i 
GENERAL MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE CONTRACT (GMAC) 
Contract No: 674-C-00-01-00051-00 
MTI Subcontract No.: 0172-0406-PO-ME16 
Final Evaluation Report - Deliverable 3 
DATE 
July 2006 
This report was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. 
It was prepared by Palmer Development Group, under Mega-Tec, Inc.’s prime contract and 
addresses USAID/South Africa’s Strategic Objective No. 6: Increased Access to Shelter and 
Environmentally Sound Municipal Services. The author’s views expressed in this publication do 
not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the United 
States Government 
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Please direct all queries regarding this report to: 
Mega-Tech/South Africa 
Bank Forum Building 
Lobby 1, Second Floor 
337 Veale Street 
New Muckleneuk 
0181 Pretoria RSA 
Tel. 012 452 0060 
Fax 012 452 0070 
Email megatech@intekom.co.za
Or 
Mega-Tech, Inc. 
180 South Washington Street, Suite 200 
Falls Church, VA 22046 
Tel. (703) 534-1629 
Fax (703) 534-7208 
Email info@mgtech-world.com
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Executive Summary 
Background 
The ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign is aimed at developing the 
capacity of local governments to achieve measurable reductions in greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions to improve air quality and enhance urban quality of life. The
campaign is funded under the DEAT/USAID bilateral agreement. In South Africa,
eleven municipalities currently participate in the initiative. The program has recently 
ended, necessitating this evaluative review. 
The campaign had three distinct phases: 
Phase 1 was aimed at allowing municipalities to develop projects which have strategic
value or provide genuine benefit of cost saving. The phase placed a strong emphasis 
on training, capacity building and networking and provided a strong platform for the 
other two phases. 
The focus of phase 2 was to expand the program in terms of the number of
participating cities and to assist participating cities to implement a range of larger 
projects and initiatives through partnerships with the cities. The main objective was to 
focus on the implementation of clean energy and transportation measures by: 
• Providing more targeted technical assistance to the cities on these tasks, such 
as in the development of PINS, assessing audit services and more 
• Actively leveraging the opportunities/resources identified in the project’s first
phase 
The objectives of phase 3 centred on increasing awareness around air quality and 
projects were guided to focus on air quality monitoring and transport. 
Grants Awarded 
The total amount of grant funding awarded by USAID over the life span of CCP in
South Africa totalled $2,533,869.00. Included in this figure are both the grants awarded
to municipalities and any funds that were necessary for the administering of training
sessions and workshops. 
Grants awarded for each phase to the various municipalities are as follows: 
 Total Grants awarded to cities in each phase
Project Grants Awarded( US $) City Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 
City of Cape Town 56, 000 35, 000 108, 500 
eThekwini Metro Municipality 56, 000 36, 000 
uMthlathuzi Local Municipality 
(Richard’s Bay) - - -
Mangaung Local Municipality - - 81, 000
Saldanha Bay Local Municipality 52, 000 28,000 - 
Sol Plaatje Local Municipality 52, 000 - 2, 500 
City of Ekhuruleni Metropolitan
Municipality - 40, 000 25, 500 
City of Johannesburg 56, 000 - - 
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Metropolitan Municipality 
Buffalo City Local Municipality 52, 000 - - 
Tshwane Metro Municipality 56, 000 36,000 - 
Potchefstroom Local Municipality 52, 000 - 96, 200 
Total Award (US $) 432, 000 194, 000 313, 000 
Objectives of the evaluation 
The primary objective of the review is to undertake and evaluation of the ICLEI CCP 
campaign in South Africa to identify areas of success, weakness, accomplishments,
and lessons learned within the program result areas, as well as to comment on its 
impact and effectiveness. 
A secondary objective of the evaluation is to review and comment on the quantitative 
data used to report on the program which included verifying the final number of
households that benefited from the program, funds leveraged and data reported in the 
Global Climate and Clean Energy reports with prior performance reporting. 
Approach 
The evaluation used two main approaches to data collection:
• Review of reports and other documents related to the program, produced by 
ICLEI and municipalities 
• Interview of municipal officials (and Councillors where available) and other key 
stakeholders(primarily ICLEI and DEAT) 
The aim of each was to collate quantified data related to the program, its inputs and
outputs, and to gather more qualitative information and feedback from each of the 
interviewees on the program, its successes, failures, limitations and legacy for the 
future. The nature of interviewing meant that this approach had a strong emphasis on
gaining experiential and anecdotal information on achievements at the municipal level,
whilst the analysis of reports was the main method for extracting quantifiable project
and program level data. 
Overall Impressions 
• In terms of establishing a local network, the project has been an undeniable 
success. It has opened up opportunities for municipalities to engage with each
other around climate change, something which otherwise may not have taken
place. 
• The CCP has also given local officials the opportunity to make a positive 
contribution to climate change and energy efficiency and this has stimulated
creative and energetic responses to global issues at the local level. 
• As seed funding, the USAID and DEAT funds that were channelled through
CCP have had a significant effect on local government environmental initiatives
in the field of energy efficiency. It is clear that this funding has been a 
fundamental spark for many other projects and initiatives aimed and sustaining
energy and addressing climate change. The spin-off effects have been noted by 
all those interviewed in this evaluation and there is a genuine appreciation 
amongst municipalities for the contribution that these funds have made to
increasing awareness and stimulating other initiatives in the local municipality. 
The proven effects of the projects implemented and the knowledge gained and
shared between municipalities have resulted in an impressive snowballing of 
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activity within municipalities which can be traced back to the influence of the
ICLEI CCP program. 
• Workshops and technical training were generally well received and local 
officials have clearly benefited from these sessions, and in some cases so too
have politicians. 
Lessons learned 
• The need for local support and capacity building cannot be underestimated. 
Municipalities have stressed the important value that they received from training
and it is clear that in order to sustain work of this nature training and capacity 
building needs greater development. 
• The platforms provided for knowledge dissemination, experience sharing and 
fieldtrips have been inspiring. They have enlightened cities and exposed them 
to opportunities that are practical to apply and which can make a meaningful 
difference to both cost savings and environmental action. 
• The positive implications of strong and stable institutional structures and 
similarly the negative impact of weak institutional structures are important
lessons to carry forward. 
• The presence of a champion in the municipality has been important to the 
success of these projects. It also noted that a good working relationship and
understanding between the technical official and politician goes a long way in 
achieving wider success with these initiatives. 
• While individual drive and commitment makes a large impact on the success of 
initiatives it important that too much of the success does not rest on a few 
individuals. Sustainability depends in large part on creating wider awareness,
obtaining greater buy-in and institutionalising the motivation to achieve results
to become more energy efficient and responsive to climate change and its 
affects. 
• Communication and support are important for success, both within and between
the municipalities as well as between the key role-players from other entities 
involved in the network of CCP. 
• National support and the provincial – local interface need to be advanced for 
local initiatives such as CCP to have a national impact. 
Recommendations for ICLEI 
• ILCEI needs to work on strengthening and stabilising their South African office,
especially since it is the Africa Directorate. 
• Staff retention should be a focus and more significantly the retention of
knowledge and passing on of skill should be given more attention. Institutional
memory should also be addressed so as to ensure that the exit of human
capital does not result in the exit of the knowledge base in the organisation. 
• There needs to be greater consideration given to understanding and 
overcoming internal obstacles facing municipalities such as local legislation e.g.
procurement policy, which needs to be taken account of when implementing
programs. This may indicate a need to improve channels of communication so 
as to engage with local officials on these issues prior to implementation. 
• Clear definitions and communication of the roles and responsibilities of ICLEI
staff as well as other stakeholders are vital to the flow of the program. Municipal 
staff in the CCP cities needs to be informed as to who the role players are and 
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where responsibilities rest, as it will allow them to channel their communication 
to the appropriate people and may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 
programs. 
Recommendations for DEAT 
• The fact that many municipalities were not aware of DEAT’s role in the program
indicates a lack of communication from DEAT’s side. 
• It is clear that DEAT needs to play both a supportive and leadership role in
climate change and energy efficiency initiatives in South Africa as municipalities 
look to national government for direction. Recent developments indicate that 
some headway has been made in this regard, with DEAT currently in the
process of establishing a sub-directorate for municipal support. 
• DEAT is well placed to play a co-ordinating role of municipal activity and local 
government environmental initiatives. DEAT may do well to serve as the core of 
the local network and can play a key role in developing local skill and capacity 
by organising regular training and sharing workshops for local government in 
future. 
• Many of projects that have come out of the CCP have been very successful and 
it may be worthwhile exploring public-private partnerships to expand this kind of 
initiative to the private sector. 
Recommendations on Phases 1 and 2 
• The flexibility of phase 1 and the fact that it allowed the municipalities to be
innovative with their project design has been highly commended and a key part
the success of this phase. It is recommended that this approach be continued in
other initiatives of this kind as it is likely to stimulate great interest and promote
the development of creative ideas for reducing emissions and saving energy. 
• While the value of networks has been identified as a key achievement of CCP 
in South Africa it is noted that these need to be more organised and focussed 
rather than too loose and informal. Informal relationships between local officials 
have been invaluable but there is a concern that this informality could weaken
these networks if individuals leave the municipality. While it is understandable
that personal relationships sustain these networks, it is preferable that the 
networks be institutionalised rather than rest on individual relationships. 
• The flow between phases 1 and 2 seems to have had good continuity but it is
recommended that more needs to be done to monitor and evaluate each phase
before progressing to the next, especially as phase 2 built on phase 1. 
• Verification and adequate assessment of the quality of the inventories has been 
a problem of note, one which has had repercussions later down the line. 
Accuracy of the inventories is important and it is imperative that inventories are 
verified and checked for reliability in the early phase. 
• The quality of technical skills to complete the inventories correctly needs to be 
identified early on and where there is a lack of skill, high-level support needs to
be provided so that the quality of the inventories is ensured. 
• The 5 milestones process worked well because it provided direction and 
guidance for what should be achieved in the initiative. However, the monitoring
and evaluation component was not adequately fulfilled and more needs to be
done in future to adequately implement mechanisms for this. 
• There is a keen interest in some of the smaller cities to make use of HEAT
software in future and ICLEI has indicated aspirations for this as well. However,
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it is clear that the greatest impediment to these goals is the lack of local support 
for municipalities. Thus it is recommended that before pursuing the expanded 
usage of HEAT software, local support and technical capacity is established to 
support municipalities in making effective use of this software. 
Recommendations on Phase 3 
• There appeared to be a lack of continuity and flow from phase 2 to phase 3, 
most notable in the change of agenda and the relatively restrictive approach 
taken in phase 3 compared to the earlier phase. 
• Planning around phase 3 and the use of lessons learnt from the earlier phases 
may have helped improve the continuity between the phases. This links again 
with the importance of monitoring and evaluation between phases. 
• Phase 3’s restrictive focus on air quality and transport only, tight time frames
and deadlines seemed to have had negative implications for the success of this 
phase. Many municipalities felt under enormous pressure to achieve
unreasonable and unrealistic goals, which lead to a lower level of participation 
in projects for this phase. Thus it is recommended that reasonable time frames
be adopted and that greater flexibility be given to inspire municipalities to devise
innovative ideas for dealing with climate change and energy efficiency. 
