The consolidated municipal infrastructure programme (CMIP) is designed to further the aims of the RDP through the provision of internal bulk and connector infrastructure in support of household infrastructure to needy South Africans in ways that enhance the integration of previously divided areas. In addition, the programme furthers the aims of the RDP by enhancing the developmental impact of the delivery process by, for example, focusing on the transfer of skills and the promotion of small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs), using labour-intensive construction processes and maximising job-creation opportunities (DPLG, 2001: 3).
The CMIP provides capital grants to municipalities to provide services such as water, roads, solid waste removal and community lighting to needy South Africans. An amount of up to R3 000 per site is available per low-income household (households with an income of less than R3 500 a month). The range of services for which these funds can be used are set out in the CMIP handbook. However, each municipality, in
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consultation with the beneficiary community, must determine the package of services it must provide as well as the level of services. Municipalities can use CMIP funds to leverage additional funds to provide higher levels of service on condition that it is affordable to the community.
In addition, CMIP aims to enhance long-term sustainability and the rapid improvement of delivery through a capacity-building programme. The programme focuses on strengthening the institutional abilities of municipalities, including their contract management and operation and maintenance capacities.
CMIP consolidates existing grants for municipal infrastructure, such as the municipal infrastructure programme, the extension of the municipal infrastructure programme, and bulk and connector infrastructure grants, into a single, coherent funding process.
CMIP regards the municipal infrastructure programme, the extension of the municipal infrastructure programme, and bulk and connector infrastructure grants as
‘pilot’ projects and draws on the learning experiences from each of them. CMIP streamlines the infrastructure-funding process by eliminating duplications and promoting synchronicity in the funding and delivery of housing and municipal infrastructure (DPLG, 2001: 3).
Guiding principles of CMIP
The following are the guiding principles of the CMIP:
At least a basic level of services for all South Africans within 10 years.
Long-term financial sustainability.
Strengthening the institutional capacity of municipalities.
A single, coherent funding process for municipal infrastructure.
Rapid improvement of delivery.
Synchronisation of housing and infrastructure delivery.
Integration of apartheid areas, and urban and rural service delivery.
Existing grant-funded programmes for municipal infrastructure (DPLG, 2001:4).
29 At municipal level
Municipalities are responsible for establishing project teams for each approved CMIP project. The composition of the teams varies from project to project, but is likely to include relevant officials, a project manager, and a project consultant if required.
Municipalities are further responsible for preparing all applications for funds, preparing technical reports and formulating business plans, placing contracts, and monitoring the quality of the project. They must also report any financial or other irregularities to the provincial programme manager and report on progress and costs.
Completed projects become municipal assets, with municipalities responsible for operating and maintaining them (CMIP, 2001: 8).
3.3.12 Health
In terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the state must “take reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to achieve the progressive realisation of the right of the people of South Africa to have access to health care services, including reproductive health care; …provide for a system of co-operative governance and management of health services, within national guidelines, norms and standards, in which each province, municipality and health district must address questions of health policy and delivery of quality health care services” (RSA, Act 108 of 1996: 1255 (27)).
The following programmes fulfil the above-mentioned constitutional dictates:
The Primary Health Care Package (PHC), which provides free healthcare for certain vulnerable groups, pregnant women and children under six;
The Integrated Nutrition Program (INP) and Primary School Nutrition Program (PSNP) target vulnerable communities, groups and individuals from poor households, for nutrition interventions and provide nutrition education;
Free Health Care Services (FHCS) and the Protein Energy Malnutrition Scheme provide assistance for people with special needs, including home-based or community care; and
The Home-Based/Community-Based Care Programme is for children and families infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS. The programme, funded through conditional grants, aims to implement effective and
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affordable home/community-based care and support models integrated with poverty-alleviation programmes, in order to meet the basic needs of families and children living with HIV and AIDS (Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, 2010: 8-10(13-19, 24-29)).
However, the poor face challenges when accessing these services. Challenges include early closure of the clinics by auxiliary health workers; the intake of a specific number of patients; ill-treating the patients through rude behaviour; and favouring some patients over others (Statistics SA, 2010:17). The researcher has noticed prolonged tea breaks by health-care professionals and personnel, in spite of a clinic being filled to capacity with people awaiting assistance.
3.3.13 Education
Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996: s 29(1) (a - b)) guarantees everyone, including adults, the right to basic education and to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible. These provisions are designed to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices. The Draft Anti-poverty Strategy Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy for RSA, 2010:8) further emphasises these provisions. The government intends expanding and improving the educational system in an attempt to improve impoverished people’s access to job opportunities and to accelerate growth. The government is prioritising education as one of the interventions towards poverty alleviation. According to the latest census data (Statistics South Africa, Census 2011, 2011:48), the percentage of people aged 20 years and older with no schooling has decreased from 1996 to 2011, and in the Free State and Gauteng was 3,7 percent and 7,1 percent respectively in 2011.