Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on CoGTA , National Assembly Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Municipal Infrastructure Support AgentRoles and Responsibilities of the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on CoGTA, National Assembly Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013

CONTENTS • INTRODUCTION • MISA AS A GOVERNMENT COMPONENT – KEY FEATURES • PUBLIC ENTITY VERSUS GOVERNMENT COMPONENT • DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIYENZA MANJE AND MISA • MISA’S VISION AND MISSION • MISA’S MANDATE • KEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES • ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES • CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIES • UNDERSPENDING IN 2012/13 • MAJOR CHALLENGES • CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD

INTRODUCTION • The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) was established as a government component with effect from 11 May 2012, reporting to the Executive Authority of CoGTA. • DCoG is MISA’s principal department and (MISA) therefore operates within the department’s broader policy positions. • The establishment of MISA was one of the Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS) targets meant to introduce a turnaround mechanism in dealing with the provisioning, refurbishment and maintenance of municipal infrastructure; • Anticipating the establishment of MISA, in 2011 government took a decision to unbundle SiyenzaManje with the infrastructure component transferred to CoGTA and financial management component transferred to NT. • As a government component, MISA has been allocated its own operational budget of R820m over the MTEF period, with R262m allocated for 2013/14 FY, R274m for FY 2014/15 and R284m for FY 2015/16.

MISA AS A GOVERNMENT COMPONENT – KEY FEATURES In accordance with the legislation governing Government Components, • MISA is operationally separate from the Department of Cooperative Governance, but linked to it for policy purposes; • MISA is funded through Parliament via the budget vote of DCoG, Vote 3; • The head of MISA is the Accounting Officer in terms of the Public Finance Management Act; • The head of MISA is directly accountable to the Minister of CoGTA; • In exercising his/her duties, the head of MISA is required to cooperate with the Directors-General of CoGTAtowards achieving COGTA’s broad strategic objectives as well as in providing information to assist the Executive Authority in exercising his oversight responsibilities; • The Minister has a discretion in whether to establish a Board or not; If established, such Board can only play an advisory role and would not have executive powers; • Staff of MISA are employed in terms of the Public Service Act. Those transferred from the DCoG retain all their existing conditions of service. • MISA may share services with DCoG. Currently, MISA has a limited shared services arrangement with DCoG with regards to Finance, Human Resources and Internal Audit. The two entities also closely cooperate on Programmes;

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MISA AND SIYENZA MANJE • The key differentiators between SiyenzaManje (SM) and MISA are the following: • MISA’s process of identifying municipalities for support is based on the assessment of their institutional capacity and not on lending requirements; • The support by MISA is more targeted in that it focusses on addressing the challenges in a particular municipality based on the outcome of a thorough diagnostic process (a differentiated approach to supporting municipalities); • In providing technical support, MISA takes a holistic view of a municipality as an institution. In certain instances the delivery of infrastructure is hampered by dysfunctionality in other areas within the municipality; In such instances, MISA would mobilize support from other relevant stakeholders. Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MISA AND SIYENZA MANJE • As a rule MISA seeks to obtain full buy-in from the municipalities selected for specific support prior to the provision of such support. This is crucial in ensuring that municipalities are not passive recipients of technical support. • MISA works in partnership with provinces in the planning, provision and monitoring of support; • The building of the capacity of the municipality for long term sustainability is a key element of all MISA’s support interventions; • As a government component under CoGTA Portfolio, MISA is well positioned to leverage on existing inter-governmental relations structures to strengthen commitment from all partners to improving municipalities’ performance. Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

VISION AND MISSION Vision: Sustainable municipal infrastructure provisioning throughout South Africa Mission: • To provide technical support to municipalities towards accelerated delivery and effective management of municipal infrastructure; • To enhance technical capacity of municipalities to ensure effective planning, delivery, operations and maintenanceof municipal infrastructure for sustainable service provision.

MISA’s CORE MANDATE MISA’s two-pronged mandate can therefore be summarized as follows: • To render technical advice and support in order to optimise municipal infrastructure provisioning. • To coordinate the development and implementation of programmes designed to strengthen the capacity of municipalities in planning, developing, operations and maintenance of their municipal infrastructure.

