Minister Wenger establishes Provincial Budget and Governance Forum for Mayoral Committee Members of Finance, with energy crisis top of agenda.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger, has established the Provincial Budget and Governance Forum, bringing together Mayoral Committee Members responsible for Finance from municipalities across the Western Cape, to enable coordinated action by “Team Finance” in the province.

The inaugural meeting of this Forum was held today in the Theewaterskloof Municipality in the Overberg, where Minister Wenger stressed the importance of good governance and sound financial management in ensuring economic growth, job creation and service delivery for residents in the province.

Minister Wenger said: “As local government leaders and officials, you serve at the coal face of government; you are closest to residents and your decisions have a direct impact on their daily lives. To ensure that we are ‘Governing for Growth’, we must implement the very best systems, structures, and practices to ensure good governance. We must also base our decisions on evidence, and we have put immense effort into compiling the Municipal Economic Review Outlook (MERO), which, gives us the data we need to identify and address obstacles to growth, but also to identify the opportunities for growth in each of our municipalities.”

The Western Cape Provincial Treasury plays a vital role as an enabler for municipalities across the province. Reflecting on the importance of the body, Minister Wenger added: “This forum will also allow me to provide feedback on key matters discussed with me at a national level, and, of equal importance, to provide you with a platform to feedback on what matters you would like me to raise with the National Minister of Finance, and his colleagues, through the National Budget Forum and Budget Council, of which the 9 Finance MECs are members.”

At the top of the meeting agenda was the devastating energy crisis, which is impacting core municipal services, as well as limiting growth in the province.

Minister Wenger said: “This week, in response to the unprecedented escalation of the energy crisis we face in South Africa, and specifically to the very real risk of spillage of raw sewerage into watercourses as well as interruptions of potable water supply, I authorised the release of R88.8 million in emergency funding to be allocated to municipalities for the procurement of backup generators for the treatment and supply of water services.”

The Minister continued: “While this short-term solution will help mitigate the risks to water treatment, I would like to assure you that the Provincial government is urgently ramping up our response to this crisis and are developing more short-, medium- and long-term plans to drastically increase our energy resilience and decrease our reliance on Eskom.”

Based on the panel discussion on the regional response to the energy crisis, the following recommendations were made:

• The establishment of municipal CFO/technical energy sub-committee to facilitate discussions on topical energy-related matters. Outcomes to feed into provincial planning and budgeting process and to help CFOs navigate the changing landscape;
• The Western Cape Government will explore setting up a project preparation facility for municipalities and scaling up support including development of projects/products/solutions assessment funnel to assess viability, costs etc; and
• Coordinated approach used to provide strategic direction through the Strategic Integrated Municipal Engagement process.

Other items for discussion on the day included strategies to enable private sector-led economic growth in the Western Cape and the province’s Municipal Economic Review and Outlook for 2022/23, which provides important data for municipal plans and budgets.

Minister Wenger concluded: “Together, by sharing our knowledge, our experience and our best practice, we can have a real impact on the daily lives of our residents, and, as
Team Finance, govern for growth in the Western Cape.”

Media Queries:

Georgina Maree

Spokesperson for the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities

(Responsible for the Provincial Treasury and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism)

Cell: 076 423 7541

Email: georgina.maree@westerncape.gov.za