Municipalities have the responsibility to make sure that all citizens are provided with services to satisfy their basic needs. The most important services the municipality must provide are:

• Water supply
• Sewage collection and disposal
• Refuse removal
• Electricity and gas supply
• Municipal health services (mostly environmental health)
• Municipal roads and stormwater drainage
• Street lighting
• Municipal parks and recreation

Municipalities provide services to people by using their own resources – finances, equipment and employees. People must pay a certain rate to the municipality for providing these services.

FREE BASIC MUNICIPAL SERVICES

The government provides free basic levels of water, electricity and sanitation for the poor. This is only a small amount each month and those who use more than the free allocated amount have to pay for it.

Free basic water

The free basic water amount allocated to poor households is 6 000 litres per household per month. This might vary from municipality to municipality so households should contact their municipality directly to find out exactly what the free basic water service is that they provide.

Free basic electricity (FBE)

The amount of free electricity is 50kWh per household per month. This is approximately the amount of energy needed for basic lighting, running a small black and white TV and radio, basic ironing, and basic water boiling through an electric kettle. Households that use above this amount will have to pay for it.

FBE is intended for indigent or low-income households. In many municipalities FBE is automatically provided to households using a pre-paid electricity meter, but some municipalities might require households to apply and prove their low-income status.

Users who have pre-paid electricity meters will receive their FBE allocation at the beginning of each month. Once the free units are used up, the household will need to buy more electricity at the normal rate. The free allocation doesn’t roll over to the next month. This means if a person doesn’t use all of their FBE in a given month, they lose any unused portion and will have to start again with the new month’s allocation.

Users with traditional meters (where they pay at the end of the month) will usually have to go through a means test to qualify for the FBE. Their FBE will normally be deducted from the monthly bill (if they qualify). These users will not easily be able to see when they have used up their FBE units. They will be charged for additional use at the end of each month.

How to claim Free Basic Electricity (FBE)

If you qualify for FBE your municipality will include you on the list of FBE beneficiaries (qualifying people) and then submit the list to Eskom so that you can claim your FBE token.

Once you are registered you are entitled to a monthly amount of free electricity. This electricity is usually provided in the form of a prepaid FBE token (a number code that is punched into a prepaid meter). You can access the FBE token number through your mobile device. If you are a new beneficiary you can claim your free electricity as follows:

• Dial *130*269#
• Select the FBE prompt
• Select ‘NEW’
• Enter the electricity meter number
• Confirm that the number is correct
• Click Dismiss
• An SMS will be sent to you

If your household is already registered for FBE, you can access the FBE token number through your mobile device by dialing *269*120# or *130*869#

The FBE tokens are effective from the 1st of the month and can be collected anytime during the specific month. One only FBE token will be accepted by the meter during a specific month and it will expire at the end of the month. In other words, the tokens cannot be carried over from month to month. For traditional credit meters, the total units used by a household in a month will be reduced by the amount of free basic units.

Free basic sewage and sanitation

Sewage and sanitation as well as solid waste management are subsidised up to R50 per month or 100% subsidy for indigent households.

Who qualifies for free basic municipal services?

Only indigent households qualify for free basic services. To qualify for free basic services, a household must be classified as an indigent household by their local municipality. Free basic services of the first 50kw or 6000 litres are usually automatically given to all households that are on prepaid meters. For households using traditional billing meters they will need to do a means test to qualify. Their FBE will normally be deducted from the monthly bill (if they qualify).

The means test will decide whether households meet the criteria set by the municipality to qualify for indigent status. Municipalities determine their own categories of subsidies. In some municipalities, households qualify for 100% subsidies while others qualify for less than 100% depending on the criteria set.

Once a household qualifies for free basic services, they will be included on the list of FBE beneficiaries.

MUNICIPAL SERVICE PARTNERSHIPS

Municipalities can ‘outsource’ to other bodies, businesses or people to provide these services. This means it can choose to hire someone else, an NGO, CBO or private company to deliver the service but the municipality is still responsible for choosing the service provider and for making sure that they deliver the service properly.