MISA’s ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES Flowing from the mandate, MISA’s primary role and responsibilities are therefore: • To support municipalities to conduct effective infrastructure planning; • To support and assist with the delivery of infrastructure in municipalities; • To support and assist with operation and maintenance of infrastructure in municipalities; • To build the capacity of municipalities to undertake effective planning, delivery, operations and management of municipal infrastructure;

KEY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES MISA has developed the following strategic objectives in order to undertake its role: • Municipal Infrastructure Diagnosis - this is a scientific and in-depth assessment of the state of the municipal infrastructure required for the provision of water, sanitation, roads, electricity and refuse removal services • Technical Support - this entails providing specialized technical support to municipalities through deployment of technical experts and professional service providers (PSPs) to improve programme, project and contract management, macro and micro planning regarding the development and management of infrastructure. • Municipal Capacity Development- this involves the building and/or strengthening of the in-house capacity of municipalities to be able to develop, operate and maintain their infrastructure on their own in the medium to long term • Sector capacity and skills development interventions – this refers to interventions designed to enhance the technical capacity of local government. These include skills development programmesas well as partnerships with tertiary institutions and professional bodies. • Monitoring and Evaluation– this involves monitoring of the development, management and maintenance of the municipal infrastructure as well as monitoring MISA’s delivery against strategic objectives.

KEY SUPPORT PROGRAMMES Flowing from its strategic objectives, MISA has developed and is currently implementing the following programmes in order to be able to deliver on its mandate and fulfil its role and responsibilities: • Municipal Technical Support Programme – to ensure that MISA provides technical support to those municipalities that require assistance with technical aspects of infrastructure planning, implementation, operation and/or maintenance. Support provided is based on a needs assessment and agreement with municipalities. This buy-in from municipalities is essential for ownership and sustainability of support initiatives. • Sectoral Support, Coordinationand Grants ensures that resources from different departments and institutions are properly coordinated to address sectoralpriorities towards eradication of service backlogs in water and sanitation, energy, solid waste management and roads and storm water. This programme also supports municipalities to ensure effective utilization of grants, especially the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.

Key Support Programmes… • Capacity DevelopmentProgrammeensures that technical capacity is developed in local government for planning, delivering, operating and maintaining municipal infrastructure. Capacity development is implemented through various programmes, including apprenticeships, young professionals, experiential learning and rotating key municipal officials to the private sector and academia for exposure. Bursaries are made available for studies in built environment, especially engineering, to build a pipeline of future technical officials for municipalities. The programme also provides mentorship opportunities for technical officials in municipalities to meet the requirements for professional registration. Working in partnership with other public institutions, private sector companies, tertiary institutions and professional bodies forms an important part of MISA’s capacity development strategy. • Vendor, Legal and Contract Managementensures that professional service providers are deployed to municipalities that require technical support, effectively managing their contracts and performance, and provide legal and contract management support to MISA. • Monitoring and Evaluation – MISA is currently developing a system that will ensure effective monitoring and optimization of the performance of the municipal infrastructure.

HIGHLIGHTS OF CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIES

CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIES • A total of 91 municipalities have been assisted to develop and adopt Integrated Support Plans; these are part of the 108 municipalities prioritised by CoGTA for LGTAS support. • Included among these 108 municipalities are the 23 (+1) districts selected by cabinet for focussed support towards the reduction of their high service backlogs. • An Integrated Support Plan (ISP) for each municipality was informed by the outcome of a diagnostic assessment conducted. • The approach is to ensure that support provided is tailor-made for each municipality to respond to its peculiar challenges identified during the assessment. • Support being provided to these municipalities is intended to mainly address their respective weaknesses in infrastructure and service provision.

CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIESTechnical Support • MISA currently has 68 technical (engineering and planning) professionals deployed to support a total of 107 municipalities throughout the country. • In addition to the deployed professionals a total of 25 Professional Service Providers (PSPs) have been contracted and assigned to support prioritised municipalities. • The main role of PSPs is to assist each municipality in addressing specific issues pertaining to the infrastructure and service delivery backlogs and effective maintenance of existing infrastructure. Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIESMunicipal Capacity Building • A key component of MISA’s capacity development programmes is the artisans development programme. • Currently 32 municipalities in 8 Provinces are being supported with 311 apprentices, 228 section 13 (unemployed graduates) and 83 section 28 (municipal employees) respectively. • A total of 114 apprentices have passed their trade tests and exited the programme as qualified artisans. • A total of 469 apprentices including the current 311 and 158 new recruit apprentices will be placed in 56 municipalities for capacity development • During the current financial year, 100 technical managers/ directors will be put on an up/re-skilling programme. • 100 municipal engineering professionals will be mentored to support them towards professional registration with respective professional bodies • Through our bursary programme intended to benefit students in the technical fields, MISA has sponsored 91 students since inception.

CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIESSector and Grant Support • MISA is collaborating with sector departments in the provision of integrated support that seeks to address service and infrastructure backlogs, appropriate service delivery models and sector specific skills needs in respect of the key sectors such as water and sanitation; energy, waste collection and municipal roads. • MISA is providing support to 24 district municipalities that are Water Service Authorities (WSAs) in accordance with a joint support plan which was developed and is being implemented in conjunction with DWA. • In collaboration with DWA, backlogs analysis for water has been completed for all the 24 districts (analysis show backlogs per settlement classified in terms of: backlogs due lack of infrastructure, backlog due non-functional infrastructure, backlog due lack of sources and backlog due to new settlement extensions) • Work is underway to align the current funding (MIG, RBIG, MWIG and other) to address identified backlog per village/settlement

CURRENT SUPPORT TO MUNICIPALITIESSector and Grant Support (continue……..) • In OR Tambo, an integrated support that combines the work of MISA, Treasuryand Provincial department of Local Government is being implemented and has improved the district spending on MIG funds. The programme is focusing on: • Improving the Budget and Treasury Office (three specialists deployed by Provincial Treasury) • Improving organisational development (two specialists deployed by DLGTA) • Improving the technical department (Service provider deployed to provide three specialists (project/contract management, design engineer and water quality specialist) • In Vhembe district, MISA piloted a programme that will see 56 skilled personnel trained and permanently employed (absorbed) in the district over the next two years • This programme has attracted many districts (currently assessing requests from Mopani, Sisonke, and Capricorn districts) • In Mafikeng, MISA deployed MIG turnaround specialist since March 2013. This improved MIG expenditure from 0 to 17 per cent with indications that over 80 per cent of MIG would be spent by end of financial year.

Underspending on 2012/13 Budget MISA 2012/13FY Budget allocation • Brief overview of MISA budget allocation • Budget allocation R196 593 • Actual expenditure R149 716 • Under expenditure R46 879 • % Spend 76.15% Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

Underspending on 2012/13 Budget (Cont…) Compensation of Employees • The under expenditure of R11 859 is mainly attributed to the following reasons: • The process of transferring some officials from DCoG to MISA took longer than expected as this had to be a consultative process between DCoG and the affected officials. The transfer process was eventually agreed on and finalised in October 2012. Furthermore, not all earmarked officials agreed to the proposed transfers. • The external recruitment process could only be initiated upon completion of the above process. Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

Underspending on 2012/13 Budget (cont…) Goods and Services • The under expenditure of R36 710 is due to the delays in rolling out the technical support to municipalities as the result of the following: • The delays in the approval of Integrated Support Plans (ISPs) by municipal councils, which is a pre-condition for the implementation of support, partly resulted in MISA not being able to roll-out its support timeously. • The procurement of technical support by Professional Service Providers was initiated once the ISPs were adopted and approved by the municipalities. The appointment process was only finalised during January and February 2013. • Insufficient internal capacity also contributed to the under-expenditure. • The unspent funds had been committed but not yet contracted at the end of the financial year. The roll over application was submitted to National Treasury. Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

MAJOR CHALLENGES • The biggest challenge currently facing MISA is the limited resources, both human and financial, constraining MISA to extend its support to more deserving municipalities. • The other challenge is for MISA to continue finalizing its administrative systems and processes whilst at the same time ensuring that support provided is not compromised. • Delays in the signing of MOUs by municipalities in order to expedite MISA’s provision of support.

CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD • The development of MISA’s strategic plan for period 2013/14 – 2015/16 and Annual Performance Plan for 2013/14 is almost complete. • These plans set out the key support programmes to be implemented for municipalities with corresponding key performance indicators and targets for the coming three years. • The development of operational systems and processes, as well as the strengthening of MISA’s management and administrative capacity is being expedited. This is expected to be concluded by September 2013. • We continue to adapt our programmes and processes based on lessons learnt in the implementation process. • We also continue to strengthen our collaboration with various stakeholders and partner institutions to address issues of coordination and additional resources.

POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL SLIDES

COMPARISON BETWEEN GOVERNMENT COMPONENT AND PUBLIC ENTITY

CURRENT SUPPORTMunicipalities Receiving Support Briefing to CoGTA PC on MISA

Briefing to the Portfolio Committee on CoGTA , National Assembly Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013