RED TAPE REDUCTION CONFERENCE

29 September 2014

A Study of Effective Strategies to Reduce Municipal Red

Tape: The Case of Swartland Municipality

Produced for the Western Cape Provincial Government by Impact

Economix in association with Swartland Municipality and the Provincial

Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Red Tape Reduction

Unit)

18 February 2013

The case study is where SM approve building plans within 14 days.

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Factors contributing to Swartland’s success

2.1 IDP

2.2 PMS

2.3 No Performance bonuses

2.4 Client Services Charter

2.5 Public Consultation

2.6 Organisational culture and Political stability

3. Case Study: Approval of Building plans

3.1 Process of ensuring Building plans are approved within 30 days

3.2 Pioneer/Sasko case study

I am referring to these issues, because they form the foundation of our success

Not 30 days anymore: = 14 days

1. Introduction

Where are we?

WESTERN CAPE

WEST

COAST

DISTRICT

RIEBEEK

KASTEEL

POPULATION – 2011

CENSUS

113762 MOORREESBU

RG

MALMESBURY

YZERFONTEIN

DARLING

KORINGBERG

RIEBEEK WES

KALBASKRAAL

CHATSWORTH

ABBOTSDALE RIVERLANDS

11 Towns

AREA SIZE

3700 Km²

RED TAPE, can be defined as:

• “Rules, regulations, and / or bureaucratic

procedures and processes which are

excessively complex and which impose

unnecessary delay(s), inaction and/or costs

which exceed their benefits, and/or is no

longer effective in achieving the purpose for

which they were originally created”

(Wolpe, 2012)

2. Factors contributing to

Swartland’s success

SWARTLAND MUNICIPALITY

CLIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY:

JANUARY 2012

2.1 Integrated Development Plan

Rating scale

Respondents were asked to evaluate the different service

aspects on a five point scale:

• Excellent 5

• Good 4

• Average 3

• Poor 2

• Very poor 1

Main findings

Taking into account all individual aspects that were

evaluated, Swartland Municipality’s performance was

rated as good (4)

Main findings

Taking into account all individual aspects that were

evaluated, Yzerfontein, followed by Malmesbury and

Darling rated the Municipality best.

Main findings

The table below provides a summary of all

the individual aspects that were rated; from

here it is clear what can be regarded as

strengths and weaknesses of the

Municipality

Specific ratings - Average out of 5

Specific ratings - Average out of 5

Client service at municipal offices

Respondents who have regular contact with a

municipal office were asked to rate the service of the

specific office. Overall, the service at the different

municipal offices was rated good to excellent

(average scores above 4)

Ward councillor and ward committee

On the question “Are you aware who your ward

councillor is? And who serves on your ward

committee?” respondents reacted as follows:

Communication preferences

The municipal newsletter distributed with

respondents’ accounts is seen as the best source of

information regarding the municipality.

Communication preferences

The municipal office or officials will mainly be

approached when in need to find out more about the

municipality’s services.

Importance of regular communication

67% of respondents indicated that it is very important

for the Municipality to communicate with residents on a

regular basis on municipal matters

Preferred channel of communication

Majority of respondents prefer that the municipality

communicates with them via a written medium, e.g.

newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets

How did SM proceed from a qualified

report in 2005/2006

Unqualified with other matters

•2006/2007

•2007/2008

•2008/2009

•2009/2010 -

No quick fixes

Almost (also an PMS indicator of

Municipal Manager)

MM’s must accept responsibility

for a clean audit

Clean audit in 2010/2011

Clean audit in 2011/2012

Clean audit in 2012/2013

Clean Audit in 2013/2014

Back to the question re

“How did we proceed from a qualified report in

2005/2006 to a CLEAN AUDIT in 2010/11 and

2011/2012?”

The answer is two-fold and is based on:

A: Leadership

B: Good Governance

Begin with the end in mind

Ethical business practices

Implement and develop systems (automate)

Oversight by management

Staff and IT

Good Governance

Anti-

corruption/

fraud

prevention

plan

implemented?

