Your Worship the Mayor of Amajuba District, Councillor J.CN. Khumalo,
Your Worship the Mayors and Councillors present;
Amakhosi and representatives of Traditional Leadership;
Government officials from the Province and the District of Amajuba;
Ladies and gentlemen.
A celebrated author, Herman Melville, once said: “We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibres, our actions run as causes and return to us as results.”
It is indeed a pleasure for ourselves to join this august gathering, a first of its kind. The Inter Municipal Cooperation Summit is aimed at discussing practical issues and offer solutions to challenges that, at times, undermine our ability to entrench and fast-track our efforts to push back the frontiers of poverty while creating a prosperous district.
We have been brought together here to participate in this important summit whose subject of our contemplation is how we can best harness our efforts to encourage faster growth and development in this important region of Amajuba.
We believe, as Herman Melville observed, we need to acknowledge that our lives and indeed our actions are connected by a “thousand invisible threads” and that the decisions and actions we take today will return to us as results.
This, therefore, means that we need to appreciate that the decisions and actions we take today may affect other people, other than ourselves and the need for information sharing and consultation.
We assume that 12 years in the life of the sphere of Local Government, we are all well aware of the concept of Intergovernmental Relations. Intergovernmental Relations is about intergovernmental coordination - and coordination between government and social partners. It is about collaboration of efforts with an intention to optimise our development endeavours.
Intergovernmental relations is about systematic coordination between the three spheres of government with regards to planning, budgeting and implementation in order to improve the delivery of basic services.
This concept is well-defined in Chapter three of our Constitution and is given further context and substance in the manner that the Intergovernmental Relations Act provides for the establishment of specific structures to manage this relationship. While we don’t intend to deliver a lecture on law to you this morning, we do, nonetheless, believe that it is prudent to just remind ourselves of certain key elements of what the statutes expect of us in respect of intergovernmental relations.
It is, firstly, important to reconfirm that the Constitution defines government to be constituted as national, provincial and local spheres, which are distinctive, interdependent and interrelated. Although this clause seems to be completely clear to us, we have come across some innovative and misleading interpretations.
We, therefore, have to specifically point out that there is no reference to independent spheres of government. The Constitution further requires that spheres of government must exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the geographical, functional or institutional integrity of government in another sphere.
It even goes further and indicates that through intergovernmental relations, government entities must co-operate with one another in mutual trust and good faith by:
- fostering friendly relations;
- assisting and supporting one another;
- informing one another of, and consulting one another on, matters of common interest;
- co-ordinating their actions and legislation with one another;
- adhering to agreed procedures; and
- avoiding legal proceedings against one another.
It is these principles that lay the ground rules for the functioning of the intergovernmental relations institutions, such as the President’s Co-ordinating Council (PCC), the Premier’s Co-ordinating Forum (PCF) and the District Co-ordinating Forums (DCF).
Within the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in particular, there is a further institution that must be considered when reference is made to the concept of co-operative governance. Although not recognised as a sphere of government, there is full recognition of the role of institutions of traditional leadership in governance processes. It is for this reason that traditional leadership legislation has provided for the establishment of Houses of Traditional Leadership at national, provincial and local spheres of government as well as the clauses such as Section 81 of the Structures Act, allowing traditional leaders to participate in municipal governance.
These institutions of traditional leadership provide a platform for formal engagement with the various spheres of government and therefore have a direct impact on intergovernmental relations.
I am sure that all of us will agree that the concept of intergovernmental relations is thoroughly institutionalised in our governance system. Failure in relations can therefore not be apportioned to the lack of structures or systems. I am, however, also sure that you will agree with us that these institutions are not as yet fully functional. The question then is, why not?
You may all have your own answers to this question, and you may be right, or not. We are, however, of the view that one of the most important reasons for failure is a weakness in the ability to move beyond issues of structure and processes and to be able to focus on content. No relationship is established, or develops, if it does not have a common purpose or vision to fulfil and if it does not set out to promote matters of mutual benefit and common interest.
This then raises a further question, namely, what are matters of mutual benefit and common interest that should form the basis of the agendas of our institutions of intergovernmental relations? Stated otherwise, what are the issues we must be able to agree on for us, individually and collectively, to fulfil our obligations as participants and key role players in a developmental state?
There may again be many correct answers to this question here today, but let us share with you our perspective on this matter. For us, the answer is simple: If we do not have shared development objectives and growth vision about this region, we will not have the means to satisfy the needs of our people. The issue of growth and development is therefore an issue that we can all subscribe to and is an issue that we must be able to reach agreements on. It is therefore an issue that should dominate the agendas of our intergovernmental relations institutions.
