T Makwetla: South African Local Government Association Provincial
Members Assembly

8 March 2007

Programme Director, Honourable Councillor N Ndlovu,
The Executive Mayor of Albert Luthuli Municipality, Honourable Councillor ES
Dlamini,
SALGA National Chairperson Mayor Amos Masondo in absentia,
Members of the National Executive here present,
The Chairperson of SALGA Mpumalanga, Councillor Speedy Mashilo,
Members of the Provincial Executive Council,
Executive district and local Mayors,
Honourable councillors,
Municipal managers and officials,
Representatives from our social partners,
Representatives from non-governmental organisations,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am grateful for the invitation to be part of the opening of your second
Annual Members’ Assembly in the province this year on Thursday, 8 March 2007,
International Women's Day. This Annual Members' Assembly provides an
opportunity for strategic reflections on progress we have made in advancing
developmental mandates for local government in the province. It also helps us
to assess our collective leadership contributions, successes, failures and
lessons learned in the uneven landscape we have traversed towards addressing
poverty and improving the lives of all citizens in Mpumalanga.

This Annual Members' Assembly takes place against the background of the
recently presented government programme for the year, State of the Province
Address (SAPO) at the opening of the Provincial Legislature. Programme
Director, our confidence in the province to reach the destination we have set
for ourselves derives from our knowledge that we have done it before and we can
do it again. In our day-to-day quest to deliver quality services and
sustainable livelihoods to the people of Mpumalanga, we have learned valuable
lessons that stand us in good stead to achieve more successes in the
future.

Despite challenges and weaknesses in some aspects of our work, we have
posted remarkable achievements in critical service delivery areas such as the
provision of free basic water, sanitation and free basic electricity. We have
delivered various programmes to extend the social security net for the poor. We
have scored achievements and learned valuable lessons in the eradication of the
bucket toilet system. Our housing delivery programme has not performed to the
level that we would have liked to see, given the human settlement needs that we
have to address in the province.

However, the value of our experiences lies in the fact that we are now
wiser. As we move forward, we understand that proper planning; sound programme
management practices, effective monitoring and evaluation are critical success
factors in undertaking major projects. Our capacity to manage intergovernmental
institutional arrangements in the implementation of projects within
municipalities has to be improved. Effective co-ordination and monitoring of
projects is crucial to ensure that areas of underperformance are detected in
time so that they are addressed.

Our work in creating growth opportunities for small and medium-sized
businesses continues to create hope for those who want to participate in the
mainstream economy. It is also encouraging that our targeted Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP) programmes in local government have accounted for
significant contribution to the number of job opportunities created in the
province from the start of the programme in 2004 to the end of September in
2006. The empowerment of youth, women and disabled persons through EPWP
infrastructure sector programmes has seen the province impacting significantly
in reducing unemployment in line with the 2014 vision of government.
Indications are that we are on course to half poverty by 2014 provided we
maximally exploit economic development opportunities offered by the province
and accelerate government interventions aimed at creating jobs.

No-one would dare disagree with us if we say that, the lives of ordinary
people in Mpumalanga have changed for the better over the last 12 years of our
hard-earned democratic freedom. Despite challenges, we have over time, built
confidence in the credibility of the province to deliver to the expectations of
the people of the province. We have built credible institutions and governance
systems in local government to engender public confidence in the governance of
the province by those entrusted to lead and serve the province. To continue to
enjoy the public confidence, there is a need to sustain and accelerate the
implementation of the Five-Year Local Government Strategic Agenda to improve
municipal governance, performance and accountability.

Political leadership is required to provide direction and mitigate the
strategic drifts away from the set targets in local government service
delivery. Our collective resolve should aim thwart any deviant tendencies that
foreground self-service and self-enrichment at the expense of the work ethos
and values that put people first. The progress we made in local government
bears testimony to the leadership commitment and tenacity of those entrusted
with the political and managerial responsibilities to ensure that government
policies and interventions are implemented to improve the quality of life of
Mpumalanga citizens. We thank you for the role that you have played, and we
hope that this leadership commitment will be sustained as we engage in the
implementation of the provincial 'Big Five' flagship projects identified by the
Executive Council for implementation. Part of this commitment will be manifest
in the strategic choices that will be made in the allocation of resources
towards identified provincial priorities.

In the determination of fiscal allocation trade-offs, there is greater
responsibility on local government leadership to focus resources on areas of
potential maximum impact and demonstrable development outcomes as envisaged
through the five flagship projects. Having presented the programme of
government in the State of the Province Address 13 days ago, the discussions
for this Assembly come at an opportune moment to create a discussion space for
common thinking, leadership insight and a shared vision on the implementation
of the 'Big Five' Flagship projects in order to bring about desired
developmental outcomes in the province.

Our success in the implementation of these flagship projects will, to a
large extent, depend on how effectively the capabilities of local government
are harnessed mobilised to accelerate the implementation of 'Water for All' by
2010, Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism, Accelerated Capacity Building
as well as Maputo and Moloto Development Corridors. In order to make the
implementation of flagship projects successful, it is mission-critical to
ensure that project definitions, scoping, and implementation plans encompass
local government roles and responsibilities in the implementation of identified
flagship projects.

Furthermore, it is expected that Integrated Development Plans clearly
articulate local government contributions to the flagships, and prioritise
budgetary allocations to advance the implementation of the flagship projects.
The implementation of flagship projects will require conscious, rigorous joint
planning and co-ordinated implementation among the key role players in the
implementation process. We must take this opportunity to restate and emphasise
once again what we have said before, our province is composed by
municipalities, to change the face of our province we need an effective and
meaningful collaboration of all municipalities all the time, and cooperation of
both local government and provincial government in order to deliver
development.

