Time to deliver, Thandi Modise urges new councillors

North West Premier, Ms Thandi Modise, has urged all newly-elected councillors to put the interests of their communities first.

"Our people have spoken! They have spoken so boldly and eloquently that the effort to build a better life for all must proceed with accelerated speed. Our councillors must demonstrate through their own practical actions that they have heard what our people want," said Modise.

"Consistent with the vocal message we received from the electorate before and during the electoral contest, we must all focus on areas that our people have drawn our attention to," she said. 

This, according to the Premier, includes accelerating service delivery, strengthening local democracy and public consultation and ensuring that the five key priorities continue to define the work of all public representatives.

The Premier urged new councils to hit the ground running. “We cannot afford any delays in implementing programmes. We have to work harder to ensure that all our municipalities deliver better services to all our people”. 

She added: “Our people’s negative perception of municipalities can only change if they see visible changes where they live and if the programmes of their municipalities are clearly communicated to them.”

The Premier challenged new councillors to ensure that they accelerate service delivery at local level and to strengthen their capacity to respond timeously and effectively to community needs. “This is critical because local government is the front desk of service.”

Premier Modise noted that municipalities of the North West have performed well in expanding access to basic services to the people of the province. North West recorded an increase in the number of households using electricity for lighting, cooking and heating over the period 2001 to 2007. Figures show that the proportion of households using electricity for lighting in the North West was above the national average.

Figures also show that the proportion of households having access to piped water increased from 86,6% in 2001 to 89,9% in 2007. This was slightly above the national average (88,6%). Some of these figures demonstrate beyond doubt that the negative image of North West municipalities is not consistent with reality. The majority of our municipalities are focused on the critical task of creating a better life for all our people.

“As a province, we have also registered significant progress in our efforts to provide sanitation services to our people. Through our bucket eradication programme, we succeeded in eradicating 13 115 pre-1994 buckets by the end of 2008/09 financial year. Provincial municipalities will have to pay focused attention on the post-1994 buckets.

“In addition, refuse removal is improving significantly across the province. The proportion of households whose refuse was removed increased from 40,1% in 2001 to 54,8% in 2007.

“These figures demonstrate that, contrary to perceptions in the media, the North West is not only about potholes, corruption and protests. The people and leadership of the province are committed to delivering a better life for their people.

“The challenge is to ensure that we sustain this progress and to ensure that we deal with all constraints and challenges,” said Premier Modise.

Source: North West Provincial Government