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Abstract 
This document is the preliminary evaluation report of the United States Agency for 
International Aid (USAID) and Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) 
financed International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Cities for Climate 
Protection (CCP) campaign. 
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Acknowledgements 
PDG would like to acknowledge and thank all representatives of ICLEI, DEAT and
cities which participated in the CCP program for their enthusiastic responses to our 
questions and general interest shown in the evaluation process. 
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List of abbreviations and acronyms 
ICLEI – International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives 
USAID – United States Agency for International Development 
DEAT – Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism 
CCP – Cities for Climate Protection
GHG – Greenhouse Gas 
LPG – Liquid Petrolium Gas 
MoU – Memorandum of Understanding 
COP8 – Conference of Parties 
WSSD – World Summit on Sustainable Development 
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Contents
Contract No: 674-C-00-01-00051-00 i
Executive Summary iii
Acknowledgements ix
List of abbreviations and acronyms x
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Problem Statement 1
1.3 Assumptions 1
2 Objectives of the evaluation 2
3 Evaluation methodology 3
3.1 Approach to Data Collection 3
3.1.1 Reports & Documents Reviewed 3
3.1.2 Stakeholder Interviews 4
3.2 Quantitative Data Collection & Verification 5
3.2.1 Identification of available quantitative data 5
3.2.2 Identification of Indicators 5
3.2.3 Verification of Data 6
3.3 Data Analysis 6
3.4 Limitations of Methodology 6
4 Evaluation findings 8
4.1 Overall Program Performance 8
4.1.1 Performance against broad goals and aspirations 8
4.1.2 Performance against Required Indicators 10
4.1.3 Performance against 5 milestones 12
4.2 Program performance by phase 12
4.2.1 Phase 1 12
4.2.2 Phase 2 17
4.2.3 Phase 3 19
4.3 Data quality and verification 23
4.3.1 Data collection 23
4.3.2 Reporting 23
4.3.3 Aggregation 23
4.3.4 Verification 23
4.4 Institutional issues 24
4.4.1 Program organisation and administration 24
4.4.2 Municipal implementation arrangements 26
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4.5 Networking and knowledge management 28
4.5.1 Conferences and training 28
4.5.2 Informal networking 28
4.5.3 Mentoring arrangements 28
5 Conclusion 28
5.1 Overall Impressions 28
5.2 Lessons learned 29
5.3 Recommendations 29
5.3.1 Recommendations for ICLEI 29
5.3.2 Recommendations for DEAT 30
5.3.3 Recommendations on Phases 1 and 2 30
5.3.4 Recommendations on Phase 3 31
Appendices 32
Appendix 1 32
Appendix 2 35
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 1 
1 Introduction 
1.1 Background 
The ICLEI Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) campaign is aimed at developing the 
capacity of local governments to achieve measurable reductions in greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions to improve air quality and enhance urban quality of life. The
campaign is funded under the DEAT/USAID bilateral agreement. In South Africa,
eleven municipalities currently participate in the initiative. The program has recently 
ended, necessitating an evaluative review. 
1.2 Problem Statement 
The CCP Program implemented in South Africa is part of a larger ICLEI CCP campaign
funded by USAID and its partners (the South African partner being DEAT). As such,
there are a set of founding goals, objectives and expectations from funders and from 
the global ICLEI community for this program. As this program is drawing to a close, an 
evaluation is thus required to identify whether the program has met expectations and to
draw out the impacts, lessons learned and recommendations from all involved for how 
a program such as this could be improved in the future. 
1.3 Assumptions 
• Data provided by the municipalities regarding this project is accurate and valid
(i.e. there will be no attempt to verify municipal data through more rigorous 
examination of their records) 
• Verification of national level data compiled by ICLEI can be adequately carried 
out through an examination of municipal data used to compile national totals 
• A full set of progress reports and other reports related to the program is 
available and would be made available to the evaluation team during the course
of the program. 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 2 
2 Objectives of the evaluation 
The primary objective of the project is to undertake and evaluation of the ICLEI CCP 
campaign in South Africa to identify areas of success, weakness, accomplishments,
and lessons learned within the program result areas, as well as to comment on its 
impact and effectiveness. 
Specific objectives of the evaluation have been included in the contract for this work 
and are as follows: 
To carry out a review of the results, achievements and impact of the program,
highlighting areas of achievement, in general as well as progress towards the following 
objectives: 
• Report on the extent to which ICLEI achieved the results and objectives as
defined in the program descriptions for each phase. 
• Summarise briefly the activities supported by ICLEI catalyst funding by type and 
the impact of each of the activities on energy savings, GHG emission savings,
municipal operations, and people-level impact. 
• Review the extent to which the ICLEI program improved environmental
awareness and built momentum inside the municipality for implementing
additional environmental activities, promoting environmental legislation, and
involving South Africans in international discussions on environmental issues,
especially related to climate change. 
• Evaluate the likelihood that any of the successes noted above will continue after 
the USAID/ DEAT support for ICLEI ends. 
• Review and comment on the quantitative data used to report on the program
which included verifying the final number of households that benefited from the
program, funds leveraged and data reported in the Global Climate and Clean 
Energy reports with prior performance reporting.
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 3 
3 Evaluation methodology 
3.1 Approach to Data Collection 
The evaluation used two main approaches to data collection:
• Review of reports and other documents related to the program, produced by 
ICLEI and municipalities 
• Interview of municipal officials (and Councillors where available) and other key 
stakeholders(primarily ICLEI and DEAT) 
The aim of each was to collate quantified data related to the program, its inputs and
outputs, and to gather more qualitative information and feedback from each of the 
interviewees on the program, its successes, failures, limitations and legacy for the 
future. The nature of interviewing meant that this approach had a strong emphasis on
gaining experiential and anecdotal information on achievements at the municipal level,
whilst the analysis of reports was the main method for extracting quantifiable project
and program level data. 
3.1.1 Reports & Documents Reviewed 
The following documents were reviewed by the evaluation team: 
National level CCP related reports: 
• ICLEI CCP Campaign in South Africa Final Report, June 2006 
• ICLEI Phase II Exit Report 2005 
• CEI Report (USAID/ South Africa Office of Housing and Urban Environment) 
Period Oct 1 2005 – March 31 2006 
• Strategic Objective 6 Report, USAID/South Africa Office of Housing and Urban
Environment. 2006 (Rand value of new or improved urban services leveraged 
through USAID supported programs) 
• Strategic Objective 6 Report, USAID South Africa Office of Housing and Urban
Environment 2006. Number of Households assisted to obtain new or improved
urban services through USAID supported programs 
• GCC Report for FY 2005 (and accompanying spreadsheet of data for HHC for
this period) 
• Quarterly Progress Reports by ICLEI to USAID/South Africa: 3rd Quarter 2004
to 1st Quarter 2006 ( 7 reports in total) 
• HEAT training materials 
Background Documents: 
• Program Description for Expanded Cities for Climate Protection Program: 
Attachment 4 Phase 2 Scope of Work
• Program Description for Expanded Cities for Climate Protection Program: 
Attachment 5, Phase 3 Scope of Work 
• Cooperative Grant Agreement Program Description: South Africa Cities for
Climate Protection Program 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 4 
• An End of Program Evaluation of the Cooperative Agreement between USAID/
EGAT and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) 
(submitted to Bureau of Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, Office of
Environment and Science and Policy, Global Climate Change Team Oct 2005) 
Selection of project reports from Municipalities: 
• Potchefstroom 
• eThekwini 
• Cape Town 
• Sol Plaajte 
• Mangaung 
• Ekurhuleni 
• Tshwane 
Note: The evaluation team experienced great difficulties in obtaining a full set of 
national level reports for the period of the program (i.e. since its inception in 2001 – to
present). The partial set of quarterly progress reports, CEI and GCC reports noted
above was given to the team by USAID at the start of the evaluation process. 
Subsequent requests were made to ICLEI South Africa, Roger Williams (ICLEI) and to
USAID for the remaining reports in these series. It was made clear through email 
correspondence to each of the above that a thorough evaluation (particularly of
quantitative data and its data quality) depended on a full set of reports being made 
available. This did not take place; as such the evaluation had to reply on the partial set
noted above. The ability of the evaluation team to comment on quantitative data and 
its quality has thus been limited, as will be seen in section 4.3 below. 
3.1.2 Stakeholder Interviews
The following stakeholders were interviewed by the evaluation team. The majority of 
the interviews were carried out in person. Where it was necessary to carry out 
telephone interviews – this is noted.
Table 1 Municipal Stakeholders Interviewed 
MUNICIPALITY PERSON INTERVIEWED
City of Cape Town Metro Craig Haskins and Shirene Rosenberg
eThekwini Metro Municipality Jessica Rich
uMthlathuze Local Municipality (Richard’s Bay) Fred Phillips (telephone) 
Mangaung Local Municipality Tumelo Shakwane
Saldanha Bay Local Municipality Ryan Groenewald and Piet Fabricious
Sol Plaatje Local Municipality Robert Buchanan 
City of Ekhuruleni Metropolitan Municipality Deborah Ramalope
City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality Jane Eagles & Flora Mokgohloa 
Buffalo City Local Municipality Vuyani Dayimani (telephone) 
City Tshwane Metro Municipality Sam Mutswari (and Juan Mostert–telephone) 
Potchefstroom Local Municipality Mahesh Roopa and Councillor Stoltz 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 5 
Table 2 ICLEI and DEAT stakeholders interviewed 
ORGANISATION PERSON INTERVIEWED
ICLEI – Johannesburg Annie Sugrue
ICLEI – Johannesburg Luluma Matooane (former employee) 
ICLEI – Consultant Catherine Fedorsky 
ICLEI – Head Office (California) Roger Williams (telephone) 
DEAT Shirley Moroka
Note: a preliminary interview (telephone) was carried out with Polokwane municipality 
prior to the start of the interview phase to establish their involvement in the program.
The municipality pointed out that due to internal issues, they had not participated in the
program in practice and felt they could add little to the evaluation process. A decision 
not to include Polokwane in subsequent elements of the evaluation process was made 
(in consultation with Mega-tech). 
Each interview was conducted following a pre-designed ‘interview instrument’ (see
Appendix 1 for municipal interview instrument and Appendix 2 for ICLEI and DEAT
stakeholder interview instrument). The interviews were intended to provide the 
municipalities with an opportunity to discuss their experiences of the program, the 
impacts it has had on the work of the municipality, any difficulties encountered, likely 
future sustainability of climate change work and so on. They were conducted as semi￾structured interviews to ensure that there was scope to allow the municipalities to 
provide information important to them, but within a framework of information required 
by the evaluation team. 
3.2 Quantitative Data Collection & Verification 
3.2.1 Identification of available quantitative data 
The evaluation team examined the reports available (see section 3.1.1 above) to 
identify the types of quantitative data available. This data was listed and used in later 
stages of data analysis. 
3.2.2 Identification of Indicators 
The evaluation team identified a number of indicators against which the performance of 
the CCP program is required. These indicators are related to the three USAID related
funding channels through which the program has received funding i.e.: 
• USAID Strategic Objective 6 (6.4) 
• USAID Environment and Science Policy (ESP), Global Climate Change
Program 
• Presidential Initiative: Clean Energy Initiative (Healthy Homes & Communities – 
HHC program) 
It is believed that reporting to specific indicators was not required by DEAT (co-funders 
of the program). 
