South Africa and Palestine have agreed to strengthen cooperation in local government and municipal development.
The Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) of South Africa, Mr Andries Nel and the Chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Mr Thabo Manyoi, met a Palestinian delegation led by Minister of Local Government, Dr Said Alkoni, and the Chairperson of the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA), Mr Ghassan Shakaa, at the fourth Congress of the United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) being held in Rabat, Morocco, from 1 to 4 October 2013.
The two countries undertook to strengthen cooperation in areas including legal frameworks for local governance, urban and strategic development planning, restructuring of local governments, strengthening community participation in local government, municipal engineering and planning and municipal elections.
The delegations emphasised that similar historical experiences laid a strong foundation for learning from each other and called on the various municipalities present to forge partnerships aimed at improving service delivery to the people.
In his opening remarks Deputy Minister Nel referred to statements made recently by President Jacob Zuma at the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly where he called upon the UN to be at the forefront of ensuring Palestinian self-determination and emphasised that while South Africa prepares to celebrate 20 years of freedom and democracy its struggle is not complete until the people of Palestine enjoy their right to self-determination.
In his reply Minister Alkoni stressed that the development of the people of Palestine required both developmental as well as political interventions as the non-resolution of political issues would continue to undermine developmental efforts.
Enquiries:
Mpho Lekgoro
Cell: +27 71 607 3081 (SA) / +212 69 795 3481 (Morocco)
E-mail: mphol@cogta.gov.za
