N Hangana: Launch of National Ward Committee Accredited Training
Programme

29 October 2007

Programme director, Mr MacLean
The honourable MEC for Local Government, Housing and Traditional Affairs, Ms
Thokozile Xasa
The Mayor of Amahlathi District, Mr Jonas
Municipal Councillors and Ward Committee members
Distinguished guests and fellow South Africans:

I am honoured to have the opportunity to launch this ward committee-training
programme. This day provides all of us a unique opportunity to engage in
positive discussions with each other about the importance of a functional ward
committee system as the most effective tool to promote good governance and
public participation.

I am very happy that this launch is hosted by the province of the Eastern
Cape, in the hometown of the Premier Nosimo Balindlela in Amahlathi
municipality. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to her and her colleagues
for their warm welcome and support they have given to the success of this
event. I also would like to thank our partners, German Agency for Technical
Co-operation (GTZ), Local Government Sector for Education and Training
Authority (LGSETA), and Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung (INWENT)
for their continued support towards the capacity development of ward
committees.

As government we are greatly interested in ensuring that our programmes are
enriched by the participation of all our people through credible structures
such as ward committees. Effective and constructive community participation
will help to fashion what I would like to describe as 'the bread and butter
issues', it will always strengthen the connection between government and the
citizens of South Africa. Government is convinced that a thriving democracy is
fundamental to the success of our developmental State. As we launch this ward
committee-training programme, we are optimistic that the sense of democracy
will be deepened, and that there will be a significant increase in the
participation of the masses of our people in determining their future.

Not too long ago, the Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Sydney.
Mufamadi met with more than 1 000 delegates from ward committees,
municipalities, provincial and national government at Mogale City in the
Gauteng province, to launch the ward committee resource and handbooks. This was
an occasion for us as government to interact with ward committees and to share
with them the information that would improve their performance and enrich their
thoughts about participatory democracy.

It is in this gathering where we confirmed the critical role of local
leaders and civil society as vital in nurturing habits of participation around
issues of interests and visions that engage people in civic life. Delegates who
attended this event echoed the same sentiments as government, that all
municipalities must establish functional ward committees; and that all spheres
of government must promote public involvement in the enforcement of the Batho
Pele principles.

Honourable councillors and members of ward committees, we must never forget
that our enemy is poverty and deprivation. Therefore, we have a responsibility
to demonstrate to our people and to the world that we are a caring democracy
and that we value the involvement of our people in their own development.
Guided by the Constitution, we must use this launching event as an opportunity
to reflect on a few areas that bear on our obligations as implied in the
founding provisions of our Constitution. I refer here specifically to the
principles and values stated in the Constitution as:

* bringing citizens more effectively on board when it comes to local
governance and development
* making government more responsive to the people's needs and aspirations
* empowering citizens to fulfil their potential as partners with government
and
* deepening democracy beyond the representative dimension into a more
participatory system.

All these principles have an important impact on the social cohesion of our
diverse society as well as the design of our policies and programmes intended
to ensure the well-being of our citizens. I hope that when the training
programme is rolled out to all provinces, it will afford participants an
opportunity to engage one another in constructive discussions, the better to
understand the importance of functional ward committees in our democracy, and
the better to join hands with government in building a society that cares for
the most vulnerable.

The Department of Provincial and Local Government (dplg) have spent a
significant amount of time in trying to understand the specific challenges that
the Ward Committees are faced with. The department has also spent considerable
time and effort in putting into place the mechanisms, through project
consolidate, that would see a greater enhancement of the functionality of the
Ward Committee system.

Through project consolidate, municipalities were supported to ensure that
the Ward Committee system is seen as part of its broader poverty alleviation
programme and find ways to link community participation to local economic
development strategies.

Representatives from national departments, the provinces and municipalities,
must not forget that we are accountable to the communities we serve. We will
have to work together and also work closer with our communities. Our
communities must be our partners in delivery.

Not only do we have the responsibility to draw our communities into
decision-making, but our communities must also understand their role in
supporting delivery. Ward Committees must be appropriately activated and
engaged. Participation must exist around the implementation of services.
Government as a whole is attempting to draw in greater public participation at
a governance level. Both the Presidential and Ministerial Imbizos had a
deliberate focus on building and strengthening Ward Committees. A key lesson
from these events indicated that Ward Committees felt empowered by engaging
with their leadership.
The launch of the Ward Committee training programme should therefore, be
understood in the context outline above.

The State is being called upon to increase its own capacity for poverty
alleviation and reinforcement of national pride. This goal can only be achieved
through focused implementation of policy, better integration and alignment
across spheres of government, and improved contact between government and its
citizens.

Honourable councillors, we must remember that the totality of government's
programme of action is aimed at creating jobs, fighting poverty and charting a
sustainable development path. We have situated the critical role of local
government in contributing towards these objectives. Forging equitable and
mutually beneficial partnerships at the local level can strengthen governance
and increase the potential resources available to local government and that can
be put at the service of human development.

The programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the
Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), are aimed at stimulating the second
economy, whilst simultaneously creating a platform for our people to enter into
productive economic activities. Without good infrastructure, it is impossible
to attract investment into local economies and to realise sustainable local
economic development.