Information on the actual reporting against these objectives is provided in section 4.1
below. 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 6 
3.2.3 Verification of Data 
The purpose of verification is to identify the following: 
• Accuracy of quantitative data 
• Consistency between national level data and progress reporting – with data
provided by the municipalities 
• Unpacking of aggregated data (reported at national level by ICLEI) to identify
whether aggregation from municipal data has been done consistently and
accurately by ICLEI 
• Examination of whether claims about the program by ICLEI at the national level 
are compatible with experiences at the municipal level. 
This evaluation carried out verification by comparing data presented by ICLEI in the 
national–level CCP reports against information provided by municipalities (in their 
reports and through the interviews). In doing so, an attempt was made to address each 
of the elements listed above. 
Note was also made of any comments on data quality1 provided by ICLEI in its 
reporting. 
It was felt that the above steps would allow the team to draw conclusions about the 
overall quality of the data available for the program. 
3.3 Data Analysis 
Quantitative data was sorted and analyzed to identify the following: 
• Indicators for which information was reported 
• Performance of the program against indicators (using data available) 
Qualitative information (from interviews and reports) was used to supplement the
quantitative data to identify: 
• Program performance: progress against defined objectives and deliverables (by 
phase) 
Qualitative data alone was used to identify broader issues, themes and comments 
related to program performance, achievements, barriers, suggestions for improvement
and so on. 
3.4 Limitations of Methodology
The evaluation team did not find any problems in the collection of qualitative and 
experiential data for the program. Every municipality which has participated in the 
program gave generously of its time to participate in interviews. The interviews on the
whole were very fruitful and have added great richness and depth to the information 
gathered on the history of the program since its inception. 
Other key stakeholders (ICLEI and USAID) also gave their time willingly and these 
interviews were also productive and added value to the process. Regarding ICLEI, 
Leluma Matooane was the CCP co-ordinator for the majority of the programme, but the
lack of continuity of personnel in the later phases made it more difficult to gain a 
 1 The evaluation team examined the reports available (see section 3.1.1 above) to identify the
extent of reporting against the above indicators and to attempt to verify the quality of data 
reported by ICLEI 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 7 
detailed overview of the program. More time was taken through the need to interview 
several ICLEI representatives in order to get all the qualitative information required and
to understand fully how the program has operated in South Africa since 2001. 
By contrast, the evaluation team has been severely constrained by the lack of
consistent and complete sets of quantitative information for the program. The team is
confident in the completeness of the data for phase 3 of the program and less confident
in data availability for phases 1& 2. 
The implications of having an incomplete set of data are outlined in more detail in 
section 4.3 below. 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 8 
4 Evaluation findings 
4.1 Overall Program Performance 
4.1.1 Performance against broad goals and aspirations 
The primary and broad purpose of this evaluation is to determine how the CCP 
program in South Africa has performed against its overall goals and to identify whether 
it has met the expectations of its primary funder, USAID. 
Broad goals and aspirations for the CCP Program in South Africa were articulated at
the start of the program within the various program description documents prepared at 
the time. These are articulated in Box 1 below. 
Box 1: Overall Goals and Aspirations of the CCP program 
Overall Goals 
™ Strengthen local commitment to reduce GHGs
™ Develop and disseminate tools that increase local capacity and enhance strategies for 
energy efficiency 
™ Promote best practices to reduce energy use in buildings and transport 
™ Enhance national and international ties through a collective voice for municipalities 
Overall CCP aspirations 
™ CCP seeks to reduce the following emissions: 
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted when fossil fuels are burned to produce electricity, 
power vehicles, heat buildings, in industrial uses 
• Methane (CH4) – a GHG emitted in urban areas by waste decomposing in landfills
and waste sewerage treatment facilities 
• Conventional air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and non￾methane volatile organic compounds that are precursors of ground-level ozone and
smog as well as by-products of fossil fuel combustion.
Comments on performance against goals 
• Strengthen local commitment to reduce GHGs
All interviews have reinforced the fact that the CCP program has achieved this goal. It 
was wise to focus on the reduction of GHG because this can be achieved while 
implementing cost-saving initiatives and this presented a win-win scenario for 
municipalities. This has further provided an avenue to implement projects and achieve
results and has stimulated an agenda around climate change, air quality and energy.
Thus the demonstrable, tangible and measurable benefits and savings have
stimulated greater awareness and interest in these areas and the visible impact of the
initiative has demonstrated the benefit of local action to global problems. 
The escalation of municipal activity in the areas of climate change and energy 
efficiency since the inception of the CCP has been commendable and is mainly due to
the targeted use of CCP funds as ‘seed’ funding which has ‘sparked’ other 
environment-focused activities within participating cities. Where this has been coupled
with strong internal drive and local political support, great momentum has been
8
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 9 
achieved by some cities. This is most notable in the case of Potchefstroom which has
become a world leader in local environmental activity on energy efficiency and GHG 
reduction. Many municipalities have gone on to produce broader sustainable energy 
strategies since the beginning of the program and the ICLEI - CCP program has
helped put sustainable energy and climate change on the agenda. Its influence on the 
wider policy development in some cities has been significant, with many municipalities
claiming that they would be doing far less work on climate change and energy 
efficiency if it were not for the opportunities provided by the CCP program. 
• Develop and disseminate tools that increase local capacity and enhance
strategies for energy efficiency
The 5 Milestone process has been a useful tool for the cities. It has guided activities in
a systematic way and has provided strategic goals for achieving results. 
The software tools have had variable success. The initial inventory software was well 
received and applied by all the participating cities. However, the need for such
software was thought to be less within the more capacitated metros where inventory 
activity was already initiated. Several metros have gone on to invest in very 
sophisticated air quality monitoring and data management systems which will reduce
the usage of the CCP software. It should be noted that that these more detailed, data
intensive software serve different purposes to ICLEI’s quantification software, and the
CCP software is often use to compliment rather than substitute other software
packages. 
The later development of the HEAT program has provided the municipalities with
more difficulties, primarily due to the ongoing technical glitches within it. Several
municipalities urgently want to update their initial inventories but have been instructed
to wait until HEAT is finalised. ICLEI must ensure that this is done quickly and that
despite the end of the program, cities have access to technical support on the
application of this program when required. 
• Promote best practices to reduce energy use in buildings and transport 
This has been achieved and ICLEI has achieved its goals in rolling out proven
technology. Activities such as the regulation of air-conditioning and retrofitting of lights 
have been particularly effective mostly because of their immediate and demonstrable 
impacts on energy efficiency. In terms of the LPG conversions, the effects and
measurability seem less obvious and there are concerns around the small scale at
which this has taken place, the availability of LPG in future and the lifespan of the
vehicles. 
• Enhance national and international ties through a collective voice for 
municipalities 
The CCP teams in cities see themselves as part of the same ‘family’ and this
networking relationship across the local sphere of government has proven highly 
successful. Intergovernmental ties and relationships between spheres of government
were not well developed, mainly due to the lack of co-ordination from national
government, in particular DEAT. 
The international exchanges and sharing at conferences has been inspirational and
motivational for the SA cities and has given insight into what could be achieved. It has
identified that the responsibilities for particular projects should be linked with the
relevant operational department and not all be boxed into the environmental 
department, e.g. transport initiatives should be located in the transport department.
Internal learning and exposure has been reciprocal, which has been every 
encouraging for cities. These conferences have also provided platforms for taking 
leadership on these issues, e.g. The Mayor of Potchefstroom represented local 
9
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 10 
government at a major gathering of the global climate change community at the
COP8. 
Comments on Performance against overall CCP aspirations 
• CCP seeks to reduce the following emissions: 
o Carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted when fossil fuels are burned to produce
electricity, power vehicles, heat buildings, in industrial uses
o Methane (CH4) – a GHG emitted in urban areas by waste decomposing in 
landfills and waste sewerage treatment facilities 
o Conventional air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and non￾methane volatile organic compounds that are precursors of ground-level
ozone and smog as well as by-products of fossil fuel combustion. 
At this stage only projected impacts can be commented on and the analysis has not 
been done by ICLEI to verify the overall impact of the CCP on emission reductions.
The effectiveness of the reduction of emissions can be proven in some cities where
they are sure of the reliability of the inventory data. However, in cities where they are 
not confident in the quality of their data, this will be hard to do without questioning the 
reliability hereof. 
4.1.2 Performance against Required Indicators 
As part of a larger campaign (the Cities in Climate Protection Campaign run by ICLEI),
this program receives much of its funding from USAID. Thus, it has an obligation to 
report on progress against specific indicators used by the various funding streams
within USAID which contribute to the CCP program. These funding streams and the
indicators they use to assess performance are outlined in Table 3 below.
Table 3. Indicators for USAID funding streams
Funding channel Indicator 
USAID Strategic Objective 6. 
Increased access to shelter 
and environmentally sound 
municipal services to 
historically disadvantaged
populations
™ Rand value of new or improved urban services leveraged
through USAID supported programs
™ Number of households assisted to obtain new or improved
urban services through USAID supported programs
USAID Strategic Objective 6.4 
Improved capacity to apply 
sustainable participatory 
environmental management 
principles to local level urban
development
™ Emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents avoided 
™ Decreased carbon dioxide permitted per MW-h of energy 
produced 
™ National/ sub national policy advances in the energy sector, 
industry and urban areas that contribute to the avoidance of 
greenhouse gas emissions 
™ Increased capacity to address global climate change issues
Clean Energy Initiative 
HHC program 
Twice yearly reporting 
™ FY Funds obligated ($000) in Q1 and Q2 (or Q3 and Q4) for 
HHC activities 
™ FY Funds Obligated ($000) for FY for HHC activities 
™ Funding leveraged in Q1 and Q2 (or Q3 and Q4) ($000) for 
HHC activities 
™ HHC/Clean fuels: Number of programs implemented to replace 
dirty fuels with cleaner fuels (half yearly) 
10
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 11 
Funding channel Indicator 
™ HHC/ Clean Fuels: Number of people benefiting from replacing
‘dirty fuels’ with cleaner fuels (half yearly) 
™ HHC/Indoor Air: Homes adopting improved cooking/heating/ 
lighting techniques (not applicable) 
™ HHC/Indoor Air: Number of people with reduced exposure to 
combustion pollutants indoor (not applicable) 
Global Climate Change ™ Project Type 
™ Energy (MWh) saved 
™ BTUs saved in thermal combustion
™ Fuel type saved or old fuel/ new fuel 
™ Methane Capture (Y/N) 
™ Nox Reduction (Y/N) 
™ Particulate Reduction (Y/N) 
It should be noted that the presence of indicators such as these is positive in itself as
they provide expanded guidance on areas of impact which the program should be 
achieving and some insight as to how this impact can be measured. They also create a 
discipline of reporting on quantitative data that can be used to assess performance if 
benchmarks for these indicators have been set at the start of the program. They are
also useful for aggregating total global performance of these USAID funding programs
and for comparative analysis of the contribution to global figures made by particular 
country programs. 
