Kopanong, Benoni,1 March 2005
Programme Director, Councillor Nonkosi Mvana,
Chairperson of South African Local Government Bargaining Council, Mr. Clive Dunstan;
Leaders of SALGA, SAMWU and IMATU;
MECs responsible for Local Government;
Mayor of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council, Duma Nkosi;
Councillors and distinguished delegates;
Sponsors and Corporate Leaders;
Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen:
Thank you very much for inviting me to address the South African Local Government Bargaining Council Sector Summit.
This Summit is called to give meaning to the chosen theme of "Sustainable, Democratic Local Government Through Quality Jobs and Affordable Services". I trust that at the end of this important summit we will be in a better position to accelerate the process of making our municipalities more efficient and effective in ensuring affordable services while at the same time empowering workers with more skills, knowledge and information so that they can give better service to our people.
As we approach the next Democratic Elections for Local Government, we are proud to say that as a country, we have put in place a firm foundation for a developmental local government system that responds to the needs of all our people and the challenges of development.
In May 2004, in the aftermath of our third national democratic elections, we outlined government's Programme of Action with clear targets, time-frames and the necessary actions to achieve higher rates of economic growth and development, improve the quality of life of all our people, create work opportunities and fight poverty.
In the State of Nation Address less than one month ago, we reiterated our commitment to take all the necessary actions for accelerated economic growth, job creation, fighting poverty, building social cohesion through safe and secure communities, while not neglecting our continental and global responsibilities to build a just, equitable and peaceful world order. We argued that a strong, democratic and responsive state machinery across all spheres of government was a key condition for the realisation of our social and economic goals.
We also stated that these objectives are consistent with the vision of the Freedom Charter that was adopted by the Congress of the People in Kliptown in 1955. Today as we journey into the Second Decade of Liberation, the Freedom Charter remains our lodestar.
To achieve all our targets we clearly need the full collaboration and active support of all our social partners. It is my understanding that this Summit has been convened also to take forward the process of social dialogue between key partners in order to build the capacity of local government.
Chairperson;
Our own assessment of government's work in the last decade is that while we had many good successes in pushing back the frontiers of poverty, we also experienced many weakness and failures in some important areas.
These weaknesses and challenges are largely a function of the current levels of capacity and capability within government as a whole and in the local government sphere in particular.
In interactions with our people through the Izimbizo process and in other engagements, such as my recent visit to Moqhaka municipality, it is clear that key deficiencies in local government are directly impacting on our ability to fight poverty and underdevelopment.
It is obvious that we need to pay close attention to these challenges and ensure that the leadership in this sphere of government deals personally with and finds immediate solutions to all the problems facing all communities.
This is in addition to what the Department of Provincial and Local Government is doing through Project Consolidate by paying focused attention to the municipalities that need special and additional capacity.
In this regard, it is important that we should align the work we are doing at local government with the review that the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD) is undertaking. This review will allow us to look critically at the functioning of government and assess the kinds and levels of capacity and skills required across the public sector to respond to the imperatives of a developmental state.
I am confident that these assessments of government's capacity will be enriched by your deliberations in this Summit. However, what is of greater and immediate importance is the need to rally all the relevant partners behind Project Consolidate. This is the principal initiative in the local government sphere so as to respond better to the developmental, service delivery and governance challenges that confront us.
Clearly, SALGA and organised labour should indicate in concrete terms how they will partner one another, and work with the other spheres of government, civil society and the private sector to ensure that our system of local government discharges its responsibilities to the people it serves.
Chairperson;
As we know, in 1994 we inherited a country characterised by spiraling negative economic growth, massive structural imbalances in the economy, racially-based economic exclusion, which was expressed through high levels of joblessness and poverty.
Charting a job-creating economic growth path was thus one of our principal challenges in 1994. Today, at the end of the First Decade of Democracy, we have fundamentally re-oriented our economy such that we are able to achieve better levels of growth and development.
Having laid a solid macro-economic base for our present growth path, government is now relentlessly pursuing the objectives that we set ourselves in the Micro-Economic Reform Strategy. This involves a multi-pronged approach through targeted interventions in key sectors and spatial zones.
Our strategy is also informed by a rigorous assessment of the national economy, which has identified key opportunities for local economic growth and development in various parts of the country. The National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) will therefore become a critical instrument to guide development planning by national government, provinces and municipalities. In this regard, progress is well advanced to align the NSDP with the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies and the local government Integrated Development Plans.
