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The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Unions (IMATU) President, Stanley Khoza, and Deputy President, Keith Swanepoel, will be joining the President of the Republic of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Pravin Gordhan, at the Presidential Local Government Summit today, in Midrand.

The purpose of the Summit is to discuss with national, provincial and local government leaders the critical challenges affecting municipalities. By bringing together representatives from all affected spheres, discussions will be centred around intergovernmental interaction and the outlining of specific ways in which to improve the performance of municipalities.

IMATU is in full agreement with the President of the Republic that "the basic needs of our people need to be met. We believe that coordinated action by all stakeholders in the local government sector will ensure efficient and effective service delivery to our people. A well-functioning local government will directly improve people's lives and create a better life for all," commented IMATU President, StanleyKhoza.

IMATU further welcomes the President's statement that appropriately skilled personnel need to be employed in our municipalities and municipal entities. "We recently raised our serious concerns regarding the appropriate filling of vacancies with the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in a meeting held at the beginning of this month," explained Khoza.

While access to basic services such as water, electricity, sewerage, sanitation and solid waste have noticeably improved, there is still much improvement and development that needs to take place. IMATU strongly believes that if the problems of poor supply chain management, inadequate financial controls, corruption and nepotism and the filling of vacancies are tackled, service delivery will significantly improve.

"IMATU trusts that this Summit will not only highlight the challenges facing municipalities, but also produce clear solutions that can be implemented to effect speedy change. IMATU is committed to working towards achieving an efficient and sustainable service delivery model at local government level, however the commitment of our members on the ground must be matched by decisive implementation and political will at the top," concluded Khoza.

Issued by IMATU