Ward

Committee

Functionality

Municipal

Infrastructure

Grant

Expenditure

Personnel

Training

Budget

Expenditure

Housing

Grant

Expenditure

Household receiving basic services

Indigent households receiving free basic services

Yes 100% 100% 98.2% 100% 100% 96.8%

The Seven Strategic Outcomes of Swartland IDP, 2012- 2017

Strategic Outcome Major Risks Outputs 1 A financially sustainable

municipality with well

maintained assets

1.1 If there is insufficient revenue

to meet the

demand for services

1.2 If services are expensive and

unaffordable

1.1 Secured and increased

sources of income

1.2 Affordable and well

managed budget

1.3 Curtailing expenditure

1.4 Well managed and

maintained assets

2 Satisfied, involved and well

informed clients

2.1 If clients are unsatisfied /

uninvolved /

uninformed

2.1 Prompt, courteous and

responsive service that is

sensitive to the needs/concerns

of the public and

respectful of individual rights

2.2 External and internal clients

that are well

informed on municipal matters

municipal decision-making

Strategic Outcome Major Risks Outputs

3 An effective, efficient,

motivated and

appropriately skilled work

force

3.1 If there is a lack of

appropriately skilled and

productive staff

3.2 If the working

environment is unsafe

and

unhealthy

3.1 A motivated,

productive work force

pursuing

Swartland Municipality’s

vision, mission,

philosophy and values

3.2 A well trained and

appropriately skilled work

force, striving towards

service excellence

3.3 A safe and healthy

working environment

4. Access to affordable

and reliable municipal

infrastructure

4.1 If infrastructure is

ageing and poorly

maintained

which can result in a

collapse in services

4.2 If there is a lack of

capacity in respect of

infrastructure

4.1 Access for all clients to

basic municipal

infrastructure

4.2 Sufficient capacity in

respect of infrastructure

4.3 Affordable municipal

infrastructure

4.4 Reliable, safe and well

operated and maintained

municipal infrastructure

5 Sustainable

development of the

municipal area

(with special emphasis on

previously neglected

areas)

5.1 If there is an

imbalance between the

three pillars

of sustainable

development i.e.

environment, economy

and people

5.1 Social development

that improves people’s

quality of life

5.2 Sound management of

the urban and rural

environment

5.3 Economic growth that

benefits all

6 A lean, integrated, stable and

corruption free organisation

6.1 If there is a lack of good

governance

6.2 If management - and IT

systems are inadequate

6.1 Improved organisational

focus and performance

6.2 Improved organisational

control environment

6.3 Sound work ethics

6.4 An effective, efficient and

well disciplined

institution with sustainable

capacity

6.5 Relevant and efficient IT

service and

infrastructure

7 Increased community safety

through traffic policing, by-law

enforcement and disaster

management

7.1 If there is a decrease in law

compliance

7.2 If we are insufficiently

prepared for disasters

7.1 Increase in law compliance

7.2 Strengthening of fire fighting

service

7.3 Establishment and

maintenance of a disaster

management structure within

the Municipality

2.2 Good GOVERNANCE, as part of

PMS

Judge King said: “It is more expensive to

be legal complaint, to be

delivery complaint.”

In Swartland Municipality, we do not do things

only to comply with legislation, we really try to

effectively implement, to improve service

delivery.

We collectively create an environment that is

conducive to perform and to deliver

FIRST STEP

Was to do away with performance bonuses

(Swartland Municipality since 2005/2006)

Developed an Client Service Charter

PMS Contracts for all divisional heads

PMS for Councillors

“Boesem vertroue in by die publiek”

……….GOVERNANCE

Benefits of 0% bonusses

• Address the real issues

• Create a culture of performance

• Innovative targets are set

• Serious in addressing gaps,and improving

controls.

• Also applicable on Division heads

• Extended to Cllr’s

• Mayor committed to PMS contracts

How does this relate to RED TAPE?

We use the collaborator system (SQL Server

Reporting Services) to:

90% of mail should be addressed within 60

days.

Track the amount of time to deliver

I.t.o contract management there is an early

warning system to inform providers that the

deadline for service delivery is approaching .

Track staff that are consistently late and

monitor the time that they take off work due

to ‘illness’ to see whether there are patterns

RED TAPE continue………

We keep all logs as well as budgets over many years to

monitor trends

We track incidents that are reported and complaints that

are lodged and monitor which departments of government

receive regular complaints

We are also working on representing this in a Geographical

Information System to get a picture about where it occurs

We provide citizens with reference numbers (e.g. for

lodged complaints) that are monitored by the software

system to strengthen accountability.

