I attended the recent Growth and Development Strategy Summit held by the Ugu District Municipality. There were presentations made by the provincial departments of Co-Operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Department of Public Works (DPW) and the Provincial Planning Commission (PPC) amongst others.
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I was struck by the sophistication and detail contained in all the presentations, and it was evident that the presenters had a complete grasp of the information that they were sharing. It was also apparent that the departments they were representing had a clear view of what the priorities and challenges were in their various roles. I then posed the question: in the context of this high quality planning and monitoring environment, why was actual delivery on the ground so poor?
Challenges
The answer, in my view, lies in the fact that the roll out of most of the projects and programmes is delegated to local and district government, both of which are experiencing severe financial and human resource capacity challenges as highlighted by the AG his latest report on the state of municipalities across the country. For as long as this situation persists, execution and delivery of much needed projects will be stalled.
Reversing the dire situation of municipalities has been recognised by government as a key priority, but while this is under way, these are some suggestions as to how project roll out can be enhanced:
- Wide ranging and simplified engagement needs to be undertaken between provincial departments and their local and district counterparts. The complex and sophisticated plans referred to above need to be translated into a ‘language’ that can be understood at local level. This will lessen the perception of projects being ‘parachuted’ into a locality
- Key staff must be seconded from province, especially at the project initiation stage to ensure the project roll out plan is sound and realistic
- Ongoing support and mentoring of local officials is essential
- Project steering committees must be well constituted and resourced and must meet regularly. Their input must be valued and actively sought
- Build sufficient flexibility and space for variation to account for local conditions. Accept that the reality on the ground is often significantly different to the air-conditioned office suites the projects are conceived in
- Ensure that lessons learnt through robust M&E processes are passed on to those conceptualising and designing projects so that those that follow are improved
While the principle of devolving as much power as possible to local government is one to be applauded, as it on paper gives more ‘voice to the people’, this ideal can only be achieved in the context of fully functioning local authorities, which is a situation we are a long way away from at present.
After matriculating, Vijay Naidoo studied Economics in the UK. Upon his return, hejoined the family construction business as MD for 10 years.
He subsequently joined his sister in their furniture manufacturing business as director for quality assurance and operations. He was responsible for all quality aspects of their products, and led the project to the business achieving an ISO 9000 quality accreditation. As an export focused business, this was important for our international competitiveness.
Mr Naidoo has an abiding interest in quality management and productivity improvement, particularly in manufacturing.
More recently, he has focused a lot of his time on giving back to the community by way of mentorship of small businesses and sitting on the executive of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also sits on the Board of the Ugu South Coast Development Agency.
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