Speaker, Deputy Executive Mayor, Councillors, the Municipal Manager members of the press and public, officials.
Today is the beginning of the second five year integrated development plan (IDP) cycle of the Overstrand Municipality. We can now look at the future and plan for the next cycle and the years following upon that. We should now focus on the future and take hands with all the residents of our wonderful and special Overstrand, with all that it has to offer. We are surrounded by our beautiful environment and biosphere, our coastline with the best whale and shark watching opportunities as well as our emerging agriculture and wine industry. It is an area just waiting to be developed as one of the best emerging brand marketing tourism areas in the world. We have an enormous potential that needs to be very well managed so as to integrate development and the conservation of our world class natural resources.
Wat is die GOP? Dit is ‘n deelnemende beplanningsproses met die doel om die verskillende strategieë van verskeie sektore te integreer.Verder moet die GOP verseker dat skaars sektorale-, geografiese-, en menslike hulpbronne optimaal benut word om sodoende te verseker dat groei plaasvind om ook die armes se lot te kan verbeter.
The IDP must be compiled with a strong focus on service delivery and infrastructure investment with the aim to achieve our strategic goals of:
Provision of municipal services
Creation of a safe and healthy environment
Promotion of local economic development and tourism
Management and conservation of the natural environment
Provision of democratic and accountable governance
THE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES OF THE GOVERNMENT REGARDING LOCAL GOVERNMENT
It is also appropriate that one takes cognizance of the three strategic priorities of the State with regard to local Government in the next five years.
Mainstreaming hands-on support to local Government to improve municipal governance, performance and accountability
Addressing the structure and governance arrangements of the State in order to better strengthen, support and monitor local government, and
Refining and strengthening the policy, regulatory and fiscal environment for local government and providing greater attention to enforcement measures
When we evaluate these strategic goals it is evident that the biggest challenges are:
To enhance the economy and tourism for the sake of sustainable development so as to be able to create jobs
to provide infrastructure for the future needs and inter alia to catch up with the backlog of the past and accommodate accelerating needs of the future
to address severe shortages in the fields of health services and education.
to address the problem of crime and the ongoing degeneration of society’s moral bases, which lead to drug and alcohol abuse with the resulting impact on women and children.
The planned intervention areas for the Department of Local Government and Housing for 2006 – 2011 are :
Transformation & Organizational Development;
Basic service delivery;
Local Economic Development;
Financial Viability and Management; and
Good Governance and Public Participation.
On Provincial level a great effort is required to improve our resources in these regards to meet the needs of the future. Unfortunately, the slow decision making process delays the spending of funds. Letters in this regard have been forwarded to the responsible departments.
LOW COST HOUSING
Overstrand was very fortunate to be awarded extra money by the Provincial Minister for Local Government and Housing, to make an impact on our long housing waiting-list.
These projects will be vigorously pursued and will have an effect on our budget as municipal services for these areas will have to be provided.
Of serious concern to me is the fact that these low-cost housing developments are established with little regard for their socio-economic impact. I have stated publicly and will continue to do so that other aspects of government infrastructure like among others, schools, clinics and police stations, should be developed simultaneously with the provision of housing.
The financial shortfall in providing the structures should also be addressed as a matter of urgency.
I must point out the following dangers:
To provide houses without providing other services like schools and medical services is only increasing the possibility of disaster.
The growing intolerance by local residents towards the influx of the migrating population who are putting more pressure on the needs of society.
The increasing mortality rate due to HIV/AIDS and TB which is also creating a greater need for cemeteries and a serious problem of orphans who are to be cared for by e.g. Grandparents or even older children who are not able to give them any sustainable support for a good quality of life. Social services need to be addressed urgently
The more poverty occurs the less chance we have to get substantial investment in our infrastructure and initiatives to create jobs through local economic development and tourism so that we can earn revenue to fund our needs.
Daar bestaan verder ook ‘n groot behoefte aan behuising vir die middel inkomste groepe. Onderwysers, munisipale amptenare en SAPD personeel vind dit al hoe moeiliker om in ons gebied te woon as gevolg van die stygende koste van behuising
Met die opstel van die Geïntegreerde Ontwikkelingsplan (GOP) is daar reeds met die Raadslede en die amptenare saamgewerk om die konsep GOP saam te stel. Verder sal die wykskomitees hulle insette gee en sal die OMAF met die opstel van die prioriteite insette lewer.
Daar sal ook van bestuurders verwag word om doelwit-gedrewe kontantvloei programme daar te stel om te verseker dat enige moontlike besparings vroegtydig sigbaar kan raak.
The government’s goals for the provision of water, electricity and the replacement of the bucket system are also addressed within this IDP
MEDIUM TERM CHALLENGES
Loss of income arising from RED. Concerning the establishment of the Regional Electricity Distributor (RED) project. Clarity has not yet been established on the financial impact of the RED project on municipalities. As electricity is our main source of income, this is clearly a major concern
Backlog in Infrastructure. The current backlog is more than R300M. We are facing major challenges in this regard if the current influx of jobless people into our region is an ongoing phenomenon. We must acknowledge that we need more external funding and manage the impact on municipal resources
Unfunded Mandates. The government is placing more and more responsibilities on municipalities which made it difficult to manage because of legislation and funding. We need to address all these issues to ensure that proper service delivery can be provided. I refer to schools, social services, libraries and security services. Nature conservation is an important aspect of our area, but the lack of funding is an impediment to the effective management thereof
FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC VISION
If we are indeed serious about facing the future and its challenges, we need to apply our minds to and manage the future. The 2010 World Cup is an opportunity that we should not ignore. As we want to be a world class tourist destination, we need to make strategic decisions now and convert them into plans and drive these to results. The development aspects that need to be addressed are:
The Station site in Hermanus
Grotto Beach development
Schulphoek development
Desalination project
The future of De Mond Caravan Park and the other caravan parks in Onrus and Kleinmond
Gearing’s Point and Fick’s Pool development and the entire development of the Hermanus CBD, including the relief road, taxi rank and the parking areas.
The need for swimming pool and other sport facilities have been identified by the public and the junior council and desires further consideration.
The Harbour project in Kleinmond
The establishment of the LED Implementing Agency
The integrated tourism and LED strategy to identify and market the Overstrand as a brand. The window of opportunity is open, but will not remain open if we are not prepared to exploit every challenge in a coordinated manner
The challenge of providing housing and infrastructure
The achievement of Blue Flag status for the beach at Hawston
Gansbaai sport centre development
OTHER STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES
The approval of the Spatial Development Framework
The IDP for the next five years
A communication strategy to enhance our communication and marketing of the Overstrand
Upgrading our 24 hour emergency response service to the public. The past power failures and the future predicted ones make it a high priority to timeously inform residents about emergencies
An integrated Risk Management and Disaster relief plan in cooperation with the Overberg District Municipality, bearing in mind the disastrous veld fires that took place in February 2006.
Addressing the problem of crime and the ongoing degeneration of society’s moral bases, which lead to drug and alcohol abuse with the resulting impact on women and children
A long term sustainable solution to address the baboon problem
My opregte dank aan al die Raadslede en wykskomitees vir hulle insette in die GOP proses wat gaan begin. Besondere dank aan Me Desiree Arrison vir haar entoesiasme waarmee sy werk, asook aan die personeel vir hulle harde werk
Ek doen ‘n beroep op ons gemeenskap, organisasies en mede-raadslede om saam te trek aan die wa vir die volgende 5 jaar ten einde Overstrand te vestig as die uitnemendste korrupsievrye diensleweringsorganisasie waarop ons almal trots kan wees.
