Date: 17/11/2005
Source: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
Title: Mufamadi: Announcement of date for 2006 local government elections
Media Release: Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Mr FS Mufamadi on Local Government Elections 2006
The forthcoming local government elections will mark the end of the first term of municipal councils that operate within the framework of the local government dispensation which was unveiled in the year 2000.
Since the inception of the new local government system, we have seen many men and women who were previously excluded from the organs of power, coming forward to exercise their right to be elected into positions of service to the people. These outgoing councillors are a pioneer generation, which sought to help bring about universal access to such basic services as electricity, water and sanitation as well as refuse removal. They also sought to create conditions, which promote sustainable development in their local jurisdictions.
The country’s electoral cycle allows the public to periodically take stock of progress made in the previous five years and to mandate those who are deemed capable of continuing the effort to bring about a better life for all.
One of the preoccupations of government in the period between 2000 and now was to seek to improve the quality of contact between the people and their elected public representatives. Indeed, the practice of touching base with the people through Imbizo and Ward Councils has become commonplace. At the last count, 2,700 out of a possible 3, 200 ward councils had been established
The interaction between public representatives and the communities they represent is meant to ensure that councillors also receive the active support they require in order to successfully discharge their obligations.
State of Readiness
As we proceed to build on the gains made in the last five years, municipal residents must remember that improved conditions of life in their areas are not guaranteed without their participation in electing people who can bring such conditions about. The National Co-ordinating Committee on Local Government Elections – a committee which brings together government, the Independent Electoral Commission and the Municipal Demarcation Board – is satisfied that all conditions necessary for successful elections to materialise within the stipulated period, are in place.
The voter registration process is about to be completed, and so too is the pertinent legislative programme. Security planning continues to exercise the collective mind of our law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies.
The Road Ahead
National government has done a comprehensive assessment of the performance of our municipalities. We are convinced that many of our municipalities will continue to need the active, hands-on support of other spheres of government. Under the auspices of Project Consolidate, support is being rendered to such municipalities and additional resources (human and material), are being mobilised for this purpose.
We have also taken steps to modify the structure of local government in order to make it one which is more conducive to the promotion of the developmental goals of the South African state. We were particularly concerned that some of our municipalities were trapped within a structural arrangement which does not lend itself to optimal municipal performance. As a matter of fact, cross-boundary municipalities feature prominently among those municipalities which still have massive infrastructure and service delivery backlogs.
Without such structural arrangements in our system, it will now be possible to use our fiscal instruments such as the Local Government Equitable Share, and Conditional Grants, to better effect. These instruments are meant to, amongst other things; do away with the inequalities that have come to take a spatial and geographical expression.
Mindful of the fact that by and large, Cross-Boundary Municipalities were burdened with exclusionary residuals of the Apartheid/Bantustan spatial designs, we intend to take extraordinary steps in order to help accelerate service delivery and the creation of infrastructure in these local areas. Plans are being finalised to facilitate the transition of these areas from their current status to one which will allow them to be fully functional in the pursuit of the goal of a better life for all their residents, individual and corporate.
The change of provincial boundaries is not meant to disrupt the lives of those who reside and/or do business in areas which shall now be designated to fall within one or the other province. The state will never shun its responsibility towards the people. All beneficiaries of state support grants: our senior citizens, people living with disabilities and children who need such support, will continue to receive the support which is due to them irrespective of the province in which they are.
No municipal jurisdiction is shifting physical location. Every local jurisdiction is permanently fixed within its physical space. Our responsibility as a people is to ensure that we improve the quality of life within those physical spaces. Government will do what it has to do in this regard, and we call upon our people to play their role as well.
Let all of us take responsibility for the process of changing the quality of life for the better, in our local areas. This is an ongoing task which must be carried out especially but not only, during elections time.
In terms of the Municipal Structures Act, number 117 of 1998, I am required, after consulting with the Electoral Commission, to call and set a date for an election of all municipal councils. Such elections must be held within 90 days of the date of the expiry of the municipal council.
It is my pleasure to announce that the date for an election of municipal councils shall be Wednesday, 1 March 2006.