Expanding the economic base of municipalities is very critical to sustain our national economic growth as well as create sustainable job opportunities. In this regard, we have taken a number of measures, among which is the initiative to enhance the revenue base of our municipalities. This includes efforts to address problems linked to the billing systems and giving attention to debt owed to many of our municipalities.
Government is leading the way on this matter and is presently finalising a payment protocol, which will require of all government departments promptly and efficiently to meet their service payment obligations to municipalities.
Further, through the implementation of the Property Rates Act this year we will also correct decades of distortions in the property and valuation markets. The phased implementation of this legislation will result in a dedicated inflow of much needed income to municipalities.
This will be complemented by the finalisation of policy work on Local Economic Development that will provide greater guidance to our municipalities on how to improve the management of their local economies and create the conditions for quality job creation.
One of the government's flagship job creation interventions aimed at the Second Economy is the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). Through this initiative we are maximising the labour-intensive components of various existing development programmes. As we have said in the past, in less than a year, 76 000 job opportunities have already emerged from this programme.
As we all know, a key instrument that must stimulate job opportunities and improve the conditions for growth and development at the local level is the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). For the current medium-term budget cycle we have set aside over R15 billion for investment in basic municipal infrastructure.
Massive levels of public investment in municipal infrastructure are meant to leverage greater levels of private sector investment in our economy. Thus as government we are doing what we can to create the required environment for the private sector to implement the commitments made at the Growth and Development Summit.
In addition, the Ministry and Department of Labour have undertaken a critical review of all the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). This is aimed at rationalising the work, and improving the impact of these SETAs.
Proposals to re-focus the Local Government and Water Sector Education Authority (LGWSETA) have been finalised. This together with the impact of the new National Skills Development Strategy, the accelerated roll-out of the Community Development Workers programme, and the decision of government to undertake a comprehensive audit of the human resource capacity of municipalities in the next few months will allow us to sharpen our interventions aimed at increasing the number and quality of skilled workers within local government.
Government has instituted a combination of interventions in the economy to create more jobs. As we enter the next Decade of Democracy, these interventions and programmes will continue to be directed at our people in the Second Economy in the rural and urban areas.
Undoubtedly, a positive relationship between economic growth, job creation and improved service delivery to all our people will continue to be a critical indicator in assessing progress in our efforts to create a better life for all. As we attend to matters of economic growth and job creation, a simultaneous focus on extending basic services to all our people must remain a top priority.
On previous occasions we noted the strides and progress we have made in the last decade in key areas, such as the provision of housing, access to potable water, basic sanitation, electricity and various social services. Using this as a base, we must work harder to achieve even better results.
In this regard, the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) will be at the forefront as we address decades of systematic deprivation of basic services to our people. It is clear that the successful roll-out of the Free Basic Services programme is directly affected by the successful implementation of MIG.
In this regard, the problem of low levels of MIG expenditure by our municipalities will receive particular focus through the Project Consolidate initiative focused on selected municipalities.
As the leaders in local government sphere it is important that we pay attention to the level and quality of services to our communities as well as ensure regular engagements with our people. This has been highlighted by the protests that have taken place in some areas of the Free State Province.
We need to repeat that those who resort to violence to highlight their grievances will be dealt with accordingly. But this does not mean that leaders at the local level should not attend urgently to the problems facing communities. In this regard, one of the necessary conditions for improved service delivery is the establishment of effective Ward Committees in all municipalities, as soon as possible.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Our policy vision remains that of holding municipalities accountable and responsible for the provision and delivery of services to our people.
This is one of the defining features of our developmental state.
One of the imperatives of a strong developmental state is the existence of a capable, well-resourced and flexible cadre of public servants. The current institutional and legislative framework of government makes it difficult to deploy and direct public sector human resource capacity to where it is required and where there are implementation bottlenecks.
It is for this reason that will establish a single public service that will facilitate the realisation of both our policy vision of a developmental state and the operational requirements of addressing under-capacity in key sectors and geographic areas.
The draft legislation on Intergovernmental Relations will also facilitate our objective of creating a more predictable and stable system of government that will further enable national, provincial and local government to increase its collective impact in implementing key priority programmes.
Further, government's objectives of improving economic growth, creating work and fighting poverty must be the business of the South African Local Government Bargaining Council and all its constituent parties.
This Summit must deepen the process of ongoing social dialogue, but this must more directly assist in increasing our capacity and capability to meet our development goals. I therefore wish this important Summit Meeting success in its deliberations.
I thank you.