Frances Baard District

Frances Baard District Municipality comprises:

Dikgatlong Local Municipality
Magareng Local Municipality
Phokwane Local Municipality
Sol Plaatje Local Municipality

Description: The Frances Baard District Municipality is a Category C municipality located in the far Frances Baard Districteastern portion of the Northern Cape Province. It shares its northern borders with the North West Province and its eastern border with the Free State Province. The municipality is the smallest district in the Northern Cape, making up only 3% of its geographical area. However, it accommodates the largest proportion of the province’s population.
It comprises the four local municipalities of Dikgatlong, Magareng, Phokwane and Sol Plaatje. Kimberley, which is where the district municipality is located, is less than 500km away from Johannesburg in the north, less than 1 000km away from Cape Town in the south, and less than 800km away from the Port of Durban in the east.

Area: 12 836km²

Cities/Towns: Barkly West, Delportshoop, Hartswater, Jan Kempdorp, Kimberley, Pampierstat, Ritchie, Warrenton, Windsorton

Contact information:

For all general enquiries: (053) 838 0911

Municipal Managers Office: (053) 838 0998

Town Planning: Contact:(053) 838 0929

Our district is predominantly a mining and agricultural district, with a lot of potential yet unlocked. The climate is favorable for outdoor living with a great number of “sunny” days throughout the year.

Two of the largest rivers, the Orange and the Vaal, flow through our district. Our population has been estimated at 387 742 in Census 2016 and we have a reputation for being friendly and hospitable people in the Province of the Northern Cape.

The district comprises of four local municipalities plus a rural district management area. Kimberley, located in Sol Plaatje Municipality, is the capital of the province, and also the home of our head offices as a district municipality.

Frances Baard District Municipality is the smallest district in the Northern Cape; however, it accommodates the largest proportion of the population of the province.

Tourism

Although predominantly a mining and agricultural region, Frances Baard District Municipality also offers rich experiences in terms of culture and history. The climate is favourable for outdoor living with a great number of sunny days throughout the year. Two of the largest rivers, the Orange and Vaal, flow through the district.

Kimberley is the capital city of the Northern Cape. It is situated in the centre of South Africa on the N12 national road between Johannesburg and Cape Town. Kimberley offers visitors a plethora of fascinating tourist attractions such as:

  • The William Humphrey Art Gallery
  • The Duggan Cronin Gallery, which holds a collection of early photographs of indigenous Africans.
  • Various old buildings and monuments dating back to 1899

Other attractions include:

  • Flamingo Casino
  • Game farms
  • Kamfers Dam (flamingo-breeding island)
  • Ghost tours
  • ‘Big Hole’ Tram Route

Economic profile

Frances Baard District Municipality is the strongest economic region in the province, accounting for 36% of the provincial gross domestic product (PGDP). According to a 2007 Quantec Research report, within Frances Baard District Municipality, contribution to the regional GDP is dominated by Sol Plaatje (74%), Phokwane (15%), Dikgatlong (8%), Magareng (2%).

The economy of the district consists of the primary (agriculture and mining), secondary (manufacturing, electricity and construction) and tertiary (trade, transport, financial and social services) sectors.

 

Mandate

The municipality has a mandate to:

  • Provide a democratic and accountable government for local municipalities
  • Ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner
  • Promote a safe and healthy environment
  • Encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government
  • The district does not account for the provision of bulk electricity and water to category B municipalities as this falls in the jurisdiction of these municipalities as concluded in the Structures Act. The district municipality has been assigned level-one and -two accreditation in terms of the housing function. Level-two accreditation status gives municipalities the responsibility to approve and manage housing construction programmes and ensure technical quality assurance.

 

Key facts and figures

  • Local municipalities: Dikgatlong Municipality, Magareng Municipality, Phokwane Municipality, Sol Plaatje Municipality
  • Major towns: Kimberley, Barkly West, Warrenton, Jan Kempdorp, Hartswater
  • Main roads: N12, N18, R29, R47
  • Railway: Extensive rail network
  • Airports: Kimberley Airport
  • Area covered: 13 518.19km²

 

Infrastructure Services

The primary focus of the district municipality is the needs of the category B municipalities, with a specific focus on providing basic infrastructure for water, sanitation and electricity and building capacities of the municipalities in the district. National and provincial imperatives are evident in the grant funding made available to the municipality, most notably for infrastructure.

The municipality has set a general strategic outcome to reduce operating cost in an effort to increase funding to address the present infrastructure backlog. Achievement of this objective requires defined strategic measures to be adopted, which include setting specific goals, action plans and time frames. These measures are encapsulated in the SDBIP. The SDBIP indicates quarterly performance targets, financial performance targets and assigns responsibility to execute the respective performance targets to various departments.

