must commend MCLM Executive Mayor Tyrone Gray and his team for the effort they put into getting Bob van Reenen to its current state. Once the community sees that you are willing and serious about getting things done they will join you, and like we say in my mother tongue … ‘Baie hande maak ligte werk’.

The bad and the ugly …

Electricity tariff increase still too high:

• Hild said, “While our combined pressure has resulted in an electricity tariff increase that is way off the 20,5% requested by Eskom, an increase of 6,61% is still far too high for South Africans especially the communities of this district that are already crippled by the skyrocketing cost of living.”

The financial position of our local municipalities is currently at risk:

• The municipal cash flow position is at an all-time low and municipal projects, programmes and activities have almost grinded to a halt because of this dire financial resource constraints.

We still struggle to meet our obligations with creditors, let alone salaries. The financial position of our local municipalities is currently at risk and presents negative liquidity ratios (where current liabilities outweigh current assets) and this means that the locals will have to work together with the District in expanding their financial turnaround strategies, cost-containment plans and revenue-enhancement strategies which are aimed at improving revenue collection to better manage working capital, and ultimately to improve their financial health.”

Presently, all local municipalities have secured payment arrangements with Eskom, Rand Water and the other top ten creditors to ensure compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act to pay creditors within 30 days. Local municipalities also have water and electricity operational plans in place. The turnaround strategy has been reviewed on quarterly basis to manage distribution losses.

State of the work environment and facilities unacceptable:

• “Our employees are not working in a conducive environment, yet they still carry on with their daily tasks. The municipal building is without proper ventilation, and maintenance is not properly done due to financial constraints. Our major concern is the roof leak which is also dangerous to members of the public visiting the municipality on a daily basis. We are considering a phased -in approach to fix the building in the 2022/ 2023 financial year, starting with leaks and ventilation.”

Effects of climate change a harsh reality, infrastructure vulnerable: local municipalities should do more:

• “Changes in temperature cause changes in rainfall. This result in more severe and frequent storms. They cause flooding and landslides, destroying homes and communities. Climate-change awareness campaigns were held quarterly to sensitise community members to the effects of climate change, and how to be environment-friendly. But, we can’t allow that our infrastructure in terms of storm water channels is not cleaned and therefore causes flooding in certain areas. Local municipalities must do more and ensure that storm water channels are cleaned on a regular basis in order to avoid unnecessary flooding of properties.”

Spike in armed burglaries at clinics:

• Primary healthcare clinics are experiencing a spike of armed burglaries occurring during night time. From November 2021 to date three facilities have been affected namely Maki Legwete Clinic (Kagiso), Randgate Clinic (Randfontein) and Kocksoord Clinic (Randfontein). Equipment valued at R471 676,21 has been stolen. These facilities belong to communities, hence the appeal to communities to protect them.

Sport facilities in a poor/ non-existent state:

• Sports facilities in the region remain a challenge; most facilities are not maintained and are in a poor or non-existent state.

The Covid-19 pandemic’s devastating effect on the economy and livelihoods:

• Hild said the pandemic caused significant disruption and hardship in nearly every aspect of our lives, and it continues to weigh heavily on our national, provincial and district economy.

As a result of the pandemic, our regional economy has been on a downward spiral resulting in businesses closing down and more people losing jobs. We are somehow inspired by the opportunities that lie ahead. It will therefore require our joint effort, resilience and innovative ways to revive our economy and regain the losses we have incurred due to the pandemic.

“We must however be brutally honest with ourselves – we must do more and quickly. Industrial areas must be looked at as a matter of priority.

“We must fix the roads leading to and within industrial areas, ensure that all road markings are in place, cut the long grass regularly, and ensure visible public safety measures are in place. We must strive to open blocked drains and fix water leaks in all our industrial areas immediately. Once we start to treat our industrial areas with the respect they deserve, only then will investors come to our region to open factories and create much-needed jobs.

“We are still in the fourth wave though the epidemic curve is on a downward trend. The pandemic has been affecting the entire food system and has laid bare its fragility. Some confinement measures have been preventing farmers from accessing markets, including buying inputs and selling their produce; and agricultural workers were prevented from harvesting crops, thus disrupting domestic food supply chains and reducing access to healthy, safe and diverse diets. The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed hundreds of livelihoods at risk.