The evaluation team is not aware of any initial benchmarks for these indicators set by 
USAID or of the results for these indicators for other countries. Thus, the team cannot
comment on the figures reported against these indicators within the scope of this 
evaluation. However, it may be useful for USAID to analyse the cumulative figures for 
some of these indicators reported by ICLEI for the timeframe of the program. Figures 
available are shown in Table 4 below. 
Table 4. Values for some key SO6, GCC and CEI indicators 
Indicator Value (total for project) 
SO6. Rand value of new or improved 
urban services leveraged through USAID 
supported programs 
R3.8m 
SO6. Number of households assisted to 
obtain new or improved urban services
through USAID supported programs
1.8m people2
 
GCC: eCO2 tonnes avoided Phase 1: no data 
Phase 2: 7121 (projected) 
Phase 3: 73 (projected) 
GCC: Energy savings (mWh) Insufficient data to give program totals. Some 
information on project level savings 
CEI Funds obligated (by ICLEI) Phase 1: insufficient data 
 2
 Note: there are some concerns around the utility, validity and precision of this figure. These are 
discussed in more detail in section 4.3 below. 
11
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 12 
Indicator Value (total for project) 
Phase 2: $194000 (leveraging additional $100 000) 
Phase 3: $313700 (leveraging additional $179489 
4.1.3 Performance against 5 milestones 
Each phase of the CCP program was structured using a set of 5 milestones used
across the ICLEI global CCP campaign. These milestones are shown in Box 2 below. 
Box 2. Milestones of the CCP approach
Milestone 1: Prepare an energy and emissions profile or inventory 
Milestone 2: Set an emissions reduction target
Milestone 3: Identify emission reduction measures and develop local emissions reduction 
action plan (LAP) 
Milestone 4: Implement LAP measures to reduce GHG’s
Milestone 5: Monitor and verify progress on implementation of measures and review where 
necessary 
The participating cities found the milestone approach a useful one, as it lent a logical 
structure and flow to their involvement, enabling them to establish a baseline of 
information on their GHG emissions and knowledge of their needs and practical 
capabilities upon which projects could then be established. The milestone process was
applied well in phase 1, although it is noticeable that very few municipalities have
reached the stage with their phase 1 projects of carrying out the monitoring and
verification of projects which would provide an accurate assessment of the actual
impacts of projects (as opposed to projected impacts calculated prior to
implementation). Municipalities should be encouraged by ICLEI to strive to carry out
the 5th milestone in the future despite the completion of the overall CCP program, to 
ensure that progress can be monitored and an ongoing picture of the impact of the
projects on local emissions can be gradually verified. 
4.2 Program performance by phase 
4.2.1 Phase 1 
The activities outlined for phase 1 prior to the start of the program and the list of 
expected deliverables is shown in Table 5 below.
Table 5. Planned activities for Phase 1 of the CCP Program 
Activity 
1. Project planning, participant and partner selection. Including: 
• Identifying interested municipal participants and appropriate technical partners 
(preference for South African firms) 
• Initiation of RFP process to select participant municipalities 
• Recruitment, hiring and initial training of field staff (preference for South African
nationals) 
• Adaptation of CCP Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory software for use in South 
Africa
• Establishment with DEAT and USAID of detailed work plan for project implementation 
12
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 13 
By the end of the phase the in-country staff will have been hired and trained, local government 
participants secured and initial meetings to refine the projects scope will have been conducted.
The GHG emission software will have been adapted to country conditions and user needs 
2. Training and Capacity Building 
6 workshops to be held to bring the participating local authorities together for the purpose of 
training, building capacity, identifying measures and implementation strategies, and facilitating 
appropriate partnerships. 
The workshops will assist the local governments and stakeholders in developing a 
comprehensive local action plan to reduce GHG emissions with actions that address priority 
municipal concerns and with implementation of initial measures 
3. Grants to Cities 
To provide an incentive for the local governments to accomplish project tasks and other 
resources – mini grants in the range of R400 000 to 700 000 to be provided to each municipal 
participant. 
4. Municipal Operations: Energy end use analysis and measure prioritization and 
identification of financing opportunities 
ICLEI and technical consultants will assist participating cities in quantifying energy end use in
their municipal operations (i.e. buildings, vehicle fleets, facilities, water/sewerage treatment) 
and identifying optimal internal measures for emissions reduction.
5. City Peer Exchanges 
Capacity building in the participating cities can be further supported through facilitated
exchanges with selected local governments in other regions. 
Specific Deliverables were also defined for this phase of the program as follows: 
Table 6. Deliverables for Phase 1 of the ICLEI CCP Program 
Deliverables 
™ 6 training and capacity building workshops for the participating municipalities 
™ Customization of the greenhouse gas emissions software for use by the South African
local governments 
™ Awarding and administration of grants to each participating local government 
™ Technical assistance from the ICLEI staff and consultants provided to the staff teams 
established in the participating local governments 
™ A baseline emissions inventory and forecast of GHG emissions completed for each
municipality 
™ City staff peer exchange between out of region CCP cities and the South African local
government participants 
™ GHG reduction measures identified by all local government participants 
™ Implementation of measures by a minimum of three of the participating municipalities 
that result in quantifiable greenhouse gas emissions avoidance/reductions
™ Quantification and reporting of greenhouse has emission reductions achieved
™ Quarterly progress reports
™ Final report
13
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 14 
Comments on achievements of Phase 1 
Phase 1 of the program was hailed by all of the municipalities as very successful. It 
provided a strong platform for the other 2 phases and was flexible, allowing 
municipalities to develop projects which had strategic value or provided genuine benefit 
or cost saving. The timeframes were realistic and were achievable for the
municipalities. The strong emphasis on training, capacity building and networking 
created a momentum within the program and provided the municipal officials involved
with a ‘sense of community’ which has been sustained through subsequent phases. 
The foundation of project work on a knowledge of emissions (i.e. the inventory) and 
plan of action was well structured and provided a logical ‘flow’ to the phase. 
It is not the purpose of this evaluation to re-state the information within the ICLEI final 
report on progress achieved within each phase of the program. However, short 
summaries will be provided for progress made on each activity within this phase so that 
more emphasis can be placed on commenting on impacts and implications of the work 
achieved. 
1. Project Planning, participant and partner selection 
Eight South African municipalities were selected for participation in the Program,
which was formalised through the signing of a formal Memoranda of Understanding
with each. The municipalities included were: 
• Buffalo City 
• Cape Town 
• eThekwini 
• Johannesburg 
• Potchefstroom 
• Saldanha Bay 
• Sol Plaatje 
• Tshwane 
During this phase ICLEI identified staff within its South African set-up to run the
program, liaise with the participants and organise events. Software was customised for 
use in later activities of the phase. 
2. Training and Capacity Building
Five training workshops were held throughout the phase involving all eight participants.
These covered topics which ranged from broad induction and information sharing – to 
technical training in use of software and the preparation of an emissions inventory. 
Overall these workshops seem to have been very valuable to the participants on many 
levels. They helped to achieve the establishment of a network of local government
officials and councillors involved in the program as well as act as an effective method
of transferring information and building capacity. They were felt to be well organised
and focused and all participants were positive about their value. 
In addition, ICLEI also involved itself in the preparation of a Cities Energy Strategy 
Conference (the 6th workshop!) and included many international speakers in this event. 
The value of the training events run by ICLEI during this phase is reflected in the
attendance figures – with every municipality ensuring that it had some representation at
each event. 
Other training and development activities included one-to-one assistance of
municipalities with software and inventory preparation – which was either done by 
ICLEI staff or by consultants employed jointly with the municipalities. In general,
14
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 15 
municipalities were happy with the access they had to technical assistance. However,
the need for technical expertise within cities was demonstrated during the compilation 
of the inventories and made many municipalities realise the necessity of having
dedicated technical experts on their own staff for future work in this area. 
Comments by ICLEI in an exit report for Phases 1 and 2 stated that there was still a
need at the end of Phase 1 for more awareness-raising to be carried out within
municipalities to try to integrate energy and environmental auditing into IDP processes.
There was also a need for further awareness raising campaigns to highlight the
benefits (financial and carbon savings) of energy efficiency and possible business 
opportunities these provide. 
3. Grants to Cities 
Grants were provided to the cities in four tranches, each of which was tied to specific 
requirements to be fulfilled by the city: 
Payment 1: provided upon signature of MoU (25%) 
Payment 2: on completion of emissions inventory, submission of city work plan and
detailed grant spending (showing 25% matching or in-kind contribution by the city) 
(25%) 
Payment 3: on submission of ‘list of measures’ with approved local action plan of one 
of the listed measures, and proof of measure implementation (25%) 
Payment 4: on submission of proof of implementation of second measure 
It is testament to the enthusiastic uptake of this phase of the program that 7 of the 8
cities achieved all 4 payments. The one exception was Buffalo City which received only 
the initial payment following the signature of a MoU. No inventory was prepared and
the funding seems to have been used for a project to retrofit a municipal building. All
the others prepared an inventory and went onto identify GHG reduction measures for 
which projects were designed and implemented. 
A list of the projects implemented within each municipality is shown in Table 7 (below) 
although a lack of availability of information for phase 1 means that the data set is not 
complete or consistent for indicators across all municipalities. 
4. Municipal Operations
This element of the program involved assisting the municipalities to prepare GHG 
inventories for their municipal operations. Although the original expectation of the 
program was for the preparation of an inventory for both municipal operations and 
wider community, the latter was not compiled by any of the municipalities. However, all 
8 municipalities did prepare an inventory of municipal operations. 
ICLEI, in its final report for the program, included summaries of several of these
inventories. However, no mention was made of the ‘level of confidence’ municipalities 
had in the inventories finally prepared through the CCP process. Some municipalities 
(such as Potchefstroom) have complete confidence in the accuracy and reliability of the 
inventory they carried out. Others, such as Saldanha Bay and Johannesburg have little
confidence in the data they compiled. The preparation of the GHG Inventories
generally seemed to be difficult and restricted by several factors: poor record keeping
in many cities; energy consumption calculated from financial records; data incompatible 
with the CCP software and an inability to confirm data included in the inventories. For 
all these reasons ICLEI should be cautious in the publication of inventory summaries 
and include, where required, notes on the limitations of the data presented. 
15
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 16 
Table 7 Available data for projects in Phase 1 
Cape Town Municipality Deliverable Grant size (total 
for City) $
Municipal
Contribution
Other funding 
leveraged
Total Cost eCo2 avoided
(annual)
Annual Energy
Savings kWh
Annual Energy
Cost savings
Potchefstroom Methane Recovery 52000 ? ? R2.2m 7000 R 361,350
Lighting Retrofits ? R1.2m 290 33700
eThekwini Methane Recovery 56000 ? ? ? 472000 ?
Solar water heating units ?
Cape Town Parrow Energy Efficiency
Project
56000 R213 000 ? ? ? ?
Waste Minimisation Clubs ? ? ? ?
Lighting Retrofits ? ? 175200
Joburg Retrofitting main admin block
Civic Centre
56000 ? >R2m R4.1m 4646 4087500 R456 000
Streetlight Retrofits: Rivelea &
Newtown
?? ? ?
Pikitup CDM ? ? ? ?
Water Supplyy Energy
Efficiency
?? ? ?