This monitoring system makes it very difficult for officials

to underperform because everything can be tracked. It

also allows for the creation of benchmarks in terms of how long delivering a certain service should take.

2.4 Client Services Charter

The Client Service Charter (CSC) is a “public

agreement between citizens and service delivery

providers that clearly codify expectations and

standards in the realism of service delivery”

(Post & Agarwal 2012, 1)

The CSC provides a number of service standards

against which citizens are to measure the

municipality’s performance

Key characteristics of successful CSC:

• Clear and simple language

• Realistic and measurable performance standards

• A committed grievance redress mechanism

• An effective public relations strategy to make

citizens aware of the CSC

2.4 Client Services Charter

2.4 Client Services Charter

The assumed benefits of CSC include:

• Enhance accountability by providing citizens with a

clear understanding of service delivery standards,

including timetables, user fees for services, and

options for grievance redress.

• Increase organizational effectiveness and

performance by making a public commitment to

adhere to measurable service delivery standards.

• Create a way for both internal and external actors

to objectively monitor service delivery

performance.

• Create a more professional and client-responsive

environment for service delivery.

Client Services Charter continue……

• Foster improvements in staff morale.

• Decrease opportunities for corruption and

graft by increasing transparency and

educating citizens about their rights.

2.5 Public consultation

Swartland Municipality consults the public to

receive feedback on service delivery

satisfaction.

The CSC can also be seen as an effort to consult

the public in establishing service delivery

benchmarks

Swartland municipality does however emphasis

that many red tape issues negatively impacting

business are created by legislation which is largely out of their jurisdiction

2.6 Organisational Culture and

Political stability

1.Political Stability

2. Low Staff Turnover

3. Strong management team

4. There is zero tolerance for fraud and

corruption

Case study approval of building

plans

Recent surveys comparing service delivery amongst different

Municipalities have highlighted that the “approval of building

plans”, as an area of service delivery that is not rated high in

many Municipalities. Remember: Approval of Building

Plans only rated at 3,5

3.1 Process for ensuring building

plans are approved within 14 days

• Applicant needs to submit a number of

documents and make a standard payment.

• Then it is registered that day and within 24

hours the applicant receives an sms

including their reference number.

• This reference number is logged in the IT

system which sends it out to all relevant

departments.

…….continue

• Relevant departments need to provide a

comment to approve the application e.g.

from town planning, finance and building

inspector.

• Within two weeks the comments must be

sent back to the department.

(They don’t usually have a problem with

comments not coming back on time.)

• Twice a week relevant officials sit down to

approve projects

…continue

• The approval of projects follows a legal process

that they are obliged to follow which is overseen by

their attorney.

• On their system there is a scrutiny list which outlines

what procedures are required in order for a project

to be approved.

• Around 50% of applications are approved (within 30

days) the first time they are sent in and the rest

require refining before they can be approved.

• There is also a clearly defined set of steps that

‘reapplications’ need to follow. Clients are provided

with a detailed list of outstanding requirements in

order to move this process forward efficiently

14 days

Building plans submitted and responded

to within 30 days (2012): 2014---14 Days

July 2013:

Building plans submitted = 62

Building plans approved within 30 days = 50

Reaction on building plans (correspondence) within 30 days = 12

Building plans not approved = 0

Collaborator Report: The average time

spent on a application before approval

Period of: 01/07/2011 – 31/07/2011:

IN BENCHMARK DETAIL - 30 DAYS This report will display the total building plan applications reviewed within the spesified benchmark according to the selected period and benchmark.

Selected Period: 7/1/2011 - 7/31/2011

Total Applications 51 100 %

Total In Benchmark 48 94 %

Total Out of Benchmark 3 6 %

Average Time Spent on a

Application

26

Type of Building Work

Reference Number

Plan Number

DATE CREATED DATE REVIEW COMPLETED

DATE DIFF.

