Local Government Ministers from the Southern African Development Community converged at a two day meeting here where they agreed to reinstate and reposition the SADC Local Government Ministers Forum as a key platform to enhance cooperation on matters related to local government within the region.
The main objective of the two day meeting was to revive the SADC Local Government Ministers Forum and Desk, as an effective platform for cooperation and support on issues of local government and development in the SADC region.
The SADC Local Government Ministers Forum further agreed that the issue of decentralisation and recognition of local government as a crucial sphere of government should be placed high on the agenda of both the SADC and the African Union (AU).
These and other issues related to the improvement of the quality of the lives of people in the region came out strongly in the declaration signed by members at the end of the two day SADC Local Government Ministers Forum which took place in Pretoria from 28 to 29 April.
The two day meeting comes as a follow up to the SADC Local Government Ministers meeting which took place in Gaborone on 24 February 2010 on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum, where a decision was taken to revive the SADC Local Government Ministers' Forum and Desk.
This was supported by the view that challenges in the local sphere of government were common and called for a collaborative and supportive approach in effectively dealing with issues of under-development, poverty, disease and accelerates development in a more sustainable manner.
South Africa ranks among the leading countries in the world in the decentralisation of power to the local sphere of governance, which is something that many countries, including those in the SADC region, are seeking to address. South Africa's representative, Minister Sicelo Shiceka, offered to support his counterparts in the SADC in their efforts to get recognition for local government as a sphere of government with specific powers and functions of its own in their own countries.
Cross-frontier development projects, the revival and recognition of the SADC Local Government Ministers Forum, the handing over of the chairpersonship from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Namibia and the issue of the Global Associations of Local Government to set up offices in Morocco which is not part of the African Union were some of the issues under discussion at the meeting.
In relation to development projects, the meeting deliberated on a research proposal to look at the role of local government in regional integration priority projects of the SADC region. Based on the analysis of current regional priority areas, the research proposal identified the following five integration projects for in-depth analysis based on detailed research regarding the role of local governance:
* The trans-boundary natural resource management areas (TBNRMA), incorporating the trans-frontier conservation areas (TFCAs)
* Development corridor initiatives and associated infrastructure investments
* integrated Water Resource Management and River Basin Development programmes
* Cross-boundary health programmes delivering essential services in HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases at a trans-boundary and local scale and
* Trans-frontier informal trade and its monetary and social or human development value (in terms of its contribution to livelihoods and household asset formation and the related demand for services such as schooling and health services.
Member countries represented include: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana and South Africa.
For further enquiries and requests for interviews, please contact:
Vuyelwa Qinga Vika
Tel: 012 334 0993/5
Cell: 082 877 3898
E-mail: VuyelwaQ@cogta.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
29 April 2010
Source: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(http://www.cogta.gov.za/)
