The management capacity needed to fulfil municipal objectives can be understood through the basic stages of the capacity building strategy presented in this book. Municipal management must, through organisational capacity building and skills development, be capable of working through the strategic planning, partnership development and partnership implementation stages. Most managers will have strengths and weaknesses. The key to ensuring capacity lies in skills development and identifying where existing capacity should be supplemented.
Box 12.2 Local Champions Drive Partnerships Nelspruit, South Africa | Links to Boxes 6.17, 6.18 |
While national political will is mostly critical to successful PSP implementation at the municipal level, local champions add considerable momentum to PSP in municipal service delivery. The experience in Nelspruit, the capital of Mpumalanga province in South Africa, demonstrates the role of such PSP champions. In 1994-95, after the democratisation of government at all levels in South Africa, the newly demarcated Nelspruit municipality faced significant service delivery challenges. The capacity of the municipality, previously used mainly to serve the relatively well- off white population of 24,000 people, now had to support delivery to the whole area, with more than 240,000 residents, many of whom are poor. By 1997, the council began exploring private sector involvement. Once the PPP option was chosen, the commitment of key officials and councillors in Nelspruit helped steer the PPP through various critical phases. The continuous drive and commitment of the mayor played a major part in mobilising councillors, including the chairperson and the members of the executive committee that was behind the PPP. This political core was strengthened by the fact that one councillor, an engineer, added technical understanding about the water and sanitation aspects of the project. The commitment among the political leadership was bolstered by the active role of key officials. The town manager, in particular, with the top financial and engineering officials, realised at an early stage that the municipality would not be able to extend its coverage of water and sanitation supply on its own. Its operations were geared to the needs of the former apartheid-defined 'white' area of Nelspruit, and low-income areas newly incorporated into the municipality were without adequate infrastructure to support effective service delivery. They approached the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) for advice, and were told of the PPP option. In the debates about the project, and preparation for its implementation, inputs from experts within South Africa and abroad played a major role. This enabled the municipality to apply lessons from elsewhere in the world and to ensure the PPP alternative made technical and financial sense. This also bolstered their ability to engage with stakeholders to ensure the project gained greater political acceptance. Their commitment was severely tested by very poor infrastructure, vast service backlogs and strong trade union resistance. Initially, the local branch of the municipal workers' trade union accepted the PPP option, but the national leadership opposed the participation of the private sector in local service delivery. Negotiations dragged on, and conflicts arose. The top officials remained committed to the PPP option, convinced that it would be the only way to extend water supplies to previously disadvantaged areas. Specific care was taken to ensure that projected prices reflect an allowance for substantial capital investments over 30 years. In general, the tariffs will be lower that would have been the case if the municipality had made the improvements itself. Mobilising the best technical expertise from within and outside South Africa, they also ensured that the national and provincial governments remained well briefed. They actually received significant support from these levels, especially from the national department responsible for local government. Finally, the concession was concluded in 2000, and the project is one of the first major water projects in a post-apartheid municipality to involve a private operator at such a large scale. But it retains a critical regulatory and oversight role for the municipality. The council will approve the tariffs levied for water and sanitation services. They will also monitor the way in which these services are provided. If the contractor stops the supply of these services to any residents, the municipality will have the right to investigate the situation and engage with the service provider to facilitate a resolution of the issues. The councils will also monitor the environmental impact of the services on the environment. It has informed the development of policy on PSP in South Africa. Problems remain concerning regulatory issues that have thus far influenced private financiers not to finance the project. But the DBSA, a public loan financier independent from government, has shown considerable faith in the project and granted a loan. Efforts to attract other investors continue, driven in spirited fashion by the political and administrative leadership in the council. Sources: National Business Initiative, 2000b; Kotzé, Ferguson and Leigland, 1999; | |