Sol Plaatje Energy Efficient Lighting 52000 R130 000 ? ? ? ?
Moshoeshoe Eco Village ?
Saldanha Municipal Transport Sector
(LPG)
52000 R150 000 ? R 80,000 21
Other (trees) ? ? ? ? ?
Tshwane Ga-Rankuwa Streetlight Retrofit 56000 R 253,200 ? R300 000 1187 ? ?
Urban Greening 0 ?
Buffalo City 52000 R 143,500
Totals $432,000.00 Incomplete
5. City Peer Exchanges 
Table 8 below identifies the number of municipalities that sent representatives to
internal workshops, ICLEI conferences and international peer exchange activities. The
international peer exchange part of the program was cited by many municipalities as 
very valuable. It was hailed as an effective method for increasing knowledge and
capacity on climate change and energy efficiency within municipalities. It also had a 
role in inspiring and motivating many municipal officials and Councillors to take action
when returning home. Providing local governments with an opportunity to communicate
with international colleagues was exciting and informative and many longer term 
relationships between municipalities in South Africa and local governments overseas 
have been forged. For example, City of Potchefstroom has entered into a ‘twinning’
arrangement with Heidelberg. 
16
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 17 
Table 8: Summary of attendance by municipalities at training and conference events 
Indicators
Phase 1 Phase 3 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase3 Phase 1 Phase 2* Phase 3*
Tshwane √√ HEAT √ CES Mex √
Potchefstroom √√ HEAT √ CES and COP 8 Mex √ (Heidelberg & COP8)
Cape Town √√ HEAT √ CES Mex √(Heidelberg) √
Joburg √√ HEAT √ CES and COP 8 Mex √ COP8
Saldanha Bay √√ HEAT CES √ (Heidelberg & SAM
conference)
Buffalo City √√ CES √
Sol Plaatje √√ HEAT √ CES Mex √(Heidelberg)
eThekwini √√ HEAT √ CES Mex √
Mangaung
Polokwane
Ekurhuleni
Richard's Bay
√ HEAT √ Mex √
√
√ HEAT √
√ HEAT
CES=City
Energy
Strategy
COP8=Confe
rence of
Parties8 held
in India
Mex=ICLEI 
international 
conference
held in
Mexico
Number of officials/councillors participating in formal
peer exchange activities
Phase 2
Workshop attandance and Training received Conference attandance
ICLEI also facilitated opportunities for South African municipal officials and councillors 
to participate actively in international climate related events, such as COP 8 and the
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). This ‘exposure’ helped to raise
awareness of activity at the local level in South Africa and provided the participating
municipalities with opportunities to make important international links and relationships. 
4.2.2 Phase 2 
Phase 2 of the CCP program started in 2004. The focus of phase 2 was to expand the 
program by three additional cities and to assist all cities to implement a range of larger
and repetitive projects and initiatives through partnerships with the cities. This was felt
to be a shift in approach from phase 1 which focused more on smaller projects which
were used to demonstrate the potential of energy efficiency projects. 
The main objective was to focus on the implementation of clean energy and
transportation measures by: 
• Providing more targeted technical assistance to the cities on these tasks, such 
as in the development of PINS, assessing audit services and more 
• Actively leveraging the opportunities/resources identified in the project’s first
phase 
This would be done through the following activities: 
• Continued training and capacity building 
• Facilitating preparation of emissions inventories for the ‘new’ cities 
• Provision of grants for projects. 
Expansion of Program by three cities 
This phase aimed to add three new cities to the list of participants in South Africa. A 
process for identification and selection of cities was carried out and resulted in
Mangaung, Ekurhuleni and Polokwane being earmarked to join the program. Of the
three, Mangaung and Ekurhuleni have become successful additions to the program.
Polokwane has delayed it entry to the program until it has succeeded in tackling some
internal issues. 
17
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 18 
Training and capacity building 
Three main activities were carried out during this phase: 
• Induction training for new cities. This was carried out via a 2 day workshop in 
late 2004 which focused on introducing cities to the program, its methodology 
and deliverables. 
• Support for cities to attend international ICLEI conference in Mexico (July 
2004). The program enabled 17 people from South Africa representing 8 of the
cities and the ICLEI South Africa office to attend this international conference. 
All cities who sent representatives commented on the usefulness of this event
and the positive impact it had on their motivation, knowledge and network. The 
opportunity for both officials and Councillors from the same municipalities to
attend was cited by many as very advantageous as it exposed councillors to the
activities and attitudes of other cities throughout the world and enabled officials 
to cultivate support for their plans from Councillors upon return to South Africa. 
• Technical training in the use of the HEAT software. The purpose of this event
was to introduce cities to the new software and to explain how it was being 
customised to suit South African conditions. This event was not as well 
attended – with only 11 people attending from over 13 cities, DEAT and the
Energy Research Centre (ERC). 
Data Collection and Emissions Inventory
Two of the new cities (Mangaung and Ekurhuleni) started work to prepare their 
emissions inventory during this phase. However, it is not clear whether these were 
completed within this phase. The ICLEI final report does claim that both completed
inventories, but when the municipalities were asked, they both stated that inventories 
had not been completed although audits of some municipal buildings had been
prepared. The issue here may be a misunderstanding in terminology (i.e. between the 
term inventory and audit) or error in reporting by ICLEI or knowledge of what has been
achieved on the part of the municipal officials interviewed. 
Project Grants Allocated 
City grants were structured differently in phase 2 with cities having to apply for total
grants ranging from 20,000 – 40,000 US$. The cities specified the amount of funding 
required and the final amount approved was dependent on the proposal the city
submitted. Of the 6 city proposals submitted, 6 were successfully approved. The grant 
structure was as follows:
Payment #1: 50% of total city grant upon signing a contract ICLEI. 
Payment #2: 50% of total grant upon submitting proof of completed 
implementation of the approved project (where ‘proof’ required
either the submission of a formal progress report by the
municipality or a tour of the project by an ICLEI representative). 
Not all municipalities applied for funding. Those who did not, claimed the funding
timeframes were the primary reason for not applying. 
Some of the key indicators for the projects which were carried out are shown in Table 9
below. 
18
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 19 
Table 9. Available data for projects carried out in Phase 2 
Phase 2
Municipality Deliverable Status Grant size $US Municipal 
Contribution 
Other funding 
leveraged
Total Cost eCo2 (tonnes) 
avoided
(annual)
Decreased Co2
emitted per MW-h
energy produced
Annual Energy
Savings kWh
Annual energy
cost savings
US$
Potchefstroom ?
eThekwini Energy efficiency in municipal
buildings
In progress. Close to
completion
36000 26000 ? 241
Cape Town 60 Solar water heaters in
middle and low income
households
preparatory work
done. No
implementation yet
35000 20000 ? 77 87000 6147
Kuyasa solar water heating 
and energy retrofit project
? 6200 ? ?
Joburg ??
Sol Plaatje Streetlight retrofit completed 19000 28000 R 120,553 53 42012 R 23,659
Saldanha Solar Thermal 28000 11000 ? 154 131400 ?
Tshwane Energy Efficiency in municipal
buildings
completed 36000 33000 ? 133 220910 ?
Balebogele Primary School
Energy Retrofit
Completed ? 8 ? ?
Buffalo City Retrofitting of lights in municipal
buildings
completed ? ? ?
Ekurhulei Energy Efficiency in Municipal
Buildings
Completed 40000 59000 R 249,120 308 328988 50664
Polokwane
Mangaung
uMhlathuze
Totals 194000 177000 7174
?
Phase 2 projects were in general successfully implemented and the projects did seem 
to be a logical ‘follow-on’ from those carried out in phase 1 – being largely similar types
of projects although larger in scale. 
4.2.3 Phase 3 
Phase 3 of the ICLEI CCP program started in 2005. The objectives of phase 3 centred
on increasing awareness around air quality and projects were guided to focus on air 
quality monitoring and transport. The table below details the main objectives of this 
phase. 
Table 10. Objectives for Phase 3 of the CCP Program 
PHASE 3 OBJECTIVES 
™ Increase awareness and disseminating best practices on how to reduce GHG and priority 
air pollutants emissions in response to the requirements of the AQMA through training and 
awareness workshops 
™ Solicit requests for proposals and coordinate the award of grants to implement measures 
that would/ will reduce GHG priority air pollutant emissions in the transportation sector 
™ Provide specialized technical assistance to eight municipalities interested in reducing
emissions from the transportation sector by establishing inventories of fuel consumption
from the transportation sector within their jurisdiction, assessing the emissions from these
sources and evaluating measures to reduce these emissions using the HEAT model 
™ Collaborate with USEPA in the provision of technical assistance to one or two municipalities 
to set up air quality monitoring systems. 
19
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 20 
Aligned with these objectives is a set of activities for Phase 3, detailed in the table below. 
Table 11. Planned activities for Phase 3 of the CCP Program 
PHASE 3 ACTIVITIES 
Activity 1: Projects
Selection with a focus 
on air quality and 
transport 
This to include: 
™ Invite proposals for funding on air quality and transport projects for tier 
one and tier two funding projects and provide grants for approved 
projects. 
™ Provide technical support for collecting new inventory data and compiling 
transportation GHG and priority air pollutants emissions inventories. 
™ Local Action plans for t he transport sector to be developed 
Activity 2: Training and
Capacity Building 
ICLEI to 
™ Host a workshop a training workshop for municipalities focussed on the 
implications of the Air Quality Monitoring Act 
Activity 3: Grants to 
Cities 
™ City proposals to be evaluated and funding were given as either Tier 1 or
Tier 2 level grants to proposals accepted. 
Activity 4: City Peer 
Exchanges 
™ Implement a mentoring component was included this phase, which
involved the partnering of a suitably qualified Metro with a less 
experienced local municipality working in the area of air quality. 
Activity 5: At least 6 
GHG emissions
reduction measures 
begun implementation 
™ Implementation of measures to begin and emissions reductions to be
measured 
Comments on Phase 3
Performance against objectives 
Officials from the CCP cities attended a workshop held by USAID, ICLEI, DEAT and 
USEPA to increase awareness on the impact of the Air Quality Monitoring Act. 
Phase 3 proposals were very specifically focused on air quality and transport. While all 
the participating municipalities were invited to apply for phase 3 finding, only 7 of the
cities submitted applications, namely: 
- Cape Town 
- Mangaung 
- Tshwane 
- Ekurhuleni 
- Potchefstroom 
- Sol Plaatje 
- Johannesburg 
The other 3 cities (Saldanha Bay, eThekwini and Richards Bay) elected not to do so. 
The main reasons identified include the tight time frame given for submitting proposals 
and the lack of internal capacity to commit to completing a funding proposal. 
Tshwane and Johannesburg’s proposals were not accepted due to concerns over the
validity of the different fuel additives proposed by each. The other municipalities who
applied were all successful in obtaining grants. 
