Supporting Local Government
Supporting local government in the delivery of sustainable, reliable and affordable water, sanitation and related services is a strategic objective for The Mvula Trust. This support not only involves the delivery of actual infrastructure and support services to communities on behalf of municipalities, it also includes direct and indirect support to municipalities – including technical support, capacity building and support in the area of governance.
Work undertaken by Mvula in 2009/10 in this area included:
North West
The region has successfully assisted four municipalities in the review of Water Service Authority (WSA) and Water Service Provider (WSP) contracts for municipalities (Moretele LM, Moses Kotane, Madibeng and Dr Ruth Sekgomotso Mompati). The process also involved the-work shopping the municipalities around the role of WSAs and WSPs in line with their approved Water Services Development Plan documents.
Limpopo
Acting as an Implementing Agent (IA), the Limpopo regional office implemented the Integrated Local Government Support (ILOGS). ILOGS is programme of the Department of Water Affairs (DWA) and is funded by Irish Aid. It is aimed at supporting Water Services Authorities (WSAs) towards establishing capacity (e.g. mechanisms and tools, policies, implementation strategies and plans, assessments such as skills audit, alignment with policy imperatives such as Section 78, etc.) in order to enhance management efficiency to deliver water services delivery. Other projects aimed at supporting the Limpopo water sector include civil society support programmes, change management, sector collaboration, health and hygiene seminars, etc. The programme has been implemented in 9 of the 11 WSAs in Limpopo, over the past 3 years beginning in June 2007. The IA tasks included facilitating the scope of work with the beneficiary municipalities culminating in project execution plans, procurement of service providers, monitoring project implementation activities, management of the project finances and implementation plan, and report writing. To date, more than 100 projects (at a cost of about R66 million) have been implemented.
Eastern Cape
The Mvula Trust assisted the Ndlambe Local Municipality to implement a Water Conservation and Demand Management pilot project, in collaboration with DWA (see Box)
Ukhahlamba District Municipality was supported to adopt a community based approach in implementing tge Basci Sanitation Accelerated Infrastructure Programme
Durban Office
The Durban office provided significant input into the planning of the next phase of sanitation implementation of the Umgungundlovu District Municipality by advising on a sustainability strategy
Policy Unit
The Mvula Trust, through a contract implemented by the Policy Unit, provided operational capacity to DWA’s support activities to local government on a number of topics. Projects and activities supported through this contract included: The Water Services Authority Checklist, Vision 2020, DWA Call Centre, MSIG support, Knowledge Sharing, Sector Collaboration, Skills development, WSP Support and Reporting