Mbali Dube
Municipal infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) hosted an Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) workshop at the Mpongo Game Reserve, in East London, Eastern Cape province on the 7th and 8th of November.
The purpose of the workshop was to provide insight into the IDMS and its importance within the municipal infrastructure management space; discuss the political and administrative priorities around implementing and sustaining the IDMS; empower workers; and assist in understanding the importance of cooperation and oversight.
In his opening address, MISA CEO Ntandazo Vimba said the workshop sought to create awareness in municipalities about IDMS and to assist municipalities to implement and institutionalize IDMS.
The programme covered IDMS and legislative guidelines; IDMS political and administrative priorities; infrastructure portfolios, programme and project management; the importance of operations, maintenance infrastructure procurement; and the political and administrative integration and alignment in relation to infrastructure management.
“The IDMS workshop was very important and central in supporting the planning, budgeting, procurement, delivery, maintenance, monitoring and evaluation of infrastructure. If IDMS is fully embraced and implemented, it will favourably expedite the transformation of the service delivery landscape in municipalities,” said Mr.Mamuremi a Chief Director of Project Management Office.
Because of its success, he advocates for the rollout of the Infrastructure Delivery Management System (IDMS) workshop throughout the country.
Speaking to Mr Luvo Mpengesi a Director for Framework Contracts and Infrastructure Procurement he said “the workshop was well received and there was fair representation from all the district municipalities in the Eastern Cape. All the key speakers affirmed in unison the importance of IDMS as the key ingredient in the delivery of infrastructure and acknowledged it to be the backbone in realization of the ‘One Plan’ as envisaged by the President of the Republic, Cyril Ramaphosa, in the District Development Model.”
“The best practices that underpin IDMS in line with applicable legislation help to standardize delivery management processes and assist in ensuring uniformity in the language that is used in infrastructure delivery across the board in all the three spheres of government.” He added.
The IDMS is government’s policy for implementing its strategy to enhance socio-economic growth and development through infrastructure delivery. It is a set of processes and a body of knowledge, to set a standard for the management of infrastructure delivery in the public sector.
The IDMS has evolved over the years, dating back from 2002,when National Treasury commissioned an independent assessment to understand the reason for infrastructure under-spending and constant needs for rollovers by provincial departments to being the main tool for infrastructure delivery and procurement management. MISA is currently rolling IDMS out in a pilot project in selected district Municipalities in the Eastern Cape, namely: Amathole, Alfred Nzo and O.R Tambo District Municipalities.