20
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 21 
Municipal officials were trained on the HEAT software and 8 of the cities produced an
inventory for the municipal transport fleet using this software. ICLEI provided valuable
technical support, through Catherine Fedorsky who assisted municipalities with their 
emissions inventories and provided some HEAT support. However, usage of HEAT
software has been quite limited. Several municipalities mentioned that the lack of local 
support presented an obstacle to progress because the main HEAT support person
(Margarita Parra) was located in the ICLEI Office in California. Many municipalities lack 
the internal technical skill to use HEAT and the absence of local support has presented
a particular challenge. Only a limited number of HEAT manuals were distributed to
municipalities and many felt that one workshop was not sufficient to prepare or equip
them for the use of the HEAT software effectively. 
Some municipalities also faced technological challenges which have restricted usage
of the online HEAT software, including poor quality of IT equipment and slow,
unreliable internet access. While many municipalities have expressed a keen desire to
make use of the software for future inventory compilations, they are uncertain as to
how they will go about doing this in light of technological obstacles and the lack of
access to support and training. 
The provision of air quality monitoring equipment and technical assistance to both
Cape Town and Mangaung has been a successful one. The mentorship between these
two cities has given Mangaung the opportunity to learn from Cape Town’s skill and 
experience in this area and it has allowed the municipality to continue and expand in
this area of work. A good working relationship between these two cities has been
established and is likely to be maintained. 
Performance against Planned Activities 
Activity 1. Projects selection with a focus on air quality and transport 
Projects for Phase 3 were focused specifically on air quality and transport. ICLEI
provided technical support to help municipalities identify projects which would be 
suitably placed in either air quality or transport sectors and would bring about 
measurable GHG reductions. 
This phase also focused on collecting new and updating previous inventory data, with
ICLEI providing some technical guidance in this regard. Some municipalities also took
the opportunity to check and update their earlier inventories. In some instances errors 
were picked up and the cities have stressed that they will be correcting errors. 
Activity 2. Training and capacity building 
One training and capacity building workshop was held in phase 3, attended by USAID, 
DEAT, USEPA, ICLEI and staff from the CCP cities. 
New municipalities such as Mangaung benefited from this training in particular, as it 
offered them the opportunity engage with other stakeholders on issues related to air 
quality. 
Activity 3. Grants to cities 
Cities struggled to meet the tight deadlines for phase 3 funding proposals, which lead
to this being extended by about a month. Only 5 city proposals were approved and only 
Cape Town and Mangaung received tier one grant funds. 
Many cities felt that the proposal deadlines as well as the time frames given for project
implementation were unreasonable. Municipal procurement procedures caused delays
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 22 
and slowed down project implementation for many municipalities. It should be noted
that the unrealistic time frames stem from USAID, rather than ICLEI. Thus, restrictive
nature of phase 3 has been attributed to finite deadlines imposed by USAID, as the
programme was coming to an end. ICLEI were aware of the unreasonable pressure
that would be placed on cities, but ICLEI elected to work within the time constraints 
which were placed on the cities rather than decline funding which would help the cities
to further their work on air quality and energy efficiency in transport. In hindsight, 
projects which involved procurement of services would not have pursued in phase 3. 
Government procurement processes are notoriously long, which inevitably slowed
down the progress that was made on projects. Table 10 below shows the value of 
grants awarded and project carried out in phase 3. 
Table 10. Available data for projects carried out in Phase 3 
There is also a perception that the rigidity of the phase 3 process limited the capacity of
the municipalities to be creative and innovative in the types of projects which they 
proposed. Some cities mentioned that they would have appreciated more guidance in 
preparing the proposal. 
Activity 4. City peer exchanges 
Various options were evaluated but after careful consideration, City of Cape Town and
Mangaung were elected as the mentor and the mentoring recipient respectively. Both 
cities received air quality monitoring equipment and training from ICLEI and USEPA. 
Both cities have expressed the value that this mentorship and equipment has brought
to the municipality, indicating that this has helped raise awareness on the importance 
of air quality monitoring and assisted with improving their ability to monitor air quality. 
Mangaung in particular benefited from the opportunity to expand into an area which 
had previously been underdeveloped and used the opportunity to learn from Cape
Town. The municipality has also used its equipment as an educational tool for school 
children by locating the equipment in the Bloemfontein Zoo and including an 
explanation of its use and functionality as part of the guided tours at the zoo. 
Although this partnering represents the only formal peer exchange for Phase 3, cities 
have generally expressed that the strength of the informal networks that have been
established has been one of the big achievements of the CCP program. 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 23 
Activity 5. At least 6 GHG emissions reduction measures begun implementation 
Due to the time frame for phase 3 many municipalities struggled to implement their 
projects efficiently and effectively and some are still in the process of getting this
underway, such as Sol Plaatje where the grant necessary to begin the LPG vehicle
conversion has not yet been fully accessed. In other cities such as Mangaung, most of
their budget has been spent but some responsibilities from phase 3 still need to be 
carried out, such as one remaining field visit with Cape Town. 
As a notation on the final ICLEI report, the eThekwini project which is part of the city’s 
ITP was included on the GHG reduction projects that have begun implementation even
though it was not funded by ICLEI/USAID/DEAT. 
4.3 Data quality and verification 
4.3.1 Data collection 
The evaluation team experienced a certain degree of difficulty analysing quantitative
data embedded in reports as it proved to be impossible to access a full set of these
reports. The problem is most pronounced for phase 1 where very few reports were
made available to the evaluation team. While there are also significant data gaps for 
phase 2, most reports for phase 3 were secured.
Given the gaps in terms of reports received, it was not possible for the evaluation team
to definitively comment on the quality of data collection under the program in all
instances. However, the evaluation did not find anything to suggest that data collection 
and reporting under the project was not sound. Rather, the frustration facing the 
evaluators was the lack of good record keeping and access to historical data for this
kind of after-the-fact analysis. 
4.3.2 Reporting 
Municipalities were generally happy with the reporting requirements placed on them by 
ICLEI. Many felt that the relatively relaxed approach to reporting was an advantage as 
it did not place an undue burden on municipalities to prepare reports. However, there 
was the view that the reporting requirements could have been more structured without
being too onerous. The rather unstructured reporting, along with the fact that reporting
was not routine, but rather on the basis of project specificities, meant that the
quantitative data embedded in the reports was not that easy to compare or to
aggregate. Some municipalities felt that, had they been forced to report on a more
regular basis and in a little more detail, pressure would have been exerted on them to
keep their projects, including the inventory, up to date. 
4.3.3 Aggregation 
Given the fact that the evaluation team was unable to secure a full set of municipal 
reports, it has not been possible to test whether all the data reported by ICLEI is an
accurate aggregation of municipal reports. The absence of structured record keeping 
through the project on the part of ICLEI and USAID is an issue that needs to be
addressed in this regard. Nevertheless, the evaluation team did not find anything to
suggest that the aggregate data reported by ICLEI is not accurate. 
4.3.4 Verification 
Where data and reports have been available for the evaluation team, attempts have
been made to verify data reported in the Global Climate and Clean Energy reports. The 
verification of final number of households benefiting from the program is, however, a 
difficult issue. On the one hand, the reports suggest that all households within the 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 24 
participating municipalities have benefited from the program. At a conceptual level, this 
may be the case, but this does not really communicate an accurate picture of 
beneficiaries. The rationale for considering ‘total municipal population’ as the number of 
beneficiaries is related to the fact that some CCP funds have resulted in broad climate
change policy development within municipalities. Whilst this has been the case, the 
extent of impact of the funds on policy making activity has varied from municipality to
municipality. Large municipalities like Cape Town were adamant that the CCP funds 
could not be said to have a significant enough impact on policy activity to justify 
considering the total municipality population as beneficiaries. Smaller municipalities 
where CCP funding has had a direct and significant effect on placing climate change 
and energy efficiency on the municipal agenda could be more confident about making 
this assumption. Thus ICLEI should be a little cautious about the blanket use of total
municipal population numbers as the estimate for beneficiaries of the program. 
At the other end of the spectrum, some municipalities indicated the specific individual 
beneficiaries from their projects (e.g. Balebogeng school project in Tswane, and the 
Galeshewe Eco Village and tree planting initiatives in Sol Plaatje). In these cases it is
justifiable to use the community population directly benefiting from the project. 
4.4 Institutional issues 
A range of institutional issues emerged and were explored during the course of the
evaluation. Some of these issues were related to overall program organisation and
administration, while others were more specifically related to actual implementation 
issues at the municipal level. 
4.4.1 Program organisation and administration 
At the program level, a number of key issues emerged related to the organisation and
administration of the program. These are outlined in some detail below.
Roles, responsibilities and accountability 
During the interview phase, it emerged that there was some ambiguity around roles
and responsibilities of the different stakeholders during various phases of the project. 
Some municipalities were unclear of the role of DEAT in the program and were under 
the impression that the Department’s role was fluid and viscous during the project. 
Generally, the roles and responsibilities of the ICLEI staff were well understood.
However, staff change over in the ICLEI South Africa office was not always effectively 
communicated and some officials were uncertain as to the new roles and
responsibilities played the consultants contracted for phases 2 and 3. Some
municipalities mentioned that they were uncertain as to which consultant should be
contacted for technical assistance and who was responsible for the project
management role. More effective communication about these roles and responsibilities
would have assisted in providing greater clarity for the municipalities. 
Institutional instability 
Some interviewees reported frustration around the fact that there sometimes seemed
to be lack of continuity in the program. This was related to perceived institutional
instability on the part of ICLEI from both a funding and staffing perspective. 
Funding 
Uncertainty around the ongoing funding and financial viability of ICLEI South Africa was 
a source of concern for Johannesburg who felt that the lack of adequate core funding 
for ICLEI put an unnecessary strain on the organisation and contributed to staff 
turnover which in turn impacted negatively on the ability to facilitate and support project 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 25 
work. While Leluma Mataoone co-ordinated much of the programme, his exit left a
marked gap in the ICLEI SA office, which was not adequately filled and impacted
negatively on continuity in the later stages of the program. 
Staff turnover 
Related to the funding issue highlighted above, funding uncertainty has contributed to
high levels of staff turnover in ICLEI (South Africa) which impacted on continuity and 
the relationship between municipalities and ICLEI. Throughout the lifespan of CCP in 
South Africa, activities were overseen by the California office. This is mainly because 
the ICLEI Africa directorate is not a well established branch of ICLEI has not been able
to operate autonomously. This situation is not ideal as it has created a fragmented
network of stakeholders and the geographic distance between the two offices is likely 
to have made communication difficult. During the CCP program, the ICLEI leadership 
responsible for South Africa has changed hands in both the California and
Johannesburg offices. This has negatively affected the flow of the program and it is 
uncertain as to how well the handover was managed, although ICLEI did receive an 
exit report from Leluma Matooane and held interviews with him prior to his departure. 
Staff turnover has had the greatest impact on institutional memory, which is somewhat
lacking on both ICLEI offices and in some cases even municipalities identified the
negative implications of the loss of institutional knowledge with the loss of human
capital. Frequent staff turnover means that working relationships have to be
redeveloped, often resulting in a lack of continuity. However, it appears that part of this 
staff turnover may have been in reaction to the end of secured funding via
USAID/DEAT for the CCP Program. 
It should be noted that while Leluma’s exit may have left a gap in the ICLEI South 
Africa office, he went on to continue working in the climate change arena and the skills 
which he developed while working for ICLEI equipped him to broaden his horizons
while still making a valuable contribution to climate change in South Africa, which he
continues to do. Thus, ICLEI has made an important contribution to building capacity in
the field of climate change and provided a platform for the development and transfer of 
skill within South Africa. 
