Address by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa at the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) National Conference at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Des Van Rooyen,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Premier of Gauteng, Mr David Makhura,
Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Mr Herman Mashaba,
Outgoing Chairperson of SALGA, Mr Thabo Manyoni
Chairperson of SALGA, Cllr Parks Tau,
MECs, mayors and councillors,
Local government officials,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great honour and privilege to address you, the representatives of the citizens of South Africa in local, district and metropolitan municipalities.
You are our leaders in the sphere of government closest to the people and closest to their challenges, their dreams, their hopes, their aspirations, societal well-being, and their futures.
You have the opportunity and the responsibility to transform communities.
As representatives of our people you are in a position to make the most important contribution in changing the lives of our people.
Being fresh in office, you are a new cohort of leaders that I required and will serve our people selflessly and with distinction.
Our people have elected you because they trust you and have confidence in your ability to lead and to transform their communities and their lives. They also have confidence that you will use the assets and resources they have put under your custodianship prudently. They have confidence that you will prioritise development and you will work tirelessly to advance their interests.
They hope for an activist cadre of local leadership that will get out of the council chamber and walk the rocky and difficult journey of progress with them.
When we see remote villages electrified, rural roads tarred and homes connected to running water, we are assured that local government is hard at work.
When our children are cared for, when they are fed, and when they are enrolled in Early Childhood Development centres, we know that local government is at work building our future.
When ordinary citizens participate in community safety forums, when they have a say in budgets and spending priorities, we know that local government works for the people.
We have seen where local government works.
But we have also seen where it doesn't.
We have witnessed the devastating legacy of bantustan misrule and the impact of apartheid spatial planning.
We have seen municipalities with poor financial management, destabilised by factionalism and a scramble for resources.
We have wonderful stories of councillors who have displayed impressive commitment to their duties and responsibilities. Councillors who remain connected to the people they represent. Councillors who know the challenges and problems our people face. Councillors who work diligently for our people.
We also have experience of councillors who are detached from their constituents, neglectful of their duties and wasteful with public resources.
They give local government a bad name.
But, we must hasten to add, these councillors are in the minority.
For all its challenges, local government works.
Our responsibility is to ensure that all structures of local government, in all parts of the country, serve all of our people all of the time.
That is why we value and cherish an organisation like SALGA.
For SALGA is answering our citizens' call for a responsive and people-oriented local government.
SALGA is working to inspire and galvanise excellent service delivery.
With a partner like SALGA, we will achieve the country of our dreams, where we have eradicated informal settlements and provided decent sanitation to all.
With a partner like SALGA, we will ensure that women and girls do not have to risk violence and rape because of inadequate street lighting or having to use communal toilets.
We look to SALGA to mobilise all sectors of our society to ensure that no parent must experience the agony of losing a toddler on the banks of the Jukskei River in flood.
We look to SALGA to lead communities to reclaim our streets from the terror of drug lords and gangsters.
We look to this Conference in particular to provide concrete proposals about how all South Africans can make their contribution to build inclusive, cohesive and successful communities.
These proposals must lay the basis for determined action to rapidly grow sustainable, inclusive local economies.
We seek municipalities - in metros, cities, towns and rural areas - whose central purpose is to enable job creation, sustainable livelihoods and successful human settlements.
They need to forge partnerships with business, organised labour and civil society to mobilise resources and ensure collaboration.
Our municipalities should seek creative ways that can only be limited by our imagination of removing the barriers that were created by apartheid and a regulatory framework which stifle initiative, cooperation and efficient resource use. We should start imagining an economy without barriers or walls.
Our municipalities need to use technology more effectively to foster innovation, to encourage thinking that looks beyond the immediate constraints to significantly increase local investment and economic activity.
Municipalities should be incubating entrepreneurs and creating an environment for faster, greater employment creation.
Since 1994, we have made tremendous progress together in creating a single local government system from the fragmented, undemocratic and racially-divided apartheid system.
Working together, we are directing resources to rebuild administrations that were under-resourced, that performed poorly and that offered no real value to the people.
We have shifted from a tradition of local governance that lacked transparency and facilitated the abuse of power and corruption.
Inspired by our people's passion for grassroots participatory democracy, we have established an inclusive system of governance that is more responsive to citizens' development aspirations.
These are municipalities that are skilled at mobilising a broad section of society behind their people-centred vision.
They are capable and developmental because they invest in the organisational and technical capacity of their administrations to effectively implement pro-poor policies.
They derive their legitimacy not through cheap promises, but by working consistently to improve the quality of life of citizens.
Compatriots,
We gather here at a difficult moment in the history of our young democracy.
Constrained both by global pressures and local weakness, our economy is not growing at the rate required to decisively tackle unemployment and poverty.
At all levels of government, public finances are under strain, limiting the scope for further social spending and increased infrastructure investment.
Recent events within the state have raised concern in many quarters about the direction of the country and the stability of its institutions.
