Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA)

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Richard Baloyi announced during the last week of November 2011 that a new Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (Misa) would be established next month (December 2011) to accelerate service delivery and enhance capacity among municipalities.

This was according to a report by Engineering News Online published on 26 November 2011. It also advises that `Through Misa, the department expects to be able to accelerate service delivery through five programmes, comprising: municipal infrastructure assessment and diagnosis of the challenges, to find solutions that are viable and sustainable; provision of municipal infrastructure capacity support; municipal infrastructure implementation support; sector capacity development, including internships for unemployed graduates within municipalities; and effective monitoring and evaluation.’

Baloyi is reported to have told delegates attending a conference on accelerating infrastructure delivery and capacity enhancement for municipalities that `Misa would seek to coordinate all initiatives and support provided by government through a range of interventions, which include Project Consolidate, Siyenza Manje and other initiatives.’ He also said that he would launch a campaign working with universities, professionals and the private sector to build capacity among municipalities to accelerate service delivery.

A copy of the article is available here.