Contact with municipalities 
Communication 
Some municipalities expressed a level of frustration in terms of the communication 
between themselves and the key stakeholders at times. This was largely due to the 
staff turnover issues highlighted above and the fact that DEAT’s role in the campaign
was not entirely clear. 
Support 
Notwithstanding the issues highlighted above, most municipalities were relatively 
pleased with the support that they received from ICLEI during the course of the
campaign particularly in terms of technical support, assistance with project selection
and reporting. Support from ICLEI at the early stages was generally praised by 
municipalities. While technical support was received from consultants in phases 2 and
3, this was fairly limited because of the contractual nature of the support. 
Municipalities also created their own network of support partly due to good personal
relationships that were established but also due the lack of formal support structures 
between them. It is encouraging to note that informal peer exchange has and in fact
continues to take place but the sustainability of this may be at risk if it is too dependent 
on certain individuals and their placement in the municipality. Thus, mechanisms need 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 26 
to be put in place to sustain networks as well as organise and focus these better to 
ensure that when a new generation of officials enter, network arrangements continue. 
4.4.2 Municipal implementation arrangements 
Institutional issues at the municipal level were also identified during the course of the
evaluation. These are outlined below in some detail. 
Location of the program within municipalities 
The campaign was located in many different institutional locations, varying from
municipality to municipality. This has important implications for how projects have been 
conducted, and how they are likely to play themselves out in the future from a
sustainability point of view. For example, in Buffalo City the program is located
strategically in the IDP office, having the advantage of being located in a strategic 
function relatively high up in the municipal departmental hierarchy. At the other end of 
the spectrum, in Saldanha Bay, the program was located in the Environmental Health 
function. When this function was shifted to the district municipality, the program was
severely affected – this is discussed more fully below. In some instances air quality 
projects have been located within the health function while energy focused projects 
have been vested in environmental departments. In Tswane, partly as a result of the
program, there are moves afoot to establish a dedicated department to cover 
sustainable energy projects, air quality projects and climate change projects, greatly 
contributing to the sustainability prospects of these functions. 
Municipal contributions and co-funding 
In many instances, CCP funding has only been part of the funding required to carry out 
projects stated in the ICLEI reports, although this is not always made clear. As
discussed in section 4.3 of this report, the exact mix of contributions between ICLEI 
and other sources is not always clear, particularly in phase 1, as the reports detailing
this have not been made available to the evaluation team. While ICLEI has indicated 
that its finance office has documented records on funds leveraged, the project team 
was unable to access this data. In all cases ICLEI has reported on the impact of
projects (e.g. emissions avoided) noting the project as an ICLEI project and supplying
total figures for the project when in fact some of the credit needs to be apportioned to
other funding initiatives. While it is recognised that ICLEI funding acts as seed finance 
and is thus an important stimulus for many projects, this lack of qualification and
clarification is an omission that can lead to a misunderstanding of the overall impacts of
the campaign. 
Powers and functions 
In one instance, that of Saldanha Bay, the program has been impacted on by a shift in 
the municipal powers and functions which has resulted in the environmental health
function shifting from the local municipality to the district municipality. This has resulted 
in the ICLEI project being left in something of an institutional vacuum. 
Role of dedicated champions 
In many of the municipalities it is clear that the role of a dedicated champion is a key 
plus factor contributing to the success of the program. The presence of a passionate, 
dedicated official is important. In some instances, such officials have left, resulting in
the program stalling in the municipality. 
This issue is important for sustaining skills and knowledge within the institutions and
mechanisms need to put in place to ensure that local institutional memory and
historical knowledge is sustained. This can partly be improved better record keeping
and staff changeover management but also comes to down to expanding knowledge 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 27 
sharing internally and embedding these environmental initiatives and awareness in the 
organisation. This may stimulate a wider web of interest and enthusiasm for projects 
directed at reducing emissions and saving energy. 
Municipal and overall program timing and funding cycles 
Some municipalities have had problems aligning their planning timeframes and
budgets with those of the funders. This has resulted in some work being rushed in 
order to fit in with funders requirements and has had the effect of less than sustainable 
projects being developed. Funding cycles, particularly in the later phases of the 
program, also proved to be a deterrent to some municipalities who did not feel it was
practically possible to plan and implement work within these phases and thus did not 
apply for grants. 
The relationship between officials and politicians 
Projects have tended to be more successful where there is political buy-in to projects
on the part of municipal politicians. Where officials and politicians both see the value of
projects, they are more likely to succeed and have the desired impacts. Municipalities, 
such as Potchefstroom, provide a clear illustration of what can be achieved through the
combination of dedicated officials and interested, knowledgeable and enthusiastic 
Councillors and Mayors. 
With political buy-in and drive being essential to the success and sustainability of 
programs of this kind; some municipalities have addressed this by packaging their 
climate change strategies in a broader sustainable energy strategy or policy. This has
generally proven successful for getting council on board to support the implementation
the sustainable energy and climate change initiatives. 
Impact of the program on officials and politicians 
Participating officials and involved politicians are among those who have benefited 
most directly from the campaign. In most cases, the program has resulted in an 
increased awareness of energy saving programs and air quality issues among officials.
Where cities have successfully managed to pair a political representative with a
technical official at workshops and conferences it has had positive effects. The 
information flow from official to politician has increased their understanding of the
importance of environmental and climate issues and the political support obtained has 
helped to speed up approval and implementation on certain projects. 
Range of bureaucratic issues faced 
Given the range of institutional locations of projects within municipalities and the fact 
that municipalities of greatly varying size and capacity were involved in the program,
different municipalities’ experienced bureaucratic complexity in different ways. For 
example, smaller municipalities often felt it easier to secure political buy-in because it is 
easier for officials to make direct contact with politicians on a routine basis. Similarly,
securing Council approval of projects tends to be easier in smaller municipalities than
in large metros where Council agendas are more complex. In some instances
municipalities found that procurement processes and procedures did not easily fit into
the requirements of projects, creating administrative difficulties in terms of timeframes
and funding.
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 28 
4.5 Networking and knowledge management 
4.5.1 Conferences and training 
Most officials participating in the structured ICLEI workshops and conferences found
these to be extremely useful in terms of knowledge sharing and networking. In many 
instances, these formal interactions had the spin-off of leading to less formal peer-to￾peer support. Formal networking was not restricted to conferences and workshops and
a wide range of field trip exchanges was done which were well received by participants. 
There is a general sense that capacity and skills developed was achieved and this has
spurred greater enthusiasm for a continuation of these training and workshop sessions.
All municipalities have noted the benefits of these sessions as important for expanding
their internal knowledge base and enlightening them as to the possibilities achievable
for local government to impact on climate change and energy savings. 
4.5.2 Informal networking 
Informal networking, often evolving from formal networking arrangements, is a feature 
that has emerged as a result of the campaign. In some instances, municipalities have
indicated that they have established informal support networks with other participating
municipalities to compensate for what they perceive to be gaps in formal support from
ICLEI. This is largely a positive development that illustrates a commitment to
sustainability of the projects outside of ICLEI support. There exists, however, the risk 
that this could lead to a lack of focus or that the focus of the networking could be
narrowly driven by the interests of the existing network members. 
4.5.3 Mentoring arrangements 
Aside from the informal mentoring discussed above, there was one instance where
formal mentoring between Cape Town and Mangaung occurred at a project level. This 
interaction worked well, to the mutual benefit of both parties. Both cities have
expressed a great appreciation for the opportunity to share and learn between them as 
well as to receive training from the air quality workshops attended. The cities plan on
continuing their relationship and other small municipalities have looked to Mangaung
for guidance on air quality monitoring, which is an encouraging outcome. 
5 Conclusion 
5.1 Overall Impressions 
o In terms of establishing a local network, the project has been an undeniable 
success. It has opened up opportunities for municipalities to engage with each
other around climate change, something which otherwise may not have taken
place. 
o The CCP has also given local officials the opportunity to make a positive 
contribution to climate change and energy efficiency and this has stimulated
creative and energetic responses to global issues at the local level. 
o As seed funding, the USAID and DEAT funds that were channelled through
CCP have had a significant effect on local government environmental initiatives
in the field of energy efficiency. It is clear that this funding has been a 
fundamental spark for many other projects and initiatives aimed and sustaining
energy and addressing climate change. The spin-off effects have been noted by 
all those interviewed in this evaluation and there is a genuine appreciation 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 29 
amongst municipalities for the contribution that these funds have made to
increasing awareness and stimulating other initiatives in the local municipality. 
The proven effects of the projects implemented and the knowledge gained and
shared between municipalities have resulted in an impressive snowballing of 
activity within municipalities which can be traced back to the influence of the
ICLEI CCP program. 
o Workshops and technical training was generally well received and local officials 
have clearly benefited from these sessions, and in some cases so too have 
politicians. 
5.2 Lessons learned 
o The need for local support and capacity building can not be underestimated. 
Municipalities have stressed the important value that they received from training
and it is clear that in order sustain work of this nature training and capacity
building needs greater development. 
o The platforms provided for knowledge dissemination, experience sharing and 
fieldtrips have been inspiring. They have enlightened cities and exposed them 
to opportunities that are practical to apply and which can make a meaningful 
difference to both cost savings and environmental action. 
o The positive implications of strong and stable institutional structures and 
similarly the negative impact of weak institutional structures are important
lessons to carry forward. 
o The presence of a champion in the municipality has been important to the 
success of these projects. It also noted that a good working relationship and
understanding between the technical official and politician goes a long way in 
achieving wider success with these initiatives. 
o While individual drive and commitment makes a large impact on the success of 
initiatives it important that too much of the success does not rest on a few 
individuals. Sustainability depends in large part on creating wider awareness,
obtaining greater buy-in and institutionalising the motivation to achieve results
to become more energy efficient and responsive to climate change and its 
affects. 
o Communication and support are important for success, both within and between
the municipalities as well as between the key role-players from other entities 
involved in the network of CCP. 
o National support and the provincial – local interface need to be advanced for 
local initiatives such as CCP to have a national impact. 
5.3 Recommendations 
5.3.1 Recommendations for ICLEI 
o ILCEI needs to work on strengthening and stabilising their South African office,
especially since it is the Africa Directorate. 
o Staff retention should be a focus and more significantly the retention of
knowledge and passing on of skill should be given more attention. Institutional
memory should also be addressed so as to ensure that the exit of human
capital does not result in the exit of the knowledge base in the organisation. 
o There needs to be greater consideration given to understanding and 
overcoming internal obstacles facing municipalities such as local legislation e.g.
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 30 
procurement policy, which needs to be taken account of when implementing
programs. This may indicate a need to improve channels of communication so 
as to engage with local officials on these issues prior to implementation. 
o Clear definitions and communication of the roles and responsibilities of ICLEI
staff as well as other stakeholders are vital to the flow of the program. Municipal 
staff in the CCP cities needs to be informed as to who the role players are and 
where responsibilities rest, as it will allow them to channel their communication 
to the appropriate people and may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 
programs. 