As breadwinners lose jobs and fall ill, the food security and nutrition of hundreds of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income households, particularly the most vulnerable, which include small-scale farmers and unemployed people, being hardest hit.

“In the Covid-19 crisis food security, public health, and employment and labour issues, in particular workers’ health and safety, converge. Adhering to workplace safety and health practices, and ensuring access to decent work and the protection of labour rights will be crucial in addressing the human dimension of the crisis.

“By December 2021, 60 881 Covid-19 cases were laboratory-confirmed in the West Rand while 56 483 people recovered. A total of 1 689 people lost their lives.”

A disaster management disaster:

• Hild said, “We are faced with a serious nightmare in Merafong City LM relating to the consistent formation of sinkholes, in the area of Khutsong in particular. The WRDM and the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre are focusing on this very big problem. The collective established a Sinkhole Committee wherein all role players including the WRDM Disaster Management Unit, Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC), MISA, Dept of Roads and Transport, GP Health, Social Development, Eskom and all the departments of the Merafong Local Municipality are represented.

In September 2021 the West Rand District Municipal Council resolved to declare a State of Local Disaster in Merafong, but this decision was not supported by the Gauteng PDMC. We are currently in the progress of classifying the entire area. Residents needs to be moved to saver ground stability areas. This matter requires serious attention.”

Public Safety ‘the most underfunded and unfunded department of the WRDM’:

• Hild said, “We are required to promote a safe living environment in accordance with the objects of local government as provided for in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Accordingly, the WRDM is mandated amongst others to provide Fire Brigade and rescue services in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Structures Act. The Department is divided into three strategic components, i.e. Fire and Rescue Services, Disaster Management and Community Safety Services.”

• Fire and rescue services – During the period under review, the Fire and Rescue services responded to 117 fire-related incidents, and 96 rescue and motor vehicle accidents respectively.

“In spite of the challenges faced by the Emergency Management Services, we still managed to meet and exceed the set attendance time’s targets of 80% response within 10 minutes in urban areas (82% fire incidents and 84% rescue incidents), and 20 minutes in rural areas for both fire-related incidents and motor-vehicle accidents.”

Public Safety coordinated a festive season programme from December 3 until January 7.

The festive season is a period of a high number of injuries and people succumbing to injuries caused road accidents. The unfortunate part here is that we are struggling with drinking and driving, and we must look into getting innovative ways where we can instil discipline in our drivers especially the youth.

“We must drive specific programmes dealing with drinking and driving, and I will engage with law-enforcement agencies to double their efforts. All drivers and passengers alike must know when you visit our District rather get yourself a sober dedicated driver but don’t get on our roads after drinking.”

Municipalities have neither the spare capacity nor the funds to install bulk services:

• In line with bulk infrastructure to service human settlement projects, it is generally expected that the local municipalities would provide bulk infrastructure. However, the local municipalities don’t have neither spare capacity nor funds to install the bulk services as required due to serious financial constraints.

“It is our view that another funding model needs to be developed to ensure that there are adequate bulk services available to service human settlement developments. The region may have to consider a holistic approach where provision is made for the development inclusive of bulk services.”

The delivery of almost 270 title deeds not enough:

• Hild said WRDM is still sitting with a backlog of title deeds to be issued within the West Rand which include houses from the pre and post 1994 RDP projects.

“There is a need to issue these title deeds from the old stock and wrap up legacy projects. But when it comes to issuing title deeds this current administration must do much more and we will get it done. It is totally unacceptable that for the financial year 2021/ 2022 only 267 title deeds were issued. Merafong leads with 235 followed by Mogale with 30, and Rand West only issued two title deeds. We must take immediate action to solve this.

Executive mayors, you must make the issuing of title deeds your top priority, we can’t and don’t have the luxury to think of politically correct excuses not to get this done. Our people deserve more, and we can no longer fail them; we’ve had enough time to get our house in order.”

Mega projects and housing development challenges:

• Hild said housing development has challenges that must get immediate attention.

