Theme: "Building the nation through Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs" Parliament of the Republic of South Africa
President of the Republic of South Africa, Honourable JM Zuma
Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Honourable Kgalema Motlanthe
Cabinet Ministers Present
Honourable Members of Parliament
Distinguished Premiers and Mayors
Traditional leaders present
Members of the National Executive Committee of the ruling party, the ANC
Chairperson and leadership of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
Elected Public Office-Bearers from Provincial and Local Government
Representatives from business
Representatives from organised labour
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
Yesterday the Honourable President of the Republic, Mr Jacob Zuma, presented the five year programme of priorities of this democratic government to the country. He concluded with an open invitation that said,
"Indeed as citizens we should at the same time ask ourselves what is it that we can do on our own to help promote this national programme."
Today all of us must answer that question decisively and with unparalleled commitment. We need to answer this question as elected public office bearers and as public servants in national, provincial and local government, as business people, as workers, as leaders of civil society formations, as religious people, as traditional leaders, as academics, as students and youth, as men and women and as patriotic citizens.
My submission to this esteemed House is that the Ministry and Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, that the President announced on 10 May 2009, will diligently and relentlessly play its role as the Choir Conductor of our system of co-operative governance.
Honourable members
This single sovereign government is constituted under our Constitution as one with three spheres, which are distinct, inter-related and inter-dependent. The same can be said about the choir that the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs will be leading and orchestrating over the next term. In our system of government we have a choir where some will be singing bass, others baritone, others alto and still others soprano. This department will protect, guide and direct our unique voices and roles over the next five years, as we project a single national harmonious melody that must have rhythm, vibrancy and meaning.
This is our simple understanding of co-operative governance and our role as Choir Conductor over the next five years.
Main challenges of Co-operative Governance over the next five years
Mr President, you have given the musical score and song-sheet to government and to the nation. It is clear, inspiring, unambiguous and focused. We understand that we will need to build on the gains that we have made in the last 15 years and simultaneously attend vigorously to our weaknesses and deficiencies.
Fighting poverty, creating decent work and improving the lives of our people will be at the centre of our collective actions. We will need to address the misaligned planning that exists between national, provincial and local government. That, in essence, is what we mean by being the Choir Conductor. The Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and Local Economic Development Strategies of municipalities must reflect the priorities of the entire public sector, including those of public entities as well as those of business.
We are aware that this planning misalignment is a fundamental challenge. In the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape, for example, we have seen a situation where the district and one of its Local Municipalities were conducting separate IDP hearings in the same area. Going forward, the Department will work very closely with the National Planning Commission as the premier partner in improving the alignment of our planning across all spheres.
The implementation of government programmes in many areas continues to be fragmented, disjointed and unco-ordinated. In September 2008, this Parliament visited Bushbuckridge as part of its outreach, oversight and participatory governance mandate. We discovered that government was working in silos and our people were suffering the effects of this. By early 2009, we managed to better organise the work of a number of Departments in this rural area.
This problem of uncoordinated implementation has also come sharply to the fore in the various izimbizo this government has undertaken in the past. A common complaint of municipalities has been that national and provincial government and state entities implement their programmes in local areas without the knowledge and input of municipalities.
Honourable members
In the area of oversight, this government has major lessons to learn. It is our view that one of the crucial weaknesses of our young intergovernmental relations system is that it is largely based on voluntarism and good will. Greater attention will need to be given to the implementation of the Inter-Governmental Relations Framework Act and also sharpening our existing tools and instruments to ensure greater compliance and better performance.
Various national and provincial departments have their own reporting requirements that are imposed on municipalities. Secondly, our information and intelligence base of what is happening in municipalities is uneven, and actually absent in many respects. This is exacerbated by the fact that many of our provincial governments and district municipalities do not know what is really happening in our Local Municipalities and communities.
The core challenge over the next five years will be to create a single window of co-ordination for local government and to significantly strengthen the monitoring and oversight regime for municipalities. Our observations of uncoordinated planning, implementation and oversight across the three spheres apply equally to local and provincial government. In our view, over the next 5 years provincial government must receive dedicated attention as a sphere of government. This will entail providing greater support and considering more coherent legislation and frameworks governing this sphere and addressing the issue of sub-national powers and functions.
