Matatiele Local Municipality is delighted to announce that the institutions’ service delivery performance and financial management has greatly improved in the last fiscal year. The municipality has achieved 83% on its service delivery related targets during the 2020/21FY – a COVID-19 year!
Information on the Municipality’s service delivery performance is contained in the Annual Performance Report (APR) which echoes the performance over the last financial year. This report gives a detailed account of service delivery achievements, challenges and corrective measures thereof.
Municipal Manager, Mr. Lizo Matiwane said the 2020/2021 financial year was both challenging and exciting as the Municipality strived to achieve the imperatives of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). The Municipality has endeavoured tirelessly in focusing on delivering the mandate even in the midst of increasing external and internal challenges.
“The Municipality has electrified homes, brought life to the indigent communities, skilled the youth and created job opportunities despite numerous challenges, like the work stoppages by contractors, aging infrastructure and limited budget resources”, said Matiwane. Some of the highlights or achievements contained in the Annual Performance Report indicate that the Municipality has delivered to the poorest of the poor.
Under Basic Service Delivery, more than 4 525 rural households were connected to the national electrification grid, 63,4 km of quality access roads were constructed and completed with wards 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 21, 22 and 23 being the beneficiaries. Thirteen thousand two hundred & sixtynine (13269) registered indigent beneficiaries were provided with free basic services such as gas stoves, solar maintenance, rates, refuse and free electricity. Maintenance of municipal infrastructure and public amenities: Vela Pre-School, Cedarville Community Hall, Ditichereng Pre-School, Lunda Community Hall, Dengwane Community Hall, Public Safety ablution facilities, North End Stadium and Old Electricity Building.
Although he emphasized on the room for improvement, Mr Matiwane is pleased with the performance given the limitations imposed by COVID-19 outbreak. “It has been an extremely challenging year, but I’m happy that as the municipality we managed to push service delivery to a satisfactory level. It is a deliberate effort of this administration to push all barriers as we endeavour to deliver on the mandate we have been given by the council. We do this even in the midst of increasing external and internal challenges.”
In responding to the Local Economic Development (LED), the Municipality acknowledges the significant role played by the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) which serves as a fundamental tool to alleviate poverty and unemployment. 430 job opportunities were created through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). Seventy (70) SMMEs were supported through skills development training in Waste Management, animal production and plant production.
Commenting on the performance, Mayor, Cllr Momelezi Mbedla said the focus of the Municipality in the last fiscal period was on projects that would improve the lives of the residents of Matatiele. “We acknowledge that there have been major strides taken during this period, to deliver basic services to the people of Matatiele. This we did even in the most challenging times, thus our #SIPHUSHILE stance, and indeed the work achieved is tangible enough to claim that Siphushile”, he said.
This is a great performance achieved compared to the last financial years where in 2019/20 the Municipality achieved only 54%. “This indeed shows that we are on an upward trajectory, proving that the systems introduced of ensuring strict adherence to proper internal controls and compliance with laws and regulations are bearing positive fruits”, concludes Mbedla.
Delays in awarding the contracts, poor performance from emerging contractors, appeals processes, work stoppages, local contractors disputes, delays in supply of required resources for the commencement of projects, COVID-19 pandemic and insufficient budget allocations resulted in slower spend than expected. The Municipality has put in place measures to mitigate these challenges moving forward.
The Municipality is urging communities especially men to go and vaccinate to protect themselves and their loved ones and to continue observing COVID-19 health protocols. We are all encouraged to take the vaccine in order to build the Matatiele we want.
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Media Enquiries: Mr. Luncedo Walaza: Acting Head of Communications
Cell: 078 429 0183 e-mail: LWalaza@matatiele.gov.za
Issued by Matatiele Local Municipality