As a flagship project, 'Water for All' will require strong political and
management leadership from local government to focus Municipal Infrastructure
Grant (MIG) and other financial resources, project management and technical
capacities on the delivery of water services infrastructure. Given the worrying
trends of under-expenditure of the MIG, it will be essential to enhance
engineering, programme and project management capabilities in municipalities to
ensure that we are able to eradicate water services backlogs in communities.
The deployment of requisite technical skills in local government to accelerate
water infrastructure programmes will be prioritised by the province. With the
finalisation of Water Blueprints in all Districts, it is necessary that plans
are implemented once financial resources are made available. South African
Local Government Association's (SALGA) support to municipalities in the
delivery of this flagship project will make significant contributions to
addressing capacity constraints, especially in low capacity municipalities.

Programme Director, there are numerous exciting prospects presented by the
flagship project 'Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism'. It is a project
that combines the elements of defining and recording Mpumalanga's heritage,
enhancing biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and effective
environmental management practices to create a 'green' province. Heritage and
greening the province generate opportunities for developing and packaging
tourism products to increase the province’s tourism market share. Biodiversity
conservation and sustainable use allows the province to conserve sensitive
ecosystems, including sites of heritage significance.

The fascinating geology (deep history) of the Makhonjwa Mountains and the
Komati Valley conceals one of the greatest treasures of all time, fossils of
the very first life forms on planet Earth the cradle of life. The Greening
Agenda entails a conscious decision to improve environmental management
practices that will contribute to caring for our environment, keeping it clean
and preventing degradation. The role of local government in implementing best
practice models for waste management, pollution control and sustainable
development is central to the success of this project. Visible mass
mobilisation and public campaigns on cleaning the environment, planting grass
and trees will raise awareness for people to understand the benefits of caring
for the environment.

At local level, we need political leaders and managers to communicate
messages and provide leadership to turn the vision of 'Green Mpumalanga' into
fruition. In each municipality, the implementation of sustainable environmental
development practices should be prioritised. Of major concern, is the fact that
in many of our municipalities, there is limited capacity to execute
environmental management functions. This situation will have a negative effect
on the implementation of the flagship and it is important that it is addressed.
Our focus on effective environmental management practices will enhance the
health profile of our communities by preventing diseases resulting from poor
waste management practices and pollution.

Comrades and colleagues, heritage is about the people it defines the essence
of being in the past, present and the future; it creates a people’s sense of
belonging to a defined nationhood; it is a thread of cohesiveness that tends to
define common aspirations. Let me hasten to say that the heritage sites are
located in our municipalities. It is therefore very appropriate for
municipalities to engage communities to participate in the broader heritage
debates and solicit inputs in defining the provincial heritage. To benefit
local tourism development and job creation, municipalities will need to work
closely with other role players build tourism routes, infrastructure and
develop marketing plans to promote heritage sites.

Our tourism must educate the traveller, provide funds for conservation,
directly benefit the economic and political empowerment of local communities
and foster respect for different cultures and human rights. It should, because
it is nature-based travel, adventure travel, environmental and ecological
travel, scientific expeditions, cross cultural exchange and earth restoration.
Two corridor developments form part of the flagship projects.

In the case of Maputo Development corridor, the recent express political
commitment by both the government of South Africa and Mozambique to develop the
Maputo corridor, as well as the operational commitment by the railway
authorities in both countries to invest in rail infrastructure is cause for
hope. The fact that both railway administrations have appointed task teams to
implement the commitment is real movement forward. As the logistics side of the
corridor is turned around by these efforts, local government must interact with
the process to identify economic development opportunities along the
corridor.

More importantly, private sector investment must be mobilised alongside
public sector investments to implement programmes that will create jobs.
Regarding Moloto corridor, we are expediting the completion of the feasibility
study with the intention of incorporating implementation into our plans for the
next financial year in 2008/09. Local government along the corridor must input
not only into the railway route but also into the economic development plans
along the corridor. It is a major achievement that all the districts have held
their Growth and Development Summits to devise strategies and key programmes
for economic growth and development in the province. This provides a perfect
opportunity to identify specific areas of local government contribution to the
implementation of flagship projects. Growth and Developments Summits should
enable local government to define priority focal areas for private sector
participation and contribution in the development of local economies.

Programme Director, we are aware that the achievement of bold targets that
we have set for ourselves as government requires that we have requisite skills
and capabilities, especially in our senior and middle management echelons. To
achieve the objectives we have set in delivering programmes within local
government, it is essential that we have the necessary leadership and technical
skills to undertake the enormous tasks facing local government. To address
capacity challenges, we have prioritised the Accelerated Capacity Building
project as one of our flagship projects. This project focuses on enhancing the
management skills for our senior and middle managers so that they have the
requisite competencies to perform their jobs at required standard.

Our managers in local government will have an opportunity to participate in
this programme and we are positive that this intervention will impact
positively on skills development in local government. Our capabilities in the
planning and delivery of infrastructure programmes need to be enhanced through
the sustained deployment of requisite technical expertise in local government,
especially in low capacity municipalities.

This Assembly will agree with me that SALGA's role in supporting
municipalities to build necessary capacities will add a lot value in assisting
the government to achieve its objectives and targets set in the Five Year Local
Government Agenda. Strong and decisive political leadership will be crucial to
give the strategic direction in work of government. I am confident that a
shared vision and collective leadership efforts will give effect to creating a
better life for the citizens of Mpumalanga. I wish you well in your
deliberations. I am optimistic that resolutions taken at this Provincial
Members Assembly will enrich the implementation of government programmes in
local government.

Thank you.

Issued by: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
8 March 2007