The institution of traditional leadership is central to our system of governance in rural areas. However, there are key challenges of ensuring greater equity and standardisation on how this institution is treated across various provinces. Furthermore the work of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims must be accelerated and resolved in the next five years.
As a Ministry dealing with Traditional Affairs we will protect and promote indigenous knowledge management systems, traditional healing and the practice of "floor X-rays". Traditional customs and ways of living must complement and re-enforce our modern systems of democracy. We need to protect our rich heritage as an African State and ensure that our knowledge and customs is transmitted to future generations.
In this regard we will have discussions with the Department of Education to ensure that some of these matters are included in our school curriculum. In our view, rural voices have not been sufficiently heard and recognised. We will create space and opportunities for the institution of traditional leadership and our traditional communities to become a vibrant and active part of this democracy.
Mandate and Approach to Co-operative Governance
Honourable members
The passing away of the Department of Provincial and Local Government and the birth of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs represents an irreversible shift to an expanded and more deliberate mandate on matters of co-operative governance.
Over the next five years we will stay focussed on government’s 10 priorities by forging and enabling better vertical and horizontal relationships between the three spheres of government and all sectors. Beyond government we will find creative and innovative ways of mobilising our communities, stakeholders and organs of civil society to become development partners with government in matters of governance and service delivery.
This means we will review all inter-governmental structures across government and strengthen our Ward Committees and other participatory governance structures.
Over the next five years we will be more determined in building the developmental state in provincial and local government by making it more effective, efficient and responsive. A central feature of the South African developmental state must be to ensure seamless and integrated service delivery to our people. The President has indicated that in the context of the global economic downturn, this government will roll-out a R787 billion social and economic infrastructure programme. It is our view the availability of resources has not been our central problem, but rather how we managed our resources. Therefore we must ensure that these resources are maximised and expended in a coherent manner.
Strengthening our systems of accountability and building clean government is another important pillar of co-operative governance. Public representatives and councillors in particular need to be more accountable to communities and we will propose new and improved measures in this regard. In particular, we will strengthen the capability of communities to exercise oversight over councillors and municipalities. Performance management systems of municipalities and those of councillors and officials will all need to be aligned.
Strengthening accountability and building clean government also relates to how the spheres interact with each other politically and professionally. We are aware, for example, that the Mafikeng municipality is owed R94 million. Included in this amount is money that is owed by government to this municipality. We are saying that government must lead by example and that this must define our approach to, and the spirit of, co-operative governance.
Corruption will be dealt with ruthlessly in this term. We are aware of situations (e.g. Madibeng) where councillors are receiving tenders from their own municipalities. We are concerned that this may become a trend in many municipalities. We will need to review the process where councillors and officials declare their interests and will work closely with CIPRO in this regard.
Placing the institution of traditional leadership at the centre of rural development will be a key objective during this term. This is integral to our understanding of creating an interactive government that the President referred to in his State of the Nation Address yesterday. This institution must play a greater role in fighting poverty and promoting peace in rural communities.
In summary, the department will be the custodian of our unitary developmental state through our role as development facilitators, strategic co-ordinators and, where necessary, as interveners. We will expect all spheres, sector departments and public entities to act according to established rules and standards on service delivery and good co-operative governance. Where those fail to act accordingly, we will not fail to intervene and act decisively in using Sections 139 and 100 of the Constitution.
Mr President
Our understanding of our role is that the Ministry, with the department, is your dedicated envoy and emissary to all Premiers and provinces. In this regard I have already spoken to the Premier of the Western Cape, Ms Helen Zille and am pleased to report that she has pledged her support to work with us, as long it is in the confines of the Constitution and the law of the land. We have further made ourselves available to address an inter-governmental gathering in the Western Cape in the next couple of weeks.
Conclusion
Honourable members
This government will deepen its base and roots amongst the poor and working class masses of this country. In doing so we will stay focused on the common national agenda of creating decent jobs, fighting poverty, combating crime and corruption, improving the delivery of health and education to all, and advancing rural development, agrarian reform and food security.
As the appointed Choir Conductor of our system of cooperative governance, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs will operate on the maxim that says, "Many voices, but one message, melody and song".
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs
4 June 2009
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