Department of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs

1. Department of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs Presentation of the New Mandate of Cogta by Nhlaks Nkontwana Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg 15 July 2009

2. Background • Pre-1994 dispensation was an oppressive state characterised by racial divisions, inequality and corrupt activities (Apartheid policies & practices). • The management of the LG sector was centralised and South Africa was comprised of pockets of Bantustans/homelands designed along tribal lines. • The1994 milestone marked the dawn of new democratic dispensation (radical fundamental social change in structural formations of government institutions). • Policy paradigm shift aimed at: (a) equitable distribution of wealth & resources to citizenry; (b) achieve national unity; (c) legitimise state institutions; (d) address urban/rural divide, (e) facilitate development and (f) in pursuit of non-racial, non-sexist & democratic society. • Transformation trajectory-single, unitary and sovereign democratic state, yet decentralised with nine (9) provincial governments & 283 Municipalities. • Section 40(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides that “government is constituted as national, provincial and local spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated." (Co-operative model of governance). • Each sphere exist in its own right within the available regulatory frameworks, but as part of one government for the country; and • Local governments with greater authority over local matters; Provincial governments having jurisdiction over various functional areas. National government has significantly more powers than the other two spheres.

3. Co-operative Governance within the Constitutional Framework • According to literature, Co-operative Governance refers to “a set of internal and external mechanisms and controls enabling the stakeholders to define and ensure attainment of co-operative objectives, securing their continuity and co-operative principles.” • According to Chapter 3, Section 41(1) of the Constitution, all spheres of government and all organs of state within each sphere must:- • (a) preserve the peace, national unity and indivisibility of the Republic; • (b) secure the wellbeing of the people of the Republic; • (c) provide effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government for the Republic as a whole; • (d) be loyal to the Constitution, the Republic and its people; • (e) respect the Constitutional status, institutions, powers and functions of government in the other spheres; • (f) not assume any power of function except those conferred on them in terms of the Constitution; • (g) exercise their power and perform their functions in the manner that does not encroach on the geographical functional or institutional integrity of government in another sphere, and • (h) co-operate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by:- • i. fostering friendly relations; • Ii. Assisting and supporting one another; • Iii. Informing one another of and consulting one another on matters of common interest; • Iv. Co-ordinating their actions and legislation with one another; • V. adhering to agree procedures; and • Vi. Avoiding legal proceedings against one another.

4. Co-operative Governance: Contextualisation of RSA Perspective • Spheres of government work together by co-operating; • Provision of package of services in a seamless manner; • Suits the social and economic developmental needs and interests of citizens; • Facilitation and promotion of co-operative decision making across spheres of government; • Co-operative Governance structures namely; PCC, PCFs, MINMECs, NIGRF, PIGRF, DIGRF etc. • Programmes: NSDP,PGDP & IDPs.

5. Mandate of the CGTA On the 10th May 2009, the President of the Republic of South Africa delegated the following mandate to the department: • Give effect to the provisions of Chapter 3 and 12 of the Constitution (fundamental priority areas for implementation); • Give effect to Chapters 6 and 7 of the Constitution. • Implement other legislative mandates; e.g. IGRF and LG legislation remain part of the core mandate; • More emphasis on co-operative governance and traditional affairs whilst bringing spheres of government together; • Sharp focus on developmental role of traditional institutions; and • Highlight necessity for management of the relationship between the traditional and modern systems of governance at a local level; • To ensure co-ordination, co-operation and integration across all spheres of government, including public entities. No long conventional but contemporary; • Be a choir conductor in terms of government operations to ensure that the mandate of government is achieve-”better life for all”; • Broader society is part of government. This is the government for people by the people; • Biased towards the poor, marginalised and neglected in terms of service delivery; • To ensure clean governance: the state apparatus are there to serve, not to be serviced; • Create new cadre of civil servants referred to as “revocrats” and activists. They are indebted to communities they serve (not chameleons who are civil servants during the day and after hours are disgruntled community members toyi-toying against their institutions. Batho Pele principle should be a guiding factor); and • Building strong communities that will make state institutions accountable.

6. Systemic Challenges of Current Dispensation • The voluntaristic nature of the IGR system. it is somewhat dysfunctional or rather not supportive of the intended Constitutional objective; • Lack of cooperation, co-ordination and operational systems;e.g. each sector or department tend to focus on expenditure and processes within their own sphere of activity; • Misalignment of planning frameworks across spheres of government; • Observed and real contestations within state functionaries; • The then Dplg did not clearly focused on its mandate, but rather made reference to three spheres of government for which it was responsible. This lends itself to undesirable degrees of ambiguity and functional overlaps with other departments, spheres of government and entities; • There are no benefits, rewards or sanctions in existence to encourage co-ordination and elimination of duplication. Rather efforts to reduce duplication have been seen as penalising departments or spheres of government by leading to the downsizing of operations and responsibilities; • The focus on traditional leadership institution has been limited to support rather developmental role in our traditional communities; • The extremists propagated a view that such institution is primitive, abusive and should be eliminated; • The traditional leadership institution’s role in governance matters was never thought of within the current democratic dispensation; • Our communities have been neglected and regarded as passive participants in issues of governance. As a result, no dedicated effort has been given to societal structures in order to deepen democracy; • Our people on the ground are taken for granted by service delivery points, thus leading to fierce confrontation between local authorities and communities;e.g. widespread riots in townships and villages. • The third sphere of government for so long has been left on its own, thus leading to over concentration on the principle of “autonomy”; and • The message to public has and still is disjointed. There are so many voices and different messages leading to what we call “noise” instead of “sweet melody” to the ears of the citizenry.

