government cluster media briefing
29 August 2007
The Governance and Administration Cluster reported on progress relating to
the work of the cluster at a media briefing in Parliament, Cape Town on
Tuesday. This work is part of the cluster's Programme of Action (PoA) which was
drafted after the January 2007 Cabinet Lekgotla and the President's State of
the Nation Address in February this year.
Four priorities guiding the work of the cluster are:
* promoting good governance
* strengthening the capacity of the state
* achieving and maintaining the optimal organisation of the state
* developing and enhancing the state's transversal system.
In the briefing Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Sydney
Mufamadi, together with the co-Chairperson of the Governance and Administration
Cluster, Minister Fraser-Moleketi, reported on the progress regarding, inter
alia, the Local Government Strategic Agenda. The briefing highlighted the
establishment in all nine provinces of the Monitoring and Evaluation Forums and
progress made in the establishment of Performance Management Systems in
municipalities.
It was reported that "out of 283 municipalities, 141 were identified for
hands-on support for the implementation of the Performance Management System
(PMS)" and furthermore that "A draft implementation Strategy for the PMS has
been developed and visits are being undertaken to provinces to validate results
of the PMS audit."
The Minister also took the opportunity to report on the Policy review and
development process on Provincial and Local Government currently underway. He
indicated that the intention of this process is not to reduce the number of
provinces but to develop policy for this sphere of government and to set out
recommendations for the review of the current policy on Local Government.
The Minister also reported on the significant progress with regard to the
establishment of Ward Committees in the country. It was clarified that more
than "96 percent of ward committees have been established country-wide," with
the only outstanding municipality being the Metropolitan Municipality of Cape
Town.
The Cluster also reported on its work on anti-corruption, which currently is
focused on implementation of the Public Service Anti-corruption Strategy. A
report was also given on the progress around the Single Public Service.
Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
29 August 2007
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.dplg.gov.za)