The District Municipality does not provide any services directly to communities. Our clients are the smaller local municipalities, which we support to improve their service delivery. We provide support by advising on technical matters, building capacity as well as financial support through various programmes. The District Municipality employ three engineering technicians who are assigned to each of the smaller local municipalities in the region, namely Dikgatlong, Magareng and Phokwane. These technicians render support in terms of the following:

  • Assisting with project identification and planning
  • Support with terms of reference, specifications and evaluation of tenders
  • Project management and technical support for projects under construction
  • Assist with operation and maintenance to improve Blue- and Green Drop scores
  • Identify gaps in training and assist with capacity building

Frances Baard District Municipality makes two types of allocations to local municipalities. Firstly, through the capital programme which is designed to assist local municipalities acquire assets to improve service delivery. Secondly, through allocations made to operation and maintenance of plant and infrastructure as municipalities often lack the capacity and funding to properly operate and maintain the service infrastructure upon which effective delivery depends.

 

 Planning and Development

The objectives of planning and development in Frances Baard District Municipality may be summarized as follows:

  • To promote the implementation of a sustainable integrated development planning in the district
  • To promote and implement an efficient and effective spatial planning system in the municipality
  • To ensure an effective and efficient GIS in the district
  • To ensure the promotion and development of the local economy in the district
  • To promote an effective and efficient Performance Management System in the district

 

Performance Management System

In its quest to promote performance management in the district municipality the department has recruited performance management interns and stationed them in Dikgatlong, Magareng and Phokwane municipality; in order to enhance the implementation of PMS in the local municipalities. Some of these interns have been absorbed as PMS officers in their respective municipalities.

 

 Spatial Planning

Frances Baard District Municipality is responsible for ensuring the development of sustainable human settlements in the district.

In order to achieve this goal the district has facilitated the preparation of planning instruments such as the preparation and adoption of Integrated Zoning Scheme for Dikgatlong and Phokwane municipality; the preparation and adoption of a Township Establishment schemes in Jan Kempdorp, Barkly West, and Kingston Extension and finalization of the title deeds for the beneficiaries of Farm 212 in Koopmansfontein.

 

 Geographic Information System (GIS)

The municipality’s GIS provides spatial information to all stakeholders for planning and resource allocation purposes. In 2012/2013 a data cleansing project was undertaken in Magareng municipality. The project entails the verification of cadastral information against deeds information to ensure that every title holder is on the correct erf and is being billed for water and electricity correctly.

This project if correctly implemented will enable municipalities to enhance their billing capacity and boost their revenue base.

 

 Local Economic Development (LED)

The district municipality has a legislative mandate to ensure the promotion of the economic development of the Frances Baard District. The Frances Baard District Municipality’s LED Unit is committed to promote quality economic development facilitation and coordination services to Category B Municipalities and its communities by : Facilitate for opportunities for SMME’s in procurement at FBDM.

Facilitating Agri-PPP, Value Adding and Market Access opportunities. Developing an Investment Attraction and Marketing Strategy for FBDM. Facilitating for finance, funds and resources from non-governmental, private and donor sectors. Monitoring the creation of jobs/business opportunities created by FBDM.

 

 Environmental Health

The FBDM is responsible for the rendering of municipal health and environmental planning and management services in the district. Municipal health services (MHS) as defined in the National Health Act, 2003 include the following: water monitoring; food control (evaluation of food and non-food premises); sampling of food products; waste management and general hygiene monitoring; health surveillance of premises; surveillance and prevention of communicable diseases; vector control monitoring; environmental pollution control; control and monitoring of hazardous substances; chemical safety; managing, controlling and monitoring exhumations and reburials; managing and controlling of pauper burials and poverty alleviation projects.

 

 Fire Fighting and Disaster Management

The implementation of the Disaster Management Act is the responsibility of the district municipality. The National Disaster Management Framework of 2005 guides the district municipality to implement the function according to the following key performance areas:

  • Building integrated Institutional Capacity for Disaster Risk Management;
  • Disaster Risk Assessment;
  • Disaster Risk Reduction; and
  • Response and recovery.

Disaster practitioners have been appointed within Dikgatlong, Magareng and Phokwane local municipalities. This was done to ensure that fire and disaster management activities can be implemented with uniformity and to assist the local municipalities in case of any disaster or incident. The strengthening of the veldfire capacity was identified as a high priority for disaster management and in partnership with “Working on Fire” (WoF), a subsidiary of the Department of Agriculture, volunteer veldfire fighting teams was trained.

 

 Housing

The Frances Baard District Municipality established a housing unit in 2006 with a vision to accelerate housing delivery and quality within the District. In 2009, the district municipality was successfully assessed for level 1 and 2 accreditation by the Accreditation Compliance and Capacity Assessment Panel. The municipality was delegated level 1 and 2 functions issued through an accreditation certificate in May 2011. This was a major accomplishment, not only for the district municipality but for the Province as a whole as it became one of the only two district municipalities in the country to attain level 2 accreditation. Since obtaining level 2 accreditation, the district municipality has been able to fulfil its obligation of performing the housing functions as per the accreditation framework and other pieces of legislation including the Constitution of the Republic, 1996, the Housing Act, Act 107 of 1997 and the National Housing Code.