Notwithstanding the achievements the government has made thus far, a lot
more still need to be done. In order to increase the capacity of municipalities
to respond to community needs, government has introduced a Community
Development Workers Programme (CDWP). CDWs must continue to close the gap
between government and our communities. Ward councillors and ward committee
members must co-operate with the deployed community development workers in
their respective wards.

Despite some challenges with regard to the establishment of Ward Committees
in other provinces, it is worth noting that at least 96 percent Ward Committees
have been established throughout the country. We can confidently say that all
provinces (except for the City of Cape Town) have opted for the ward
participatory system as the "tried and tested" system that promotes effective
community participation.

Clearly, there is a need to pay systematic attention to the city of Cape
Town as we continue to improve the capacity of our communities to meaningfully
engage government and participate in their own development. Government has a
task of improving stakeholder knowledge of the governing process and fostering
understanding of the need for prioritisation. Our people have a right to expect
improved municipal performance and the same standard also applies to their
public representatives as well as to public servants who are in the employ of
the municipalities.

However, these rights are accompanied by certain obligations. As citizens,
our people must make it their responsibility to know the channels which need to
be followed in order to institutionalise their relationship with organs of the
democratic state. It is this institutionalised relations that will channel our
collective energies towards positive and meaningful uses. We must always
encourage interaction between local government and population to foster mutual
trust and culture of co-operation. We all share equally, the responsibility to
transform our country into a better place to live and work in.

As we continue to witness community protests in various parts of the
country, we must remember that the very deepening of our democracy requires
that we maintain maximum space for all our people, from all walks of life, to
freely engage in struggle to pursue their interests. However, those struggles
must be pursued in a manner that respects the possibility created by our
democracy for such struggles to be conducted in a peaceful manner; fully
respecting the legal order established by our democracy.

There is no reason for our people to take part in actions which lead to
self-defeating results such as the destruction of municipal and other forms of
public infrastructure. Local government legislation provides a space for our
people to participate in government. Such participation is expressed through
the ward participatory system; which allows our people to take part in the
planning, implementation, and review of integrated development plans of
municipalities.

Our people are also empowered by this legislation to participate in the
taking of decisions about the provisions of municipal services and
communicating and disseminating information on matters of government. In short,
it must be noted that Ward Committees are critical in ensuring that government
is rooted amongst the people. Our experience has taught us that when people use
correct avenues to participate in government, it provides opportunities for
interaction between the government and the citizens, and it fosters an
atmosphere of mutual trust and a culture of co-operation. This enables our
people to be involved in the decision-making process, and ensures a holistic
people-centred approach to service delivery leading to greater effectiveness in
the achievement of well-being values.

National government is acutely sensitive to the need to eliminate corruption
in both the public and private sectors and to develop an effective and
co-ordinated anti-corruption structures and enhancing business role in the
fight against corruption across society. To win this war; government would rely
on the involvement of its communities, organised religious bodies,
Non-Governmental Organisations sector, the media, organised labour and the
business community.

Government has introduced new measures such as the blacklisting of
individuals and organisations, the establishment of anti-corruption hotlines,
the establishment of sectoral and other hotlines, more efficient disciplinary
actions against corrupt persons, consistent on monitoring and reporting on
corruption, and the promotion and implementation of the sound ethical,
financial and related management practices. All these efforts will depend
largely on the functionality of community structures on the ground. Our people
must partner with government in rooting out corruption from our system.

Honourable councillors and fellow South Africans, it must be our primary
objective to ensure that there is gender balance in our community participation
structures. The Ward Committee programme should work with an understanding of
gender, which goes deeper than women as a marginalised group, or gender as an
expression of diversity. Women are a disempowered majority. We must ask
ourselves; "what does this disempowerment mean in the context of public
participation in local government?" We must educate ourselves about gender, and
incorporate this educated understanding into the community structures of
participation within our municipalities.

It is important to ensure that feedback about service delivery actually
reaches women, taking into account the issue of language and literacy. Also we
must recognise that the socially defined role of women as "free household
labour" they are sometimes literally confined to the house, or they are too
busy to go out. It also happens that women in abusive relationships are locked
in and forbidden to go out, especially to meetings. As local government we must
address these gendered barriers to full community participation.

To the chairpersons of Ward Committees, think about the possibility of Ward
Committees taking special steps to ensure the full participation of women. Will
it be too much to ask if one had to suggest that the Ward Committee meetings
should happen during the day, in places where women's safety can be assured,
taking into consideration the realities of women's double working day (i.e. not
during the times that children must be fetched from school or supper must be
cooked). Are Ward Committees ready to take the responsibility to negotiate with
jealous or abusive spouses to ensure women's presence in Ward Committee
meetings?

The training needs should also include special support for women, e.g., self
empowerment training, assertive training, learning to practice public speaking,
as well as gender training to capacitate women to understand the ways in which
they have been systematically disempowered.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasise the importance of young people to
public participation. The young people are our greatest asset. And it is our
responsibility to give them the skills and insight to participate in matters of
governance, and the development of our economy.

Viva functional Ward Committees Viva!!
Amandla!!!

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
29 October 2007
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.dplg.gov.za)