You will be aware of the fact that, recently, Parliament approved the National Development Plan. You will also be aware of the KZN vision 2030 which pronounces practically how we, as the province, should make our contribution towards the achievement of the National Goals. These plans provide clear frameworks for growth and development, however, what is envisaged can only be achieved when it is firmly embedded into municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and in particular the Local Economic Development (LED) plan of the IDP.
As can be seen from this practical example, as various municipalities, we do not exist in silos but we exist to contribute to the bigger national development goals. It therefore becomes crucial that as the family of municipalities in this district, we need to collaborate more and understand each other’s role and responsibilities so that we can ensure our district plays its part in achieving the vision of a better society that leads a better life. The existence of cordial relations between municipalities here becomes critical to the attainment of our goals.
Programme Director, as structures and institutions of a developmental state, we have a decisive role to play in shaping the destiny of our country. Growth and development of this district will be an outcome of collective actions and interventions resulting from locally based, good governance and the constant improvement and integration of IDPs, Provincial Growth and Development Strategy and the NSDP that utilise resources and opportunities from a range of sources.
As the family of municipalities here, we share the same geographical space, the same economy and for that matter the same destiny. We therefore have to plan together and implement together to ensure that we arrive at our destiny together.
No municipality here, acting alone, can achieve on the development objectives of this district. It is only through concerted joint efforts by municipalities that a truly developmental mandate for this region can be achieved.
This is where we must then emphasise the importance of the municipal Integrated Development Planning processes. The IDP is generally accepted as a government-wide plan for growth and development within a specific municipal area, which implies that it is a specific planning mechanism and process that must give context to the issue of intergovernmental relations. The IDP, therefore, becomes an instrument for government as a whole to forge partnerships or build coalitions that are inclusive in that it attempts to bring together those actors that effect change and represent both public and private sector interests.
Service delivery is but one of the core responsibilities of municipalities. But equally important, is the role that municipalities should play in fostering economic development. The two are not mutually exclusive but they complement one another in our drive to create sustainable municipalities and by extension sustainable service delivery. This is emphasised by Section 153 of the South African Constitution (1996) that states that: “A municipality must structure and manage its administration, budgeting and planning processes to give priority to the basic needs of the community, and to promote the social and economic development of the community.”
As municipalities we have various capacity challenges that can only be resolved through a strong working relationship. Obviously, therefore, there is a critical need for all of us to prioritise intergovernmental relations exercises and interventions in order to ensure that we assist each other and share information and ideas as spheres of government for sustained economic growth at local level.
In a nutshell, development in this district is impossible unless it happens within a vibrant intergovernmental relations atmosphere. In this province, we don’t want municipalities to work in isolation of one another, which is why we have initiated these summits to foster and encourage strong inter-municipal cooperation.
We would, therefore, like to encourage all municipalities, traditional institutions to participate and robustly engage at this summit so that we can achieve the following:
- Foster strong partnerships among municipalities here;
- Identify specific intervention programmes and projects that would address the growth and development challenges of this region for immediate implementation, setting of quantifiable targets with reasonable timeframes, and the identification of possible sources of funds;
- To secure commitments from every member of this family of Amajuba for their immediate and concrete contribution towards the execution of identified programmes and projects to address the development challenges of this District;
- To strengthen consultative mechanism between the District and Local Municipalities so that we can eventually have a credible District-wide Service Delivery Plan;
- To institutionalise this intergovernmental relations fora so that it can serve as a catalyst for on-going engagement and collaboration amongst local role players towards achieving the nations 2014 targets.
This summit should not be treated as a once-off event, but should become part of an on-going development dialogue, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the district.
I spoke earlier on about the National Vision and Provincial one. These visions will be brought into reality in municipal spaces. We therefore need to agree on plans that will strengthen the cohesion of economic development activities and enhance linkages with one another.
In conclusion, we want to reiterate the fact that intergovernmental relations is not just a requirement for sustainable and shared economic development but should become a guiding principle in everything we do as government institutions to improve the lives of our people. The success of this district will depend on how well all the municipalities that make this family of Amajuba coordinate their efforts for the unleashing of the development potential that exists in this region.
As Herman Melville observed, “our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads” and if we fail to foster the culture of working together and sharing information, we will not achieve our goal of creating a prosperous country, characterised by shared economic growth. We hope that the resolutions of this summit will become a foundation for a sustainable district and developmental province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Working together, let us create prosperous communities.
Thank you.
