About Alfred Nzo District Municipality
Alfred Nzo District Municipality is located on the north-eastern side of the Province of the Eastern Cape and stretches from the Drakensberg Mountains, borders Lesotho in the North, Sisonke District Municipality in the East and O.R. Tambo District Municipality in the South. In preparation for the 2011 Local Government Elections, the Demarcation Board in terms of the Demarcation Act of 2008 as amended declared the changes in some municipalities (inter-boundaries) where some local municipalities were to be moved from the other district municipalities to the other and also the amendment of municipal wards boundaries.
Alfred Nzo District Municipality is located on the north-eastern side of the Province of the Eastern Cape and stretches from the Drakensberg Mountains, borders Lesotho in the North, Sisonke District Municipality in the East and O.R. Tambo District Municipality in the South. In preparation for the 2011 Local Government Elections, the Demarcation Board in terms of the Demarcation Act of 2008 as amended declared the changes in some municipalities (inter-boundaries) where some local municipalities were to be moved from the other district municipalities to the other and also the amendment of municipal wards boundaries.
Through that Alfred Nzo District Municipality is one of the affected
district municipalities where it was declared that two Local
Municipalities from O.R. Tambo District Municipality being Mbizana and
Ntabankulu will be incorporated under Alfred Nzo District Municipality
in the process. Circular No. 54 of the Municipal Finance Management Act
No. 56 0f 2003, gives guidance in terms of preparations and adoption
periods of Municipal IDPs and Budgets for 2011/12 considering the
changes that will take place due to the Local Government Elections. In
terms of the National Treasury, the affected municipalities by the
Demarcation process when doing their planning in terms of Integrated
Development Plans and Budget for 2011/12 should take into consideration
the proposed changes as a result of the demarcation process.
Circular 54
of the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003 further gives options
in terms of the time period for the municipalities to adopt their IDPs
in preparation for the changes as a result of elections. The district
municipality together with its local municipalities resolved to adopt
Option 1 where both IDP and Budget will be adopted by the current
Council and the new Council will have to endorse the adopted IDP and
Budget by its predecessor.
The District surface area has increased due to incorporation of
Mbizana and Ntabankulu Local Municipalities from 6858 to 11119 square
kilometers and is now sub-divided into four local municipalities:
Matatiele covering 4352 km² (39% coverage of district area), Umzimvubu
2506 km² (23% coverage of district area), Mbizana 2806 km² (25% coverage
of district area) and Ntabankulu occupying 1455 km² (13% coverage of
district area). The process also entailed the amendment of all four
municipalities’ wards where the wards for Umzimvubu LM increased from 24
to 27 due to some wards from Ntabankulu Municipality being incorporated
under Umzimvubu Local Municipality; Matatiele 24 to 26; Mbizana from 25
to 31 and Ntabankulu from 15 to 18 wards. The changes resulted in
Alfred Nzo District Municipality being formed by a total of 102 wards.
Legislative Mandate
There is a multitude of policy and legislation that Municipalities
must comply with and take cognisance of, the most important of which are
the following;
- The Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1996); Chapter 7
(Sec 153) sets out the objectives of Local Government and provides that
Municipalities have a developmental duty which entails structuring and
managing their budget, administration and planning processes in a manner
that prioritizes the basic needs of their communities whilst promoting
social and economic development within their communities. Chapter 3
deals with co-operative governance which is essential to the fulfillment
of the objectives given that these objectives encompass a wider
spectrum than the functional areas of Municipalities. Section 152
further mandates the municipalities to strive to achieve the following
objectives:
a) To provide democratic and accountable government for local communities;
b) To ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner;
c) To promote a safe and healthy environment and;
d) To encourage the involvement of communities and community organizations in the matters of local government.
- The Municipal Systems Act (2000); read together with the Municipal
Planning and Performance Regulations (2001) provides the legislative
framework for integrated development planning. Municipalities must
undertake developmentally oriented planning and are legally required to
adopt an IDP, give effect to their IDP, conduct their affairs in a
manner consistent with their IDP and review their IDP on an annual
basis.
- The Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act, (2003)
requires municipalities to coordinate the process of preparing the
annual budget and revising the IDP to ensure that there is integration
between the two. It makes provision for Service Delivery Budget
Implementation Plans (SDBIP) to ensure effective implementation of
service delivery in accordance with the annual budget.
- Other pertinent legislative frameworks include the Municipal
Structures Act, (1998) and the Inter-Governmental Relations Framework,
(2005).
- Relevant policy frameworks include the RDP (1994), GEAR (1996), White Paper on Local Government (1998), PGDP (2004 -2015), Provincial Spatial Development Plan (2003) and the ECDLGTA Framework Guide for Credible IDP’s