Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Des van Rooyen says the system of local government needs a committed workforce with necessary intellectual capacity and experience to help deliver basic services to communities. Minister van Rooyen was speaking at the opening congress of the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU), which started today at Birchwood Hotel. The Minister says government needs professionals who would secure support for programmes, deepen democracy and accountability to improve basic service delivery.
“This clarion call resonates with the fifth pillar of the Back to Basics programme. We need human resources system which is able to predict future threats and find solutions to deal with them amicably. This year, we will finalise the regulations that will set out uniform standards for staff in fulfilment of government’s intention to build resilient institutions,” says Minister van Rooyen. The Minister says these regulations will also prescribe specifically the minimum competency requirements for all municipal officials, which is also critical for ensuring that municipalities build the required capacity to meet service delivery obligations.
The Minister applauded IMATU for successfully signing a three-year collective bargaining agreement, without embarking on an industrial strike. “This demonstrates the level of maturity in our system as well as increasing the quality of leadership of our trade unions,” says Minister van Rooyen.
Minister van Rooyen encouraged the union members to elect representatives who will support the objectives of the union and provide strategic leadership that will assist in the transformation of the institution.
He commended the Independent Electoral Commission for having successfully hosted a voter registration weekend on 05 and 06 March 2016. The Minister urged members to influence other members and citizens of the country to register to vote in the upcoming voter registration weekend of 09 and 10 April 2016. The Minister says that registration is also done at municipal offices.
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Tsakani Baloyi
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