Motorafdak

936831 348/11 7/1/2011 12:00:00 AM 2011-07-26 11:44:50.657

25

Motorafdak

937092 349/11 7/4/2011 12:00:00 AM 2011-08-03 10:01:38.203

30

Aanbou 937106 350/11 7/4/2011 12:00:00 AM 2011-07-29 10:55:39.857

25

Aanbou 937225 354/11 7/4/2011 12:00:00 AM 2011-07-26

11:58:20.190

22

Aanbou 938363 355/11 7/6/2011 12:00:00 AM 2011-08-03 10:20:26.043

28

Stoor 938377 356/11 7/6/2011 12:00:00 AM 2011-07-18 11:08:46.973

12

IN BENCHMARK DETAIL - 30 DAYS

Selected Period: 7/1/2012 - 7/31/2012

Total Applications 53 100 %

Total In Benchmark 53 100 %

Total Out of Benchmark 0 %

Average Time Spent on a

Application

18

Type of

Building Work

Reference

Number

Plan

Number

DATE CREATED DATE REVIEW

COMPLETED

DATE DIFF.

Woonhuis 1059232 394/12 7/2/2012 12:00:00 AM 2012/07/26 10:41:00 AM

24

Aanbou 1059238 395/12 7/2/2012 12:00:00 AM 2012/07/26 09:16:00 AM

24

Aanbou 1059524 398/12 7/3/2012 12:00:00 AM 2012/07/26 11:00:00 AM

23

Grensmuur 1059533 399/12 7/3/2012 12:00:00 AM 2012/07/19

02:46:00 PM 16

Aanbou 1059544 400/12 7/3/2012 12:00:00 AM 2012/07/26 09:54:00 AM

23

Aanbou 1059894 401/12 7/3/2012 12:00:00 AM 2012/07/26 11:14:00 AM

23

Period of: 01/07/2012 – 31/07/2012

IN BENCHMARK DETAIL - 30 DAYS

Selected Period: 7/1/2013 - 7/31/2013

Total Applications 67 100 %

Total In Benchmark 67 100 %

Total Out of Benchmark 0 %

Average Time Spent on a

Application

15

Type of Building Work

Reference Number

Plan Number

DATE CREATED DATE REVIEW COMPLETED

DATE DIFF.

Woonhuis 1191780 369/13 7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM 2013/07/16 11:03:00 AM

15

Woonhuis 1191849 370/13 7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM 2013/07/22 10:59:00 AM

21

Woonhuis 1191856 371/13 7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM 2013/07/22

12:26:00 PM 21

Aanbou 1191864 372/13 7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM 2013/07/16 08:54:00 AM

15

Motorhuis 1191873 373/13 7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM 2013/07/19 11:13:00 AM

18

Aanbou 1192011 374/13 7/1/2013 12:00:00 AM 2013/07/15 12:33:00 PM

14

Period of: 01/07/2013 – 31/07/2013

Financial Year

Total building

plans

In benchmark

(30 days)

Out of benchmark

Total days

2009/2010 622 267 355 73

2010/2011 701 449 252 45

2011/2012 783 723 60 27

2012/2013 711 711 0 18

2013/2014 691 691 0 13

Jul/Aug 2014 111 111 0 10

BUILDING CONTROL OUTCOME FOR LAST 5 (FIVE) FINANCIAL YEARS

We had the desire to get this figure down to less than two weeks, so we implemented additional processes to improve, which led to a “PRE- TOWN PLANNING SRUTINY “ meeting.

OUR (2013/14) CAPEX and OPEX

spending

CAPEX OPEX

2010/11:95,7%

2011/12:108%

2012/13:99,8%

2013/14:98,7%

2010/11:99,1%

2011/12:93,6%

2012/13:95,7%

2013/14:98,8%

We also have an unwritten rule and “gentleman’s agreement”, that if a Director does not spend 90% of his/her capital budget, he/she will resign.

…. INCOME

Income

2010/11:96,3%

2011/12:100,9%

2012/13:99,5%

2013/14:103,2%

Average of 99,97%

Capacity to manage successful:

2005/2006 2006/2010 2010/2014

“How did Swartland proceed from QAR to consecutive CAR”

U n q u a l i f i e d with other m a t e r s

1 0 0 % M I G s p e n d i n g

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2011

2012 2013 2014

2013

A united & motivated team Committed to all the “E’s”:

‘E’ = Energy

‘E’ = Energise

‘E’ = Edge

‘E’ = Execute THERE IS NO SUCCESS WITHOUT AN ATTITUDE OF SACRIFICE

Attitude – is always a player

in your team/in my team

OUR TEAM

Thank you

Baie dankie

Ndiyabulele