Government Ms N Hangana at the launch of the Local Government Leadership
Academy (Logola)
15 March 2007
Developmental Local Government: The need for leadership and management
accountability
The transformation of municipalities since 1994 has been all about making
local government more accountable, financially sustainable and able to deliver
critical services to all our communities. This is in line with the
constitutional vision of the role of local government and the policies outlined
in the 1998 White Paper on Developmental Local Government.
The White Paper reinforces Chapter 7 of the Constitution in that it places
local government at the centre of service delivery. To meet this objective
leadership in local government sphere must show innovative competencies.
Section B (1) of the White Paper states: "Developmental Local Government is
local government committed to working with citizens and groups within the
community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material
needs and improve their quality of life."
The Paper further suggests: "Developmental local government requires that
municipalities become more strategic, visionary and ultimately influential in
the way they operate. A developmental municipality should play a strategic
policy making and visionary role, and seek to mobilise a range of resources to
meet basic needs and achieve developmental goals".
The leadership challenge
The vision of all humanity is to reach a state of healthy, comfortable, safe
and pleasant living. The availability of effective leadership is going to be
central to this vision. Leadership is central to the delivery of vision, goals
or aspirations.
Leadership becomes central even to the attainment of personal vision and
goals. How one conducts oneself in various challenges will determine whether or
not they attain success in the process of reaching a particular goal.
In developmental local government, municipalities must both be the delivery
points of life improving services and institutions that provide communities
with an opportunity to influence the direction of local development. Leadership
is needed to deliver the true vision of developmental local government.
Local leaders (councillors) are elected to represent the voice and
aspirations of communities at municipal level. However, the availability of
excellent or 'natural' leaders cannot always be guaranteed.
It therefore becomes imperative to empower these leaders with the skills
necessary to handle the administrative demands of the delivery of services and
the social complexities in local government.
In respect of the new role of local government, the Development Bank of
South Africa (DBSA) Development Report, 2000 concludes as follows; "Councillors
are likely to play a more prominent role in the future. They will have to act
as ambassadors for their communities, lobby other spheres of government or the
private sector, defend the interests of minorities and the marginalised, and
serve as trustees or protectors of the natural environment or historical
heritage."
Developmental councillors will need new skills to perform these tasks. Such
skills and competencies require a concerted effort to develop.
It is in pursuit of such noble effort that we have gathered here this
morning to launch the Municipal Leadership Development Programme (MLDP), a
capacity building initiative of the Local Government Leadership Academy
(Logola), to be piloted in selected district municipalities in all provinces of
South Africa.
Logola recognises the obligations of developmental local government and is
conceptualised on the premise that to meet these obligations, high level,
visionary and strategic leadership is required.
Logola has therefore been established by the Department of Provincial and
Local Government (dplg), and is tasked with developing relevant and focused
programmes that are aimed at empowering elected (councillors) and appointed
(senior managers) officials. The academy has acknowledged the need for
developing environmentally and contextually relevant programmes.
Capacity development is an important aspect of sustainable, developmental
local government, given the history of local government in South Africa and its
future as set out in the White Paper.
The pilot Municipal Leadership Development Programme (MLDP) of Logola that
we are proudly launching today is an important addition to the range of
capacity development processes aimed at strengthening local government.
The MLDP is designed to address the link between leadership, socio-economic
development and municipal excellence in service delivery.
It also acknowledges that the lack of delivery at local government may not
only arise from a lack of leadership capacity, but also from gender
discrimination (especially in cases where women are not part of local
leadership) and exclusion of communities from co-ownership of the local
development process.
It is in this regard that LOGOLA has been joined by the Consolidated
Municipal Transformation Programme (CMTP) in extending MLDP to its beneficiary
municipalities, with special focus on women councillors.
Through this collaboration, the capacity building programme has integrated
gender issues in the process of local governance and leadership. Such an
inclusive local government decision making provides an opportunity for
marginalised groups such as women to express their perspectives on development,
with the "resultant effect of teaching gender sensitivity, conflict
identification and management to local leadership."
From the above analysis we can conclude with pride that the dplg, through
its programmes such as the MLDP intends:
* to orientate local leaders towards achieving the goal of a transformed
society
* to equip local leaders with tools and techniques that will empower their
governance responsibilities
* to lay the foundation for the realization of a sustainable developmental
system of local government.
I wish you well in your further deliberations.
Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
15 March 2007
