HE The Minister Dr. Alkoni Ministry of Palestinian Local Government,
The Honorable Chairperson, Mayor Ghassan Shakaa, the Association of Palestinian Local, Authorities (APLA) and Mayor of Nablus City,
HE Mr. van Vollenhoven, South African Chargé d'Affaires to the Kingdom of Morocco,
The Honourable Councillor Manyoni, President of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA),
All Honorable Mayors and Councilors from Palestine,
All Honorable Mayors and Councilors from South Africa,
All officials and delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Recently President Jacob Zuma spoke in the General Debate of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2013.
The President pointed out that next year South Africa will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of freedom and democracy and that, as we celebrate our freedom and democracy, we remain mindful that our struggle is not complete until the people of Palestine enjoy their right to self-determination.
He reminded that important gathering that, in the same manner that the United Nations stood by South Africa, we would like to see the UN being at the forefront of efforts towards self-determination for the peoples of Palestine.
The President expressed deep concern about continued illegal settlement activities in the West Bank in violation of international law and how this jeopardizes the realization of a two-state solution.
As you may know, in July 3 2013, the Ministries of Local Government of Palestine (MoLG) and the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs of South Africa (CoGTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of the Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah.
The MoU provides a framework for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of local governance and municipal development, and focuses on cooperation in the following broad areas:
- Legal framework of local governance;
- Municipal finances and intergovernmental fiscal relations;
- Urban and strategic development planning;
- Amalgamation and restructuring of local government units;
- Intergovernmental alignment, coordination, and harmonization;
- Community participation in local government;
- Municipal engineering and planning; and
- Municipal elections.
Recently we were delighted to host a follow-up set of meeting with a
delegation led by Mr. Ghassan Shakaa, Chairperson of APLA and Mayor of
Nablus City.
Our counterpart Minister HE Dr. Said Alkoni could unfortunately
not make the trip but he has specifically come to meet with us all at UNCLG’s Congress and we view this as a very important sign of commitment by our Palestinian counterparts to work together in building local democracy in our two countries.
As South Africans, we are proud that we are one of the few countries where local government has its own clear place in our constitution and as a government we are committed to building strong, organised local government. SALGA is, we believe an outstanding organization and we are proud to partner with them in our relationship with our Palestinian counterparts.
A week ago, we met with our Palestinian counterparts on Gauteng and not only did we start to deepen our relationship but arising out of those meetings were commitments to:
- Working together closely in the many international fora we participate in;
- Sharing our experiences in strengthening local governance through using fiscal, financial and other measure which broaden the functions and powers assigned to local government;
- Encouraging city-to-city relationships and people-to-people links between Palestine and South Africa with APLA and SALGA promoting these;
- Broadening the base of the programmes of support to build capacity and share information which ensures local governance becomes more effective.
We look forward to APLA and SALGA starting to ensure that these cooperative ventures take off and as government we are committed to support that and other processes. It would be presumptive to claim we are able to advise our Palestinian counterparts on what they should do.
Rather, our approach is to ensure that our Palestinian compatriots are well aware of the difficult road our own negotiations process took, how the governments were established in terms of the Constitution and legislation and what unfolded as we established our own municipal system
Our Palestinian comrades are faced with very similar options as they focus on decentralisation:
- Do they maintain the status quo of functional and revenue assignment?
- Do they reorganise territories and through that assign functions and revenues to establish local self-governance in Palestine?
- Do they centralise matters so local authorities become a simple access point for public services under central government control?
These are but some of the issues we also grappled with. Building this partnership will be as much about engaging around our successes and failures as it will be about building friendships at a city-to-city level.
President Zuma concluded his address to the UN by quoting the words of our former President Nelson Mandela on his inauguration day in 1994 when he said;
“We understand it still, that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well, that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.
Let there be justice for all.
Let there be peace for all.
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves”.
We hope that those friendships will continue to grow and on behalf of our government may I commit ourselves to ensuring this happens.
I thank you!