7. Underlying Assumptions of the CGTA • Different interests exist and contestations are inevitable; • There is a need to clarify responsibilities of spheres of government and creation of necessary structures to promote co-operative behaviour; • There exist particular relationship between the principle of public accountability and institutional autonomy; • Maximum participation of all stakeholders is desirable; • Consensus between stakeholders leads to unity in practice; • Business execution shall be based on pro-active governance model; and • CGTA is only key partner to the National Planning Commission; therefore it needs to be repositioned accordingly.

8. Design Requirements for redress • Rigorous implementation & monitoring of current prescripts; • Reviewal and further improving of the regulatory framework for IGR; • Development of creative to manage built-in contestations across spheres of government; • Improving oversight function; • Crafting measures to enable sectors to work together; • Building of relationship between the State and civil society at various levels; • Create co-operation and interface between the modern and constitutionally recognised traditional system of government. • BN// These corrective measures require a newly configured state machinery.

9. Values of the CGTA The CGTA shall have the following underlying values as part of its business processes and operations:- • Institutional support and performance • It is critical for all of us to generate knowledge/information, understand and support the new mandate of our department i.e. Department of co-operative governance and Traditional affairs. Such a process could enhance its performance, efficiency and make a positive impact on the lives of ordinary people. • Activist Approach • An activist contributes positively to the lives ordinary people because it promotes communication between the state and citizenry. In order to improve service delivery, active public service becomes crucial. i.e. activist approach to service delivery. • Goal oriented • We need a goal oriented public servants, with clear targets/milestones, based on the vision and mission of our department. • Project management approach • A project management system will be the culture of our department. Every project will have a clear starting date and the end. • Spirit/culture of competence • To paraphrase what the President said, ‘there will be no room for incompetence and laziness’. In the same spirit, laziness and incompetence will not be tolerated in our department. All the officials, at all levels, must maintain the same spirit. • Leadership and governance • At strategic level, we need creativity, effective decision making and shared leadership that is able to turn things around to better the lives of ordinary people. We want leadership that is prepared to promote principles of corporate governance and all the officials have to adhere to such principles. • Effective management • Accountability, transparency, ethics and honesty, commitment, consultative-approach/tone, decision-making, mutual respect, effective supervision must be the order of the day. • Management-subordinate relationship • Management-subordinate healthy relationship must be promoted and supported at all times. Victimization of individuals due to petty indifferences will not be tolerated at all. Any form of corruption will not be tolerated too and when detected, an action will be taken. • Personalities vs. community needs • There is no need to serve individuals (personalities), at the expense of an organization and our communities (public). • Excellency • A silo approach will not be supported. So, different units within our department must work together towards a common goal as internal stakeholders and partners. Competition between units must not be promoted but Excellency must be the key to achieve our goal. • Stakeholder relationship • As we relate with provinces, municipalities and traditional leaders, respect and honesty will be paramount. • Healthy working conditions • Senior management must lead and create a conducive environment that will make us all feel happy to work for the department. All the team members must feel very happy and proud to work for the department. In order to implement the vision and departmental priorities of the department, employees must also enjoy health working conditions.

10. Features of the CGTA • Simplified guidelines and capacity building programmes (consensus-based); • Regulation and monitoring of competency requirements and professionalise institutions; • Simplified requirements and appropriate allocation of responsibilities; • Hands-on support to provinces and municipalities through provincialised offices; • Co-operative governance focused-all spheres of government and civil society; • Emphasis on regulatory and policy framework for provincial governments (see Section 154 of the Constitution); • Definition of CGTA co-ordination role irt sector departments, NPC and M & E in the Presidency; and • Focus on developmental role of traditional institutions and management of modern-traditional governance interface.

11. Intended Deliverables of the CGTA • A coherent and integrated governce machinery; • Seamless, holistic and responsive provision of service delivery; • Streamlined service delivery by all spheres of government through joint work, co-operating in mutual trust and acting in good faith-Better co-ordination of basic services; • Efficient and coherent systems, processes & structures for effective discharge of government responsibility; • Close the gap between the government (governor) and the governed. The communities must be involved in activities of government; • Elimination of Silo mentality and encourage cross-functionality & collaboration across spheres of government in pursuit of single goal- “better life for all;” • To support governance principles of democratisation, effectiveness and efficiency while focusing on structures and processes of policy design, decision making and oversight of policy implementation at systems and institutional levels; • Well co-ordinated messages communicated to citizenry (they must be well informed and capacitated to ensure meaningful engagement); and • To provide for IGR between spheres of government based on:- • (a) outcome-based co-operative governance; • (b) developmental state tenets; • (c ) stronger mandatory requirements; and • (d) recognition of regional diversity and a decentralised people-centred approach to development;

12. Desired Outcomes • Seamless and citizenry satisfying services; • Co-ordinated and well established synergy; • Easy universal access to services; • Improved responsiveness; • Leveraging opportunities for greater efficiency; and • The CGTA emerging as key leader in the evolution & sustainability of state developmental agenda.

13. End!!!! • “we must pursue the strengthening of systems for the exercise of a plurality of interests, recognising the importance of divergent proposals, yet encouraging the establishment of convergence of processes and support to established objectives with a view to greater efficiency and effectiveness of government delivery for the benefit of all who live in South Africa.”