The planned R9m Bongani Sport Facility project in the Western Cape has been delayed because Knysna Municipality has not complied with conditions in terms of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Framework.

This has emerged following ‘stoppage engagements’ conducted by the transferring officer at the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. In effect, this means that the project is expected to be implemented only in the next financial year.

Knysna Municipality was given the go-ahead to implement the project by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport in the previous financial year.

Pravir Hariparsad, director of infrastructure services, said the project had encountered some obstacles in its implementation.

“The department had initially proposed converting the sports field into a training field, but Council expressed discomfort with this plan. As a result, negotiations were undertaken with the province to revise the scope of work, and a revised technical report was submitted in December 2022,” said Hariparsad.

He said the project did not proceed because approval for the revised plan is still pending, but will be implemented in the 2023-24 financial year.

“This delay may be disappointing to those who were looking forward to the development of the sports field, but it is important to ensure that the project is executed properly and in line with the needs and wishes of the community.”

Effective use of funds

Wouter Kriel, spokesperson for Western Cape Minister of Local Government (DLG) Anton Bredell, said the aim of stopping the provision of funds to municipalities that cannot fulfill their development obligations (such as Knysna) and reallocating them to municipalities that have been exceeding performance targets is to ensure effective use of allocated funds.

Knysna Municipality has spent only 26,5% of its allocation of R39m for the current financial year up to the end of March. Kriel said the department was aware of the remaining balance to be spent by Knysna before June 2023.

However, the municipality is contractually committed to the remaining balance, and if there are any unspent funds, the municipality can apply for a rollover into the next financial year.

Monitoring

He said officials in the DLG municipal infrastructure office are interacting on a constant basis with municipal project managers, conducting regular monitoring and evaluation meetings, and providing the latest status of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant programme.

Kriel said they were closely monitoring key projects in municipalities that failed to meet the 40% expenditure milestone by December 2022.

“DLG will conduct engagements with each municipality next month to adjust their planning to account for the impact the stoppages will have on the implementation of the current projects. DLG officers will be closely watching some projects in five Western Cape municipalities, including Knysna. As funds are only stopped where they were already likely to be unspent, the impact on service delivery is due to the underspending, not the stopping,” said Kriel.