5.3.2 Recommendations for DEAT 
o The fact that many municipalities were not aware of DEAT’s role in the program
indicates a lack of communication from DEAT’s side. 
o It is clear that DEAT needs to play both a supportive and leadership role in
climate change and energy efficiency initiatives in South Africa as municipalities 
look to national government for direction. Recent developments indicate that 
some headway has been made in this regard, with DEAT currently in the
process of establishing a sub-directorate for municipal support. 
o DEAT is well placed to play a co-ordinating role of municipal activity and local 
government environmental initiatives. DEAT may do well to serve as the core of 
the local network and can play a key role in developing local skill and capacity 
by organising regular training and sharing workshops for local government in 
future. 
o Many of projects that have come out of the CCP have been very successful and 
it may be worthwhile exploring public-private partnerships to expand this kind of 
initiative to the private sector. 
5.3.3 Recommendations on Phases 1 and 2 
o The flexibility of phase 1 and the fact that it allowed the municipalities to be
innovative with their project design has been highly commended and a key part
the success of this phase. It is recommended that this approach be continued in
other initiatives of this kind as it is likely to stimulate great interest and promote
the development of creative ideas for reducing emissions and saving energy. 
o While the value of networks has been identified as a key achievement of CCP 
in South Africa it is noted that these need to be more organised and focussed 
rather than too loose and informal. Informal relationships between local officials 
have been invaluable but there is a concern that this informality could weaken
these networks if individuals leave the municipality. While it is understandable
that personal relationships sustain this networks, it is preferable that the 
networks be institutionalised rather than rest on individual relationships. 
o The flow between phases 1 and 2 seems to have had good continuity but it is
recommended that more needs to be done to monitor and evaluate each phase
before progressing to the next, especially as phase 2 built on phase 1. 
o Verification and adequate assessment of the quality of the inventories has been 
a problem of note, one which has had repercussions later down the line. 
Accuracy of the inventories is important and it is imperative that inventories are 
verified and checked for reliability in the early phase. 
o The quality of technical skills to complete the inventories correctly needs to be 
identified early on and where there is a lack of skill, high level support needs to 
be provided so that the quality of the inventories is ensured. 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 31 
o The 5 milestones process worked well because it provided direction and 
guidance for what should be achieved in the initiative. However, the monitoring
and evaluation component was not adequately fulfilled and more needs to be
done in future to adequately implement mechanisms for this. 
o There is a keen interest in some of the smaller cities to make use of HEAT
software in future and ICLEI has indicated aspirations for this as well. However,
it is clear that the greatest impediment to these goals is the lack of local support 
for municipalities. Thus it is recommended that before pursuing the expanded 
usage of HEAT software, local support and technical capacity is established to 
support municipalities in making effective use of this software. 
5.3.4 Recommendations on Phase 3 
o There appeared to be a lack of continuity and flow from phase 2 to phase 3, 
most notable in the change of agenda and the relatively restrictive approach 
taken in phase 3 compared to the earlier phase. 
o Planning around phase 3 and the use of lessons learnt from the earlier phases 
may have helped improve the continuity between the phases. This links again 
with the importance of monitoring and evaluation between phases. 
o Phase 3’s restrictive focus on air quality and transport only, tight time frames
and deadlines seemed to have had negative implications for the success of this 
phase. Many municipalities felt under enormous pressure to achieve
unreasonable and unrealistic goals, which lead to a lower level of participation 
in projects for this phase. Thus it is recommended that reasonable time frames
be adopted and that greater flexibility be given to inspire municipalities to devise
innovative ideas for dealing with climate change and energy efficiency. 
As a final thought, the evaluation team felt that there was so much positive feeling
about the CCP program within the cities involved, that a selection of quotations from 
officials interviewed would be of interest to USAID and other interested in the 
achievements of the program… 
 
31
Key Quotes - what the cities had to say 
o “Phase 1 was brilliant! It allowed us to be flexible and creative.” Craig Haskins,
City of Cape Town. 
o “Mentoring proved to be invaluable and the workshops exposed us to new 
ideas.” Tumelo Shakwane, Mangaung. 
o “CCP was a great kick-start program which had many positive spin-offs for the
municipality.” Bobby Buchanan, Sol Plaatje.
o “CCP as acted as the catalyst for putting climate change and energy efficiency
on the political agenda.” Mahesh Roopa, Potchefstroom. 
o “The ICLEI-CCP network was very useful and it evolved into a solid family
which met to share experiences and knowledge”. Sam Mutswari, City of
Tshwane.
o “It was a great advantage that the CCP program allowed municipalities to be
part of the national and international program.” Jane Eagles, City of
Johannesburg. 
o “It is only thanks to the work done with ICLEI on CCP that awareness of
climate change issues has increased.” Jessica Rich, eThekwini Municipality. 
ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 32 
Appendices 
Appendix 1 
Interview Instrument: Municipalities 
Introduction 
General introduction of the interviewer, 
Introduce PDG as the evaluator, 
Outline the main aims of the interview session. 
Overall Perceptions: Successes and Failures 
Semi-structured discussion 
Structure the discussion around the 5 Milestones of the program 
• Emissions inventory and forecast 
• Establish an emissions goal 
• Develop and obtain approval for a Local Action Plan 
• Implement policies and measures 
• Verify and monitor results 
Key questions 
Most successful elements: what worked best and why? 
Least successful elements: what where the obstacles? 
Progress 
Semi-structured discussion 
Focus on the specific achievements against each objective/deliverable of the phase
Phase 1 
Discussion pointers 
Reflect on the following activities when discussing this phase:
• Project planning, participant and partner selection, 
• Training and capacity building, 
• Grants to cities, 
• Municipal operations: Energy end-use analysis, identification of opportunities, 
• City peer exchanges. 
Discuss the achievements of this phase of the program, 
Discuss any shortcomings, failures related to this phase of the program, 
Discuss the role of DEAT and USAID and joint administrators, 
Discuss the role of ICLEI, 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 33 
Discuss the value of the technical support and tools provided (HEAT software
customisation, technical support for the inventories). 
Phase 2 
Discussion pointers 
Phase 2 extended the program to an additional three cities and focused on measuring 
implementation of identified activities. Reflect on the following activities when
discussing this phase: 
• Measure implementation, 
• Technical assistance from ICLEI, 
• Expansion to include additional cities, 
• Linkages with other programs/initiatives. 
Discuss the achievements of this phase of the program 
Discuss any shortcomings, failures related to this phase of the program 
Phase 3 
Discussion pointers 
Phase three expands ICLEI’s CCP program to include three tasks: 
• Increasing awareness and disseminating best practice on how to reduce GHG 
and priority air pollutants in response to the Air Quality Management Act 
(AQMA), 
• Providing technical assistance to targeted municipalities interested in reducing
emissions from the transportation sector, 
• Awarding of grants to cities to implement GHG and priority air pollutant 
emissions. 
Discuss the achievements of this phase of the program 
Discuss any shortcomings, failures related to this phase of the program 
Note: Ask for supporting information or reports on each of the phases 
Data collection and reporting 
Have the data reporting mechanisms worked? 
Are they easy to comply with? 
Have comprehensive reports been prepared? 
Overall Impacts 
Internal 
Discuss training and capacity building in the municipality as a result of the program, 
To what extent has institutionalisation of the program occurred within the municipality 
Discuss the extent to which the program has changed the municipality’s institutions
External 
Project Impacts 
• What specific projects have been implemented? 
• Who has benefited directly from the projects? 
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Sustainability
Can the municipality sustain the momentum without donor and external technical 
support? 
• Sustainability of emissions inventories 
• Sustainability of projects 
Replication Potential and Knowledge Sharing 
What have you learnt that could be useful to other municipalities? 
How has information been shared and disseminated? 
• to the public, 
• within the municipality, 
• to the funders and 
• across municipalities 
Do you think this program ought to be rolled out to other cities? 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 35 
Appendix 2 
Interview Instrument: USAID, DEAT, and ICLEI 
Introduction 
General introduction of the interviewer, 
Introduce PDG as the evaluator, 
Outline the main aims of the interview session. 
Overall Perceptions: Successes and Failures 
Semi-structured discussion 
Structure the discussion around the 5 Milestones of the program 
• Emissions inventory and forecast 
• Establish an emissions goal 
• Develop and obtain approval for a Local Action Plan 
• Implement policies and measures 
• Verify and monitor results 
Key questions 
Most successful elements: what worked best and why? 
Least successful elements: what where the obstacles? 
Progress 
Semi-structured discussion 
Focus on the specific achievements against each objective/deliverable of each phase
outlined below. 
Phase 1 
Discussion pointers 
Reflect on the following activities when discussing this phase:
• Project planning, participant and partner selection, 
• Training and capacity building, 
• Grants to cities, 
• Municipal operations: Energy end-use analysis, identification of opportunities, 
• City peer exchanges. 
Discuss the achievements of this phase of the program, 
Discuss any shortcomings, failures related to this phase of the program, 
Discuss the role of DEAT and USAID and joint administrators, 
Discuss the role of ICLEI, 
Discuss the value of the technical support and tools provided (HEAT software
customisation, technical support for the inventories). 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 36 
Phase 2 
Discussion pointers 
Phase 2 extended the program to an additional three cities and focused on measuring 
implementation of identified activities. Reflect on the following activities when
discussing this phase: 
• Measure implementation, 
• Technical assistance from ICLEI, 
• Expansion to include additional cities, 
• Linkages with other programs/initiatives. 
Discuss the achievements of this phase of the program 
Discuss any shortcomings, failures related to this phase of the program 
Phase 3 
Discussion pointers 
Phase three expands ICLEI’s CCP program to include three tasks: 
• Increasing awareness and disseminating best practice on how to reduce GHG 
and priority air pollutants in response to the Air Quality Management Act 
(AQMA), 
• Providing technical assistance to targeted municipalities interested in reducing
emissions from the transportation sector, 
• Awarding of grants to cities to implement GHG and priority air pollutant 
emissions. 
Discuss the achievements of this phase of the program 
Discuss any shortcomings, failures related to this phase of the program 
Note: Ask for supporting information or reports on each of the phases 
Data collection and reporting 
Have the data reporting mechanisms worked? 
Have comprehensive reports been prepared? 
What confidence is there in the data reported? 
Has the data been useful in overall program management? 
Overall Impacts 
Internal 
Discuss training and capacity building in the participant cities as a result of the 
program, 
To what extent has institutionalisation of the program occurred within the cities,
Discuss the extent to which the program has changed the municipality’s institutions. 
External 
Project Impacts 
• What are the main project achievements on the ground? 
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ICLEI CCP – Final Evaluation 37 
• Who has benefited directly from the projects? 
Sustainability
Can the municipality sustain the momentum without donor and external technical 
support? 
• Sustainability of emissions inventories 
• Sustainability of projects 
Replication Potential and Knowledge Sharing 
How has information been shared and disseminated? 
• to the public, 
• within the municipality, 
• to the funders and 
• across municipalities 
Do you think this program ought to be rolled out to more SA cities? 
How well has the peer-to-peer knowledge sharing worked? 
Institutional Issues 
What have the institutional arrangements been? 
How well have the institutional arrangements worked? 
Discuss issues around institutional memory, staff turnover etc and the impact that
these issues have had on the program 
How efficient have the management structures been (including financial management)? 
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