KwaNaloga Conference
8 June 2006
Greetings
It gives me great pleasure to stand here in front of the family of
municipalities assembled for the KwaNaloga Conference 2006. The role of local
government associations like KwaNaloga is to create a forum for those involved
with decision making at local government level to meet and share views, ideas,
knowledge, experiences and expertise, while at the same time developing a
common understanding of the short term and long term needs of their
constituencies. The
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa describes the current system of
local government as developmental.
The spirit of Chapter Seven of the Constitution is further reflected in the
key legislations that govern local government today, which are the Municipal
Structures Act, the Municipal Systems Act, the Municipal Demarcation Act, the
Municipal Finances Management Act, and the Municipal Property Rates Act. Other
national and provincial legislations incidental; to local government and
governance are equally strong on the need for this sphere of government to be
resolute on the issues of development. Thus, local government exists for the
betterment of the lives of the local citizenry.
Chapter Five of the Municipal Systems Act directs municipalities to carry
out their development planning through the Integrated Development Plans. This
chapter of the Act is very clear on the processes that need to be followed in
the compilation of the municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), which are
the principal planning strategies of the municipalities.
The procedures in Chapter Five of this Act are complemented by the
procedures to involve the local community in the affairs of the Municipality.
The Public participation imperatives as contained in Chapter Four of the
Municipal Systems Act, as well as the performance management imperatives as
contained in Chapter Six of the same act, give all practitioners of local
government, and indeed all of those involved with service delivery, the best
model for participatory democracy. Followed to the letter we would not be
talking about municipalities and councillors who do not perform, who make no
contact with their constituencies.
There is always a temptation to compare the current system of local
government with the colonial and apartheid systems of local government. Such
temptation always comes from those who, out of fear, will not embrace the
future. There is no comparison that can be made and there is very little that
can be learnt from this distasteful past. The current system of local
government is based on international benchmarks, best practice and standards.
It is a system that has built into it the Millennium Development Goals, the
Local Agenda 21, the New Partnership for Africaâs Development, the Accelerated
and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA), the African Renaissance,
and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), all of which depart from the
premise that in order for all of us to move forward we need to establish a set
of common goals, the communication of the goals, the integrated planning to
achieve the goals and the involvement of all role-players, stakeholders and
communities.
In this model no single individual should see himself or herself as having
to do things on behalf of others. Through this system public representatives
are elected to empower the citizenry by facilitating their participation in the
determination of their own destiny. A political statement that says Mayor or
councillor so and so has single-handedly done this or that for the citizenry
who may then be expected to spend their lives doing nothing but admiring such a
political leader is indicative of a lack of understanding of the current local
participatory imperatives of our system of local government.
Our municipalities should, therefore, be local centres of vibrant debate and
activity. The old Greek model of the civic centre, whether it be a town square,
a freedom square or some city hall steps, should be a universal inspiration for
all of us. As leaders in local government, mayors, deputy mayors, speakers,
councillors and officials should be bold and confident enough to promote this
culture of debate among the elected representatives and between the elected
representatives and the electorate.
Our participatory democracy model prescribes that there should be on-going
interaction between the municipality and the citizenry. In fact, the model goes
on to define the municipality as an institution with three pillars, which
are:
1. the council-the political pillar
2. the Administration and the implementation pillar
3. the community the pillar whose aspirations guide the activities of the first
two pillars.
At best these pillars should be reciprocal and feed into each other. All the
same, there is no Municipality that exists as an island or as an institution
with its own sectional interests. Our Constitution prescribes Intergovernmental
Relations in the administration of the country and its affairs. A municipality
must, therefore, in terms of its three pillars, establish clear
inter-governmental relations and lines of communication with provincial and
national government.
There is only one vision and mission for the country and that is contained
in the Constitution, as well as the legislative and policy framework as
communicated by the national leadership of the country. A municipality, while
drawing its Integrated Development Plan, must reflect this one vision and
adjust it to the local needs. It cannot, therefore, bring forward a vision or
agenda which runs contrary to the national and provincial goals. The last local
government elections showed that the people of this province are becoming
increasingly aware of this reality. There has, therefore, been or shift towards
electing a local political leadership that would not resist to align the local
aspirations of the citizens with the Provincial Growth and Development
Strategy, the National Development Goals and the universal Millennium
Development Goals.
This makes a local citizen at Mandeni to have aspirations similar to those
of a local citizen in Delhi in India or Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Such is the
universality of local government in a global village. Any alternative model
would lead to the suffocation of the local citizens and the obstruction of
their goals and aspirations. This resolve by the citizens is now reflected in
the composition of most district councils and local municipalities. Those who
previously sought to view our local government institutions as local
playgrounds for warlords and municipal gangsters parading as councillors and
disrespectful of the new national vision, are being squeezed out, and are being
replaced by respectable women and men who have lateral skills and an
understanding of the inter-relatedness between local, provincial, national and
international patterns of things.