When a municipality ‘outsources’ to someone else this is called a municipal service partnership (MSP). This is not the same as privatisation, but must be done carefully so that the municipality keeps control over the quality and cost of services.

So, an MSP is an agreement between a municipality and a service provider. Under this agreement, a service provider agrees to provide a particular municipal service on behalf of the municipality within a certain time frame and budget. The service provider can provide a service to the whole community or part of it. For example, it may be responsible for collecting rubbish in a certain part of the community.

MSPs can also be made with other spheres of government or government projects like the expanded public works programme. Work opportunities, such as expanded public works programmes and the community work programme are being rolled out to help unemployed people and engage them in doing community work for a small stipend. They often clean streets, do safety patrols, manage food gardens, look after old and bedridden people or help with extra classes or sports at schools.

MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE GRANT (MIG)

The MIG is a financial grant made by the national government to support and promote infrastructure development in municipalities. The MIG aims to remove municipal infrastructure backlogs in poor communities to ensure the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, roads and community lighting.

The Department of Cooperative Governance (COGTA) is responsible for managing and transferring the MIG, and provides support to provinces and municipalities in implementing the grant projects.

Here’s how the MIG works:

Allocation: The allocation of the MIG to various municipalities is based on a formula that takes into account the population, economic activity, and poverty level of the area. Municipalities that are less developed or have a larger infrastructure backlog will generally receive a larger proportion of the grant.

Project-based: The MIG is project-based, meaning that municipalities apply for funding based on specific infrastructure projects. Each project needs to be well-defined and must cater to the basic needs of the community.

Conditions: While the grant is intended to offer flexibility to municipalities, there are conditions attached to ensure that funds are used efficiently and for the purpose that they were intended. The national government requires municipalities to provide detailed plans, monitoring, and reporting on the progress of the projects funded by the MIG.

Compliance: Municipalities are expected to comply with various frameworks and guidelines when implementing projects funded by the MIG. This includes considerations for community involvement, environmental impact, and sustainability.

Monitoring and reporting: Regular monitoring and reporting are essential components of the MIG. Municipalities need to submit periodic progress reports to the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) detailing the implementation and financial status of the funded projects.

Capacity building: Recognizing that some municipalities may lack the technical expertise or capacity to implement large-scale infrastructure projects, a portion of the MIG can also be used for capacity-building. This ensures that municipalities can effectively and sustainably implement, operate, and maintain infrastructure projects.

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS UPGRADING PARTNERSHIP GRANT (ISUPG)

The Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG) is a conditional grant that provides funding to municipalities for upgrading of informal settlements. The funding aims to facilitate a programmatic, inclusive and municipality-wide approach to the upgrading of informal settlements and sets new conditions for provincial departments of human settlements and metropolitan municipalities that will receive this grant.

URBAN SETTLEMENTS DEVELOPMENT GRANT (USDG)

The USDG provides funding to supplement the funding of functions from municipal budgets of metropolitan municipalities. The funding should be to implement infrastructure projects that promote equal, inclusive and sustainable urban development.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WORKER PROGRAMME (CDWP)

This is a national government programme aimed at mobilising communities to:

• Assist with improving service delivery and accessibility of services to communities
• Assist with inter-governmental coordination between government departments
• Facilitate community development and stronger interactions and partnerships between government and communities
• Support participatory democracy

The role of Community Development Workers (CDWs) is to act as a link between Community and Government by informing communities of the government services available while informing government of community needs.

Usually CDWs are chosen from the communities in which they will work. This ensures they will be familiar with the local issues and needs. CDWs receive training to equip them with the skills to perform their duties effectively.

The responsibilities of CDWs include:

• Information dissemination: CDWs provide communities with information about government services, programs, and projects.
• Facilitation: They help in facilitating access to government services by guiding community members through processes, helping fill out forms, etc.
• Feedback mechanism: CDWs collect feedback from the community regarding the effectiveness and quality of government services and relay this feedback to the relevant government agencies.
• Capacity building: They may also play a role in building capacities within communities, such as organizing workshops, training sessions, and awareness campaigns.