It may seem a little unusual for an official from the U.S. government to be participating in a ceremony celebrating an innovative approach to water service delivery in South Africa. But I can assure you that there are at least two reasons for my presence here today.

First, I am here in a sense as a representative of the international development co-operation community to congratulate the officials of District Municipalities--Uthukela, Umzinyathi, and Amajuba--on a job well done. The Multi-Jurisdictional Municipal Service District (MJMSD) we are celebrating today is indeed an innovative approach for addressing challenges surrounding the delivery of essential services to all people in South Africa.

It is the first multi-jurisdictional district to be formed pursuant to the recently promulgated Municipal Systems Act.

This new Partnership represents the best international practice in dealing with these kinds of challenges. It is a way for local challenges to be dealt with by local officials who are answerable first to local constituencies. The new Water Partnership is, in effect, "owned" by local government, which is the sphere of government that is closest to the people and that tends to understand better their needs and expectations.

The new Partnership also continues solid relationships with national departments.

Overall, the new Partnership will facilitate a flexible and comprehensive approach to problem solving for people both in urban and rural areas, something that is not always possible with so-called "top-down" solutions.

The design and planning of this Partnership builds on the best international thinking on how to ensure benefits emerge from governmental decentralization and on how to make multi-jurisdictional municipal services work. And, very importantly, it adapts the experiences from elsewhere to the needs and requirements here in South Africa.

As such, this new Water Partnership will lead the way for other local and district municipalities across South Africa. I believe that what we have here will set an example that can be followed by other emerging economies, as well as other communities, in Africa. You have designed and are now implementing the new Partnership that will add to our collective knowledge on how to deliver water services to many. And as co-operation professionals responsible for facilitating the improvement of service delivery in the world, we at USAID appreciate what you have accomplished here, because it sets an example for other countries to follow.

The second reason for my participation today is to express USAID’s appreciation for the role played in this process by the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Unit (MIIU). USAID has worked closely with the South African government to design and operate the MIIU, which began its work in 1998. We have contributed approximately 15 million Rand to the MIIU grant fund. This fund assists with paying for project-related design work. Some of that grant money was used on this project. I particularly want to thank Ms. Gugu Moloi, the CEO of the MIIU, and one of the project managers, Jim Dohrman, for their vision and leadership in improving the delivery of critical services, such as water, across South Africa.

The MIIU is sometimes incorrectly characterized as working exclusively on municipal privatization. In fact, the Unit is tasked with assessing all available alternatives for improving service delivery in local governments that seek its assistance. That kind of assessment has led to some traditional privatization, as well as a variety of alternatives to improve the delivery of basic municipal services. I think we should all be very pleased that, to date, the Unit has worked with local authorities and other partners to complete partnership contracts worth over R6.5 billion in total value.

But as MIIU’s help with this new District demonstrates, the Unit is quick to support public-public partnerships, and other kinds of service delivery solutions warranted by the particular situation. The key to improving municipal service delivery is finding the right solution for the situation, and I believe the MIIU has demonstrated its commitment to that approach. We are also fortunate in South Africa that we have legislation like the Municipal Systems Act. This Act supports the examination of a broad range of solutions.

We in the United States are quite familiar with the multi-jurisdictional concept. In fact, the fastest growing form of local government in the U.S. is the special-purpose government corporation, which operates at the state and local levels to provide municipal services, often on a multi-jurisdiction basis. Approximately 75,000 such entities manage everything from mosquito abatement to water supply in the U.S. I understand that some of the model documents used on this project to help formalize its multi-jurisdictional participation came from a similar entity in the Northeast of the United States.

All of us recognize that the last twelve months have brought significant changes and opportunities in terms of how local government is structured and delivers services. Local elections, the demarcation process, and the huge amount of new legislation directly affecting local government have produced vast changes. To have accomplished so much with this Partnership over the last year with all these other changes is certainly a testimony to the dedication of the local officials involved.

Let me close my remarks by again offering my congratulations to all the various parties whom worked on this groundbreaking program. And let me also wish you the best of luck in moving ahead with the full rollout of Multi-Jurisdictional Municipal Service District’s functions over the next several years.

We at USAID look forward to a continuing role for the MIIU in helping other South African local governments to replicate your success.

Thank you.