Nobody held a gun to these citizens in order for them to choose this route
when they voted. Today we, therefore, have municipalities, which are largely
peaceful and focused. In turn this is allowing us to transform the associated
institutions of local governance, the main being the traditional leadership
institution.
The Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act (no. 41 of 2003) and
the KwaZulu-Natal Traditional Leadership and Governance Act (no.5 of 2005) are
two legislative instruments that have enabled the process of transforming the
traditional leadership institution in this country.
The main object is to align the institution with the constitutional
imperatives. The new legislative framework for traditional leadership marks the
culmination of a process that was started in 1996, which was to transform
traditional leadership institutions in the country and align them with the
democratic system of government, introduced in 1994.
The role of traditional leadership in a democratic local governance context
was always not clear. The question was always: âhow do we create a situation
where elected leadership structures can exist harmoniously with non-elected
traditional leadership structures. Through the introduction and mixing of a bit
of both the new Traditional Councils are now having at least 40% of their
members democratically elected. There will soon be put in place a new type of
District Houses of Traditional Leadership and a new-look Provincial House of
Traditional Leadership.
The end result will be a traditional leadership system which plays a pivotal
role in the holistic development of our rural landscape, working side by side
with the elected representatives. We are overwhelmed by the resolute decision
by most of the Amakhosi in the province to participate in the moulding of a
future for all our children. I can now state that our Amakhosi are by and large
participating in local government and governance processes as put forward
through current legislations. Municipalities are reporting high numbers of
Amakhosi turn out in the compilation of Municipal IDPs. To reinstate the
dignity of Amakhosi, their installation has been returned to the Majesty the
King, the only person who can preside over it.
The practice of government politicians and officials presiding over the
installation of Amakhosi is a thing of the past. I should stress, though, that
once installed an Inkosi has to function within applicable laws and Code of
Conduct. At provincial and national levels we have started with a thinking that
says: âin order for us to meet our developmental goals we need the
participation of every man and woman who has the will and the skill to do so.
Thus, two of the major features of the 2006 African Renaissance Festival were
the African Intellectuality Summit, where we assembled all our intellectuals
and challenged them to join our partnership for the generation of hope, by
availing their knowledge, skills, ideas and thoughts to the development of the
province, and the KwaZulu-Natal Alumni Dinner, where we challenged our
expatriates, mostly resident in Gauteng, to include their home province in
their future plans to develop their businesses and other occupations.
The effects of this are going to be felt at a local level. I urge our
municipalities to make similar moves by creating an atmosphere where everyone
of our citizens can feel that they are part of the new Vision and generation of
hope for the Municipal Area. Your local professionals, business people,
students and even senior citizens should not be left out in the development of
your IDPs and should be urged to feel part of the local community through
various forums, which you can create.
In planning for local development municipalities must take into account the
fact that in a given local level there could be citizens who already have
houses, water, electricity, tarred roads and a host of basic services. We
should not plan them out of our IDPs, because their developmental needs,
although at a higher level, according to Maslowâs Hierarchy of Needs, are still
needs which municipalities need to attend to. Thus, Local economic Development
Plans, Environmental Management Plans, and, in fact all standard Sector Plans
must be vigorously designed and implemented in public participatory manner.
Municipalities should also cater for the artistic, cultural and sporting
aspirations of their citizens. The next Football International Federation
Association (FIFA) Soccer World will be held in South Africa in 2010. Durban is
one of the host cities. But we know now, through observing the goings on in
Germany, that most teams prefer to stay some distance away from the grounds
where they are officially playing.
So, in the face of Durban being the host, what is Empangeni and Richards Bay
or
Pietermaritzburg or Port Shepstone or Newcastle. What sustainable tourism
strategies are we putting in place in our local museums, in our heritage sites?
What music are we going to perform, which is unique to us? What legacy are we
going to leave after 2010? The Olympic Stadium built for the 1972 Olympics in
Munich is still a tourist attraction, thirty four years after the event.
FIFA
Soccer World Cup related tourism is still strong in Spain, although Spain
hosted the World Cup in 1982.
In conclusion I wish to applaud the MEC for Housing, Local Government and
Traditional Affairs for the bold steps and the dignity with which he has
pursued the transformation agenda in his portfolio. Transformation is hard and
often easy to resist. But a resolute leader is the one who makes it happen. I
also wish to applaud KwaNaloga, our Mayors, Speakers and Councillors, as well
as the officials for the dedication they are showing towards creating a local
government system that works for the province and its people.
I thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
8 June 2006
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government (http://www.kwazulunatal.gov.za)