As the elected representatives of the people of South Africa - wherever we may serve and whatever position we may occupy - we share an abiding responsibility to answer these challenges.
We have a responsibility to realise the vision of a just, democratic and equal society.
We have a responsibility to work to unite the people of South Africa.
For unity is paramount.
If we are to overcome the challenges we face, we must root our unity in a genuine and shared commitment to the values of our Constitution.
We must root our unity in a determination to serve the interests of the people - the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised - above all else.
We must not seek the mere appearance of unity.
Our duty - difficult as it may be - is to forge a unity of purpose and unity of action as a nation that is authentic, that is enduring and that advances the interests of the people of this country.
We have the means, we have the ability and, I believe, we have the commitment to build a united nation founded on the principles of honesty, integrity and justice for all.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Many of you present here were elected into office soon after South Africa successfully hosted the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban.
The Conference provided an opportunity to strengthen policies and improved programmes.
It was an opportunity to reinforce our political and financial commitment to the fight against the AIDS and TB epidemics.
Our municipalities have a critical role to play in giving effect to this commitment.
For it is in those municipalities where there is a deliberate effort and direct action that we see progress in stemming the tide of HIV.
It is in those municipalities that have functioning Local AIDS Councils where our treatment and prevention programmes have the greatest chance of success.
And, most importantly, it is in those municipalities where the Mayor takes the lead in the fight against HIV and TB where we are able to make the greatest difference in the lives of our people.
Nationally, we have made significant progress through the South African National AIDS Council in bringing together all stakeholders and constituencies to implement the National Strategic Plan.
The functioning of Provincial Councils on AIDS has improved significantly under the leadership of the respective Premiers.
Yet, if we are to have any chance of success, the Local AIDS Councils need to function effectively - and they need to be led from the front by the Mayors.
We were greatly encouraged by the meeting held in Durban in March that was convened by the mayor of eThekwini, together with the national Department of Health, UNAIDS and other partners.
The meeting was organised to encourage the 19 South African municipalities most affected by HIV to join the Fast-Track initiative to end AIDS by 2030.
We are encouraged by the example of the Durban city officials who are working with community stakeholders to address barriers for access to HIV and TB treatment.
The city is working towards ensuring that health and other public services are accessible to all, including people living in informal settlements.
They are ensuring that information is available and healthcare is accessible to sex workers, men who have sex with men, and migrant truck drivers.
Testing services and condoms are being made available through mobile centres and at places like truck stops and taxi ranks.
Several other cities are similarly taking up this challenge.
Many more need to do so.
As we commemorate World AIDS Day on Thursday, all political and civil society leaders are called upon to join hands to intensify the national response to HIV and TB.
We must work with all social partners to overcome underdevelopment and the socio-economic problems that promote the spread of HIV and TB.
We need to focus greater effort on the prevention of new HIV infections, especially among adolescent girls and young women.
We will have real impact only if immediate, focused and sustained action is taken in each municipality and each ward.
To succeed in this - and in the broader task of development - we must act now to institutionalise the integrated service delivery model across the country.
We are pleased to see various provinces adopting this model to improve the delivery of social services and empowerment interventions.
We are proud that initiatives like Operation Sukuma Sakhe in KwaZulu Natal have received international recognition from global partners like UNAIDS.
Here in Gauteng, Premier David Makhura and his team are bringing critical services to our people in an efficient and integrated manner through Ntirhisano.
In every village, town, township and city we must establish the institutional capacity to deliver better services more rapidly, efficiently and cost-effectively.
We must prioritise coordination and community involvement through programmes like Operation Sukuma Sakhe, Ntirhisano, Setsokotsane in North West, Operation Hlasela in Free State, Operation Vuka Sisebente in Mpumalanga and the Balelapa programme in Northern Cape.
We thank SALGA for being a vehicle to build sustainable and thriving communities as envisioned in the National Development Plan.
Starting today, let us build the society we aspire to be by 2030.
This term of local government must be characterised by dedicated local leadership that responds to the urgent challenges facing our communities.
We look to this cohort of councillors to exemplify everything our people expect of their public representatives.
We want councillors that are accountable and responsive.
No task must be too great and no resident's concern too trivial.
They must be honest, trustworthy and uphold the highest standards of ethical behaviour.
No councillor must ever again be accused of 'chowing our money'.
We want councillors that are capable, that understand public finances, that have experience in management and that have a firm grasp of the theory and practice of governance.
They must always be trying to improve their skills and expand their knowledge.
We want councillors that focus all their efforts and talents on the economic development of their areas and the provision of quality services to their people.
We want councillors that are worthy of the trust the people have placed in them.
In concluding, we wish you well in your deliberations during this Conference, confident that working together you will play your part in making South Africa a better place for all.
After all, you are the voice of our people.
You are the champions of their interests.
You are their chosen representatives and their loyal servants.
As national government, we once more congratulate SALGA on its 20 year anniversary and look forward to even greater collaboration with you in the coming years.
I thank you.
