SA-AUSTRALIA UBUDLELWANE ANNUAL SEMINAR Bloemfontein 7 November 2002

1. SA-AUSTRALIA UBUDLELWANE ANNUAL SEMINARBloemfontein7 November 2002 The National Performance Monitoring Process and The Involvement of Local Government Department of Provincial and Local Government

2. Outline • Background to PMS • Objectives of PMS for local government • Objectives of PMS for national/ provincial government • DPLG’s implementation strategy • PMS pilot lessons • Issues for considerations • Performance incentive scheme • Summary and conclusion Department of Provincial and Local Government

3. Background • New System of LG introduced • Progress being made on the three transformation phases • Establishment/stabilization • Consolidation • Sustainability • Unequal and uneven development experienced • Challenge remains – creation of strong democratic and accountable Local Government Department of Provincial and Local Government

4. Background • The transformation process has unearthed some complex, unique and unanticipated challenges • Accordingly, how we monitor and what we monitor must change • The response to the outcomes of our monitoring efforts must also be creative, focused and sustainable Department of Provincial and Local Government

5. OBJECTIVES OF THE SYSTEM FOR LOCAL GOV • Monitor implementation of IDPs • Improve effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery • Bring about organizational transformation • Promote accountability • Create performance culture • Guide decisions about alternative service delivery mechanisms Department of Provincial and Local Government

6. OBJECTIVES OF THE SYSTEM FOR NATIONAL & PROVINCIAL • Inform capacity building/support programmes • Assess the overall system of local government and inform national policy on local government • Provide early warning signals and thereby assist meaningful interventions Department of Provincial and Local Government

7. DPLG’S IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY • Pilot programme • 26 Municipalities (April 2001-August 2002) • PMS Support framework • PMS guides/manual • National Training Programme Department of Provincial and Local Government

8. National Training Program • Targeted senior municipal officials and councilors • Focus on the following: • Development of PMS framework; • Linking IDP and PMS Key Performance Indicators • Performance monitoring, review andreporting Department of Provincial and Local Government

9. PMS PILOT PROGRAM • OBJECTIVES- • Test the appropriateness of the PMS framework-guides • Test the appropriateness of national KPIs • Draw lessons and produce best practice report for municipalities Department of Provincial and Local Government

10. PMS PILOT LESSONSFOCUS ON: • Preparations of stakeholders • Institutional arrangements • Development of PMS • Setting performance indicators and targets Department of Provincial and Local Government

11. We Have Learnt That: • There is a need to: • Relate PMS to the national transformation agenda • Locate PMS within the drive to create a responsive government at local level • Use PMS as a tool to measure progress towards a rationalized, representative, less bureaucratic, people centered, efficient, transparent, accountable, and effective government Department of Provincial and Local Government

12. Therefore … • For DPLG, PMS has to be a monitoring and supporting instrument to: • Assess the overall state of local government • Monitor the effectiveness of municipalities’ development and delivery strategies • Provide early-warning on municipalities experiencing difficulties and thus enabling provincial and national government to provide timely support to these municipalities • Enable municipalities to compare their own performance, identify best practices and learn from each other Department of Provincial and Local Government

13. Therefore … continued • Improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of local government programs • Instill a culture of best value to service delivery and development • Guide capacity building programs, and • Avail performance information for national and provincial policy making processes, spending decisions, support and oversight Department of Provincial and Local Government

14. Key Issues For Consideration • Signposts for local government administration transformation: • Implementation of Batho Pele at local level • Consultation, service standards, access, courtesy, information, openness and transparency, redress, and value for money • Challenge of dealing with • Officials inherited from the old government system • New employees who have little technical skill • The above can have an impact of pulling or alienating local government from the masses • It is imperative that people are increasingly experiencing the state as incrementally contributing to their betterment Department of Provincial and Local Government

15. Key Issues For Consideration…2 • Ever increasing challenges to: • Provide good strategic political leadership • Acquire sound technical skills and competencies • But … • Most of the challenges are not of a policy nature • They are mainly about implementation issues, politics and appreciation of performance • Therefore … • PMS has to demonstrate integratedness of government programs on the ground Department of Provincial and Local Government

16. Therefore … • We need to: • Create a balance between national and local KPIs • Create a balance between internal organizational operations performance and external delivery performance • Decide on whether PMS should be a stand alone or should be integrated to other monitoring and support mechanisms Department of Provincial and Local Government

17. Therefore …2 • Reexamine our community participation strategy in our activities • E.g. wards should not just be conveyor belts of council information but should be used as meaningful forums to engage community • They should also be forums for stakeholder mobilization around council mandate as entailed in the manifesto and IDP Department of Provincial and Local Government

18. Therefore …3 • Find strategies of making PMS a pervasive culture and an integral part of our approach to our work • PMS should not overwhelm and create hopelessness, instead it should inspire and motivate • A culture of creatively benchmarking against best practices has to take hold Department of Provincial and Local Government

19. Performance Incentives • Collective responsibility to pronounce on how to acknowledge, recognize and reward good performance • Need to relate incentives and rewards to good delivery performance not just operational efficiency • Always be mindful that good performance is about how our stakeholders perceive us, not how we think or feel about ourselves • Therefore we have to tie up internal rewards system to organizational performance issues Department of Provincial and Local Government

20. Performance Incentives • For DPLG, these are the considerations: • Awards have to create space for community and stakeholder nominations • Criteria has to balance internal and external performance initiatives • Encourage more emphasis on non-financial rewards – e.g. Proudly South African city • Good for investor confidence • Piggy backs on the current national campaign • Strategic rewards though may not be immediate Department of Provincial and Local Government

21. Performance Incentives • For DPLG, these are the considerations • Need to create award categories e.g. community services, LED projects, technology and innovation • Need to consider municipal project to project competition e.g. partnerships and cooperation among various stakeholders, job creation, sustainability, community involvement, delivery issue, financial viability/turnaround, good governance Department of Provincial and Local Government

22. Performance Incentives • For DPLG, these are the considerations • Need to be clear on how to sustain performance excellence • Can’t win award today and tomorrow municipal services are collapsing • Criteria to balance technical and normative considerations • Award has to motivate while avoiding negative competition Department of Provincial and Local Government

23. In Summary • PMS is a tool to create a responsive local government • PMS as a tool to mobilize and engage municipal stakeholders • Through PMS, municipalities can provide a context for local government excellence • PMS provides a context for council activism in engaging the masses Department of Provincial and Local Government

24. In Conclusion • PMS is a platform for establishing relations of responsiveness between councilors, the administration and the community/stakeholders • We need to acknowledge the differentiated capacity of municipalities to give effect to developmental local government • This challenge implies a need for differentiated performance measures and support Department of Provincial and Local Government

25. In Conclusion • It also implies a need to support both the provincial Department and Salga for them to support municipalities Department of Provincial and Local Government

26. In Conclusion May we all work for the success of the project! Department of Provincial and Local Government