S Kwelita: Municipal Public Participation Conference

20 February 2007

Honourable Premier, Mrs Nosimo Balindlela,
Members of Executive Committee here present,
The host, Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Councillor
Nondumiso Maphazi,
Executive Mayors from different Municipalities here present,
Director-General of our province,
Members of Provincial Legislature here present,
Councillors,
Senior Managers and all government officials present,
Traditional leaders,
Community Development Workers,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning,

I warm-heartedly, welcome you on this day here at Coega Village, where we
are set to begin the three-day conference, to discuss the issue of public
participation, one of the most important pillars of our steadfastly growing
democracy.

To achieve this, the Department has seen a need to invite representatives
from the three spheres of government, non-governmental organisations and other
relevant parties to develop a coherent public participation programme and civil
society mobilisation to support government programme.

In his 2003 State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki made a
pronouncement that government will create a public service echelon of
multi-skilled Community Development Workers who will maintain direct contact
with the people where these masses live. In his speech, the President said
government was determined to ensure that government goes to the people so that
we sharply improve the quality of the outcomes of public expenditures intended
to raise the standard of living of our people.

The President said: "It is wrong that government should oblige the people to
come to the government even in circumstances in which the people do not know
what services the government offers and have no means to pay for the transport
to reach government offices."

Special emphasis will be made to tease out the role of local government in
support of the national government's development agenda. The recent local
government elections have come and gone. We saw people exercising their power
through public participation. Through their democratic and constitutional
right, they put in power a new local government leadership. Subsequently to the
elections, government through the Department of Provincial and Local Government
conducted a qualitative assessment of local government transformation in line
with the national government's national mandate and the programme of
action.

Informed by the benchmarks government have set for our municipalities over
the next five years, three overarching strategic priorities for local
government were identified to be a programme that municipalities have started
to implement in the current 5 year term.

These priorities constitute a combination of:

(a) mainstreaming our practical hands-on support to all municipalities
(b) strengthening and repositioning our structural and governance arrangements
with regard to how we interact with local government
(c) refining the local government policy environment and giving more attention
to enforcement of the law.

There is therefore a need to focus on very specific priority actions in each
of the 5 Key Performance Areas of local government transformation:

* municipal transformation and institutional (capacity) development
* improving basic service delivery and infrastructure investment
* improve local economic development
* improvement of financial viability and financial management
* strengthening good governance, community participation and ward committee
systems.

The above mentioned local government strategic agenda needs vision and
community participation to achieve its developmental objectives. The evolution
of developmental local government will depend in large measure on the ability
of local councils to involve communities in managing their own localities.

A defining feature of the new system, which represents the final phase of
local government transition, is the space it offers to ordinary people to
become actively involved in governance. Residents have the right to contribute
to the municipality's decision-making processes. They have the right to submit
recommendations and complaints to the council and to "regular disclosure of the
state of affairs of the municipality, including its finances."

Ward committees provided for in national legislation are important vehicles
for resident participation. Though not compulsory, these committees can make
representations on any issue affecting their ward to the councillor or through
the councillor to the council. It can also exercise any duty or power delegated
to it by the council. A ward committee comprises the ward councillor as
chairperson and up to ten other people representing a "diversity of interests
in the ward." Women have to be equitably represented.

Ideally, the ward committees should be used to mobilise the broadest range
of interests in the community behind progressive goals. Attempts should be made
to ensure representation from civic, development, trade union, business, taxi,
women, youth, religious, cultural and other organisations.

Community participation should not be romanticised however. It requires
capacities, resources and funding that are often scarce. The space for
community participation can be exploited by privileged elites to hold back
transformation or even further narrow, sectarian interests. It will therefore
take time, and practice, to develop methods of community participation which
strengthen the developmental capacity of councils.

Programme Director, the challenges that we have now is that we should
re-examine our actions take stock whether in the implementation of this process
we have:

* attracted the right people into this cadre of Community Development
Workers
* trained them properly, and supervise them effectively
* development workers who are truly inspired by the letter and spirit of 'Batho
Pele'
* workers who help to increase the effectiveness of our system of local
government, strengthening its awareness of and capacity to respond to the needs
of the people at the local level.

To improve relations between local government and local communities, and to
give effect to an understanding that participation should be aimed at
empowering local communities, the following areas are recommended:

* Participation should not be used as a synonym for consultation.
Consultation does not necessarily translate into participation. The use of
suggestion boxes or surveys could be interpreted as consultation. However, the
concept of participation goes further than that, referring to direct control
of, and access to, resources by the community.
* Consideration must be given to the need for women's empowerment and their
equal access to, and control of, resources. It is recommended that gender
indicators be utilised in community participation processes.
* Effective dissemination of information to communities regarding council's
activities, as well as the importance of the community's participation is
required.
* Municipalities should commit themselves to civic education programmes to
inform and educate communities about local government issues.
* Training for councillors and officials on the issue of participatory
development should be prioritised.
* Transparency and accountability issues need to be dealt with appropriately.
The public need to know to what extent their inputs were considered, what
decisions were finally made, and what progress has been made in terms of
implementation.
* Appropriate representative institutions/structures need to be set up. The
institutions/structures that are set up need to be sustainable in that they
should not be activated every now-and-then to give input into planning
processes and then left without support and without a function.
* A system needs to be put into place to monitor and evaluate the impact and
effectiveness of public participation in achieving agreed development outputs
and outcomes. Monitoring and evaluation is also a means by which communities
can keep local government accountable to the policy choices and development
targets that were selected and opted for in the course of the participatory
process. Communities have to be an important part of the monitoring and
evaluation of implementation.
* Municipalities should find creative ways to deal with dysfunctional community
structures and civil apathy. Community structures are often characterised by
political infighting and weak leadership. This hinders effective interaction
with local government. A further problem is that communities appear to show an
indifference to government's call to actively participate in development. This
indifference should perhaps be understood within the context of South Africa's
apartheid past, where public participation in government decision-making was no
more than a cosmetic gesture.

The challenges to be overcome by the ward, local government and provincial
structures en route to their goal of inclusive public participation
include:

* assisting communities with developing and articulating their needs
* facilitating the development of community structures
* facilitating public participation in government development projects
* identifying service blockages in the community
* finding solutions to identified needs and blockages by interacting with
national, provincial and local government structures
* co-ordinating activities of local community's workers
* resolve disputes between government and communities and act generally as
all-round community organisers and facilitators.

Therefore, it is recommended that CDWs to work hand in glove with ward
committees, elected councillors and complement other existing Government
programmes like Multi-Purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) and Health Community
Liaison Officers in order to achieve the objective of bringing Government
closer to the people.

In conclusion, programme director, it is hoped that this gathering will
develop an inclusive plan and a document that gives direction to all provincial
government structures in regard to public participation. One of the purposes of
holding this conference is that there are no quick-fix approaches in pursuing
development in a participatory manner. Enhancing community participation means
that the community is taking a more leading role in matters concerning their
own development. It does not suggest government's withdrawal from its role in
society. As long as communities are excluded from local government
decision-making processes, public participation as a key principle of
participatory democracy, developmental local government and good governance
will remain a statement of intent rather than a reality.

I would like to end my speech with this quote as the former National
Assembly Speaker Dr Frene Ginwala put it when launching the National Public
Education Department of Parliament in 1995:

I quote Programme Director: "The person we must all have in mind when we
think of public participation is a black African, rural, illiterate woman. We
must aspire to reach her."

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs,
Eastern Cape Provincial Government
20 February 2007