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
17 November 2005
Source: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
Title: Mufamadi: Announcement of date for 2006 local government elections
Media Release: Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Mr FS Mufamadi on Local Government Elections 2006
The forthcoming local government elections will mark the end of the first term of municipal councils that operate within the framework of the local government dispensation which was unveiled in the year 2000.
Since the inception of the new local government system, we have seen many men and women who were previously excluded from the organs of power, coming forward to exercise their right to be elected into positions of service to the people. These outgoing councillors are a pioneer generation, which sought to help bring about universal access to such basic services as electricity, water and sanitation as well as refuse removal. They also sought to create conditions, which promote sustainable development in their local jurisdictions.
The country’s electoral cycle allows the public to periodically take stock of progress made in the previous five years and to mandate those who are deemed capable of continuing the effort to bring about a better life for all.
One of the preoccupations of government in the period between 2000 and now was to seek to improve the quality of contact between the people and their elected public representatives. Indeed, the practice of touching base with the people through Imbizo and Ward Councils has become commonplace. At the last count, 2,700 out of a possible 3, 200 ward councils had been established
The interaction between public representatives and the communities they represent is meant to ensure that councillors also receive the active support they require in order to successfully discharge their obligations.
State of Readiness
As we proceed to build on the gains made in the last five years, municipal residents must remember that improved conditions of life in their areas are not guaranteed without their participation in electing people who can bring such conditions about. The National Co-ordinating Committee on Local Government Elections – a committee which brings together government, the Independent Electoral Commission and the Municipal Demarcation Board – is satisfied that all conditions necessary for successful elections to materialise within the stipulated period, are in place.
The voter registration process is about to be completed, and so too is the pertinent legislative programme. Security planning continues to exercise the collective mind of our law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies.
The Road Ahead
National government has done a comprehensive assessment of the performance of our municipalities. We are convinced that many of our municipalities will continue to need the active, hands-on support of other spheres of government. Under the auspices of Project Consolidate, support is being rendered to such municipalities and additional resources (human and material), are being mobilised for this purpose.
We have also taken steps to modify the structure of local government in order to make it one which is more conducive to the promotion of the developmental goals of the South African state. We were particularly concerned that some of our municipalities were trapped within a structural arrangement which does not lend itself to optimal municipal performance. As a matter of fact, cross-boundary municipalities feature prominently among those municipalities which still have massive infrastructure and service delivery backlogs.
Without such structural arrangements in our system, it will now be possible to use our fiscal instruments such as the Local Government Equitable Share, and Conditional Grants, to better effect. These instruments are meant to, amongst other things; do away with the inequalities that have come to take a spatial and geographical expression.
Mindful of the fact that by and large, Cross-Boundary Municipalities were burdened with exclusionary residuals of the Apartheid/Bantustan spatial designs, we intend to take extraordinary steps in order to help accelerate service delivery and the creation of infrastructure in these local areas. Plans are being finalised to facilitate the transition of these areas from their current status to one which will allow them to be fully functional in the pursuit of the goal of a better life for all their residents, individual and corporate.
The change of provincial boundaries is not meant to disrupt the lives of those who reside and/or do business in areas which shall now be designated to fall within one or the other province. The state will never shun its responsibility towards the people. All beneficiaries of state support grants: our senior citizens, people living with disabilities and children who need such support, will continue to receive the support which is due to them irrespective of the province in which they are.
No municipal jurisdiction is shifting physical location. Every local jurisdiction is permanently fixed within its physical space. Our responsibility as a people is to ensure that we improve the quality of life within those physical spaces. Government will do what it has to do in this regard, and we call upon our people to play their role as well.
Let all of us take responsibility for the process of changing the quality of life for the better, in our local areas. This is an ongoing task which must be carried out especially but not only, during elections time.
In terms of the Municipal Structures Act, number 117 of 1998, I am required, after consulting with the Electoral Commission, to call and set a date for an election of all municipal councils. Such elections must be held within 90 days of the date of the expiry of the municipal council.
It is my pleasure to announce that the date for an election of municipal councils shall be Wednesday, 1 March 2006.
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
17 November 2005
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