Programme Facilitator,
SALGA Provincial Chairperson,
Cllr David Magabe,
MEC for CoGHSTA,
Mme Mmakoma Makhurupetja,
Executive Mayors of the Waterberg District Municipality, Mme Mogotlane,
Executive Mayors and Mayors present here today, SALGA Provincial Executive Office, Ntate Matlala Esteemed delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am very pleased to be with you today as we participate in this important Provincial Members Assembly organizedby the South African Local Government Association.
The significance of this conference is evidenced by your carefully crafted theme; ‘Local government deepening democracy beyond 20 years of Freedom’. It is my assumption that you have chosen this striking theme because you have accepted the invitation from government to objectively engage in a review of the past twenty years.
It is therefore my express intention to focus my interaction with you on the path we traversed together, in the past 20 years of our democracy and freedom, the successes and the challenges.
But before I can even go far, I feel I should congratulate you for the rich content of your working Group Commissions. Without doubt, all the matters you have scheduled for discussions in your commissions are very relevant and speak to the daily challenges faced by our municipalities.
Chairperson of the session and delegates,
It is also expected of SALGA and this LEKGOTLA in particular to robustly yet objectively engage with the provincial 20 year review document that we have released about 4 months ago. As you would know, as delegates to this conference you form the brain trust of the institution of local government.
This therefore imposes on you a unique burden, to correctly ask questions but most importantly to provide answers to difficult questions that some of us are unable to respond to.
As a start, we trust that you will through your deliberations during the life of this Lekgotla respond to the following questions relating to the path traversed in the past 20 years:
- What advances have we made in terms of meeting the basic needs of our people,
- Whether we have adequately managed to democratize the institution of local government and
- If we have done enough to transform the local government into an effective and efficient machinery reliable to can deliver on the mandate to better the lives of our people.
Chairperson and esteemed delegates,
Speaking at the launch of the Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA), former President Thabo Mbeki says: “In a democracy, one of the prime duties of the government is to give realization to the rights of its citizens, not only to ensure their freedom through carefully structured relations amongst the different institutions, but also, to advance their rights and opportunities through access to services.”
I am therefore of the view that in reviewing ‘the path traversed’ in the last 20 years of our democracy and freedom, we should utilize what President Mbeki defined as ‘prime duties’ of the government as a useful gauge.
We should in this regard ask the twin questions; first to determine if we have done enough to protect and advance the fundamental human rights of our people; secondly to interrogate the adequacy and effectiveness of the measures we have put in place to respond to the ever present need to create opportunities to better the lives of our people.
Chairperson and honoured delegates,
For our part as government, we summarize the past 20 years with a phrase that says ‘we have a good story to tell’.
The existence of this good story is largely owed to the work that has been done by our municipalities with the support and guidance of SALGA; it is therefore correct for you to also claim this good story as your own story.
Today, South Africans enjoys freedom of movement and of association, the right to own property, the right not to be detained without trial, religious freedom and freedom of sexual orientation. Above all, we all enjoy the restoration of human dignity.
We have also in the past 20 years managed to entrenched and advance worker rights such as the right to collective bargaining, equal pay for equal work, minimum wage for workers in vulnerable sectors, the right to strike and the right to peaceful protest.
We are a glittering example to the whole world on matters of gender equity and equality. In this regard we have managed to ensure full participation of women in local government. On the other hand, we have made an unrivalled progress in providing social services such as healthcare, education and housing.
In this province, we have in the last 20 years managed to:
- Provide over 86% of households with clean drinking water;
- Electrified over 87% of households
- Provided free housing to millions of our residents and
- Improved access to decent sanitation with about 10%
We accept however Chairperson, that there is still much that can and must be done to deliver much needed services to our people. The starting point is obviously to strengthen the capacity of our municipalities to be effective, efficient and development oriented as the constitution demand.
I trust that it is safe to rely on this Lekgotla to introduce to us innovative proposals on how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of local government.
Programme facilitator,
I am justified to assume that we all agree that an accountable, responsive and capacitated local government is required in our endeavor to speed up the delivery of services to our people. We simply cannot over emphasize the crucial tasks bestowed on our municipalities. It is in this context that we have announced to the Legislature a support to struggling municipalities.
This support to municipalities will be based on responding to challenges such as:
- Poor accountability and relationship with communities
- Problems with the political administrative interface
- Poor compliance with the legislative and regulatory framewor ks
- Corruption and fraud
- Lack of proper planning and poor project management,
- Lack of forward and integrated planning on current and capit al projects,
- At times lack of suitably qualified and skilled personnel and, above all,
- None and under-expenditure of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant.
Chairperson,
We are also gravely concerned with a serial negative audit results for our municipalities and municipal entities. The Auditor General’s report paints a very bleak picture which should invite SALGA to immediate action.
The one thing we simply cannot tolerate is the unjustified failures of some municipalities to avail their books for audit by the Auditor General. This type of tendency boarders on incompetence, and at worst represents a general disregard of the principles of accountability.
Related to this, is municipalities’ over-reliance on consultants for preparation of their financials. These Consultants we know, milk our municipalities of the very resources which were supposed to be channelled to service delivery projects. In my meeting with the Auditor General a few weeks ago, a meeting which SALGA duly attended, we agreed on a few things that would take us forward as a province.
The Provincial executive has taken a decision to capacitate municipalities looking at the state of our water in the Province. A larger percentage of municipalities will not be able to pay water authorities what is due to them if we do not intervene urgently.
It is therefore my privilege to announce that the Senior General Manager in the Office of the Premier, Mr Nape Nchabeleng is heading a team that include all Municipal Managers to look into the water challenges of the Province. This team will report to me bi-monthly and should have concluded its work by the end of this year.
I wish also to congratulate the Minister of Water, Mme Mokonyane who was in the Province last week. Lepelle Northern Water has since been authorized to take over the water provisioning in Mopani District so that water challenges in that area be addressed once and for all.
Another team that has been assembled is led by the Director General, and comprise HODs, Treasury and SGM in the Office of the Premier. This team is looking at broader empowerment of municipalities. We are serious about service provision to our people. Situations like what happened in Mokgalakwena should never happen again.
Chairperson of the session and esteemed delegates,
We invite you to reflect on the progress we have made in our necessary pursuit to reconstruct and development this country in the last 20 years. We also expect from you as dependable knowledge hubs to offer a necessary self-critic relating to the shortcomings of local government.
These reflection and critic are necessary to prepare us as a nation to navigate carefully in to the 3rd decade of our democracy and freedom.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am aware that the day ahead is still long and demanding, I therefore do not wish to hold you hostage with a long speech, I am confident that this does not mark the end of our interaction. I want to once again extend my appreciation for your generous invitation. On behalf of the Provincial Government I wish you fruitful deliberations and a successful PEC Lekgotla.
I thank you!