“We can’t and should not allow the fact that we create more social issues when allocating houses to our communities. We rejoice when we allocate a house to parents; one can actually feel the pride of the parents and the joy on the kids’ faces leaves a lump in the throat. But soon afterwards reality kicks in and just to attend school becomes a challenge. Put yourself in the shoes of the parents coming from Tambo Section in Bekkersdal and getting a flat in Afri Village, and you are unemployed.

Your daughter used to walk to school in Bekkersdal getting mother tongue education. But now you need to arrange transport back to school in Bekkersdal, and the Department of Education can’t provide scholar transport as the school in Bekkersdal is now out of the feeder area. Therefore, we must do proper planning and needs analysis when we build houses and not create a problem on top of solving one.

“At this moment, we have children who are simply not attending school due to this challenge, and I urge ward councillors to immediately identify these children in order for us to get all departments involved to get our children in school. We can’t have children not attending school due to red tape and things that we can change. I will not allow this to happen under my watch. Executive mayors, we must step up our game! Ward councillors, I urge you to get involved where these challenges are faced. Go out and locate our children who are not attending school. I request a report on this matter asap – a formal request will follow. Don’t let our children stay at home due to red tape, that surely can’t be our legacy.”

Not much movement within Social Housing sector:

• Hild said unfortunately, there wasn’t much movement within the Social Housing sector in the 2021/ 2022 financial year. “Projects in the area of jurisdiction of the WRDM mostly came to a halt. The reasons for this were mainly the supplementary effects of Covid-19, as well as contractual issues in some of the projects that resulted in project delays and project stoppages.”

Severe financial difficulties in District:

• Hild said the District faced severe financial difficulties over the past years, be that due to unfunded mandates or VBS investments, and the impact of Covid-19 has exacerbated matters.

“As a result, this has had a profoundly negative impact on service delivery. However, with the robust implementation of the financial recovery plan and the financial turnaround strategy (approved in conjunction with the annual budget), I can gladly confirm that the District is gradually improving its financial situation. The financial turnaround strategy of the District’s main focus was based on cost curtailment, significant reduction of the trade creditors’ balances, and a cost benefit analysis on each of the contracted services.

“The immediate benefits have been achieved as a result of implementing the financial turnaround strategy, however, there are still medium- and long-term strategies that need to be achieved with the hope that they will place the District in a better financial position. What remains for the District is the ability to generate its own revenue, and source a funding model for firefighting services which constitutes more than 45% of the total annual budget.

It is unfortunate to report that since the declaration of the national disaster by the President of South Africa on March 15, 2020 to date, the Covid-19 epidemic had a major impact on regional revenue collection due to the increase in unemployment and some businesses having to cease operating due to lockdown restrictions.

“Based on these challenges and demands accompanying the epidemic, all the municipalities in the West Rand region were in a difficult position to pay Eskom, Rand Water and the majority of other critical-service providers. This councillors are required to note that the financial position of our local municipalities is currently at risk and presents negative liquidity ratios (where current liabilities outweighs current assets), and this means that the locals will have to work together with the District in expanding their financial turnaround strategies, cost containment plans and revenue enhancement strategies which are aimed at improving revenue collection to better manage working capital and ultimately to improve their financial health.

Presently, all local municipalities have secured payment arrangements with Eskom, Rand Water and other top ten creditors to ensure compliance with the Municipal Finance Management Act by paying its creditors within 30 days. Local municipalities also have water and electricity operational plans in place.

“The turnaround strategy has been reviewed on a quarterly basis to manage distribution losses. In terms of distribution losses, way too much money is being spent on water leaks and illegal electricity connections.

“Out of our three local municipalities, only Mogale City managed to achieve an unqualified audit opinion for the 2020/ 2021 financial year. Rand West City and Merafong need to put in stringent efforts to improve their audit opinions, and the clear actions to address findings raised by the Auditor General must be put in place. The District working together with the Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs are expected to play an important role in monitoring the effectiveness and implementation of local municipalities’ audit action plans. The District therefore is expected to review annual financial statements of its local municipalities prior to their submission to the Office of the Auditor General South Africa.”

Read the full SODA by clicking below:

THE STATE OF THE DISTRICT ADDRESS BY THE EXECUTIVE MAYOR OF WEST RAND DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY CLLR HULLET HILD –07 MARCH 2022