Date: 15/02/05
Source: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
Title: Mufamadi: Debate on State of the Nation Address
Speech delivered by Minister FS Mufamadi on the Debate of the State of The Nation Address
15 February 2005
Madam Speaker; His Excellency President Thabo Mbeki Deputy President Jacob Zuma; Honourable Members:
Mr President, in your exposition of the state of the nation, you put forward the hypothesis that we, the people of South Africa, now live in an age of better prospects. You reminded us of the generation of democrats, who fifty years ago, identified the denial of democracy as posing a strategic challenge. In the form of the Freedom Charter, they postulated a future which in many respects has since become the lived experience of our generation. When they said: “THE PEOPLE SHALL GOVERN”, they gave us a perspective which keeps nudging us to the finish line.
In designing the new system of local government, care was taken to ensure that we put in place, a framework for progressively doing away with the consequences of a system which exposed White and Black South Africans, to vastly different socio-economic environments. We knew that the conditions of high segregation had translated directly into economic disadvantage and structural deprivation for the majority of our people. The legacy of that system is a key conditioning variable for some of the problems which persist to this day. For instance, we still have a relatively higher concentration of poverty in geographic spaces which were historically designated as “Native Reserves”. It is in those areas where we find a pernicious interaction between high poverty rates and the paucity of skills that are critical to good governance and effective administration.
Mr President as you said on Friday last week, in the first eight years we have allocated to the local government sphere, a quantum of resources which is proportionately higher than allocations which were made hitherto. Needless-to-say, on current macro-economic trends, there is a distinct possibility for those allocations to increase even further. The continuing challenge we face therefore, is one of ensuring that all municipalities develop the requisite capacity to translate those resources into instruments with which to confront problems of poverty and underdevelopment.
The challenge was brought into bold relief by the feedback we received as we interacted with our people through Izimbizo as well as in the period leading to the 2004 provincial and national elections. These interactions offered us the opportunity to approach the problems of unattained targets through introspection. Those municipalities which have substantially high levels of service delivery and infrastructure backlogs are now receiving systematic support which is rendered in terms of Project Consolidate. It is a combination of this support and the expansionary budget allocated to municipalities which offer the potent material for acceleration.
The two-year engagement programme is aimed at getting national and provincial governments, together with key partners and stakeholders outside government, to find new creative, practical and impact-orientated modes of supporting local government. The interventions must make a positive impact on the way we meet such challenges as: public participation, programme management as well as creating conditions for sustainable service delivery and economic development.
One of the aims of Project Consolidate is to increase local government capacity for strategic planning. The capacity of our municipalities to prepare good Integrated Development Plans remains uneven. Key observations in this regard are that:
* 37% of municipalities (106) in the country have the capacity to prepare effective IDPs. These municipalities have mainstreamed IDPs as part of their core business.
* 35% of municipalities (99) have the basic institutional capacity in place but require support to prepare effective IDPs and implement them. These municipalities still have to take full ownership of the IDP process.
* 28% of municipalities (79) still do not have basic institutional capacity in place and are struggling to prepare effective IDPs.
It needs to be said though that the overall picture is one in which there is a growing local ownership for the IDP process and the local government sphere is asserting itself more and more as a locus of strategic planning for sustainable development. We seek to deepen this process by conducting nationwide IDP Public Hearings starting from April to June this year. This exercise will help us to develop more intimate familiarity with the needs and priorities of local communities. It will also help to bring local and provincial priorities into synergy with national objectives.
The IDP Public Hearings, together with the ongoing work which we do in the context of the Ward Committees, will enhance the quality of public participation in matters of governance. Not only does this broad mobilisation give effect to the vision of the Freedom Charter but also, it creates the space for innovations which are of local inspiration.
As you indicated Mr President, in the recent period we have witnessed a substantial growth in the establishment of Ward Committees. At least five of our provinces, namely Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape and Free State, have achieved a 100% establishment rate. The overall rate was, however, brought down by the fact that for a while there existed in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape provinces, a strategic balance which constituted a fetter on transformational advances. Happily, the situation has changed for the better and the communities in those two provinces now also have the possibility to enjoy an institutionalised interaction with their government.
The challenge we seek to meet over the next two years, under the banner of Project Consolidate, is to sustain the positive trends and work towards a 100% national establishment rate, and more importantly, to improve the functional capabilities of all our Ward Committees.
To this end, we intend to hold a National Conference on Ward Committees in March this year. The aim of the conference is to look at the ward committees and to generate ideas which will help enhance their functional capabilities. The Ward Committees must be seen not as entities whose usefulness is only to the local government sphere. Other spheres of government should increasingly utilise ward committees as channels for providing information to communities about public services, programmes and development possibilities.
The emerging cadre of Community Development Workers will also work in close collaboration with the Ward Committees. These Ward Committees should therefore be seen for what they truly are: a cord which keeps the whole system of government, articulated to local communities.
Honourable Members, as we were reminded on Friday, this is the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter encapsulates a vision of freedoms which we sought to bring into fruition when we conceived legislation on local government. That legislation was not adopted without acrimonious debates. It was even challenged in the Constitutional Court.
Clearly debates between us and those who stand in strategic opposition to the intent of local government legislation are not just “in-house” exchanges between democrats. There is no doubt that we proceed from different sets of philosophical assumptions as well as theoretical and practical commitments. Some take perverse delight in accentuating “the as-yet unaccomplished targets” and seek to project them as evidential proof of the non-viability of the system.
We stay committed to integrating the Freedom Charter’s implications into our thinking about current challenges and we have a plan which accounts for the progressive improvements that are already in evidence. Like our forebears who pledged to fight side-by-side for the attainment of the goals which are contained in the Freedom Charter, we chose a future rather than no future.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
15 February 2005
Source: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
Title: Mufamadi: Debate on State of the Nation Address
Speech delivered by Minister FS Mufamadi on the Debate of the State of The Nation Address
15 February 2005
Madam Speaker; His Excellency President Thabo Mbeki Deputy President Jacob Zuma; Honourable Members:
Mr President, in your exposition of the state of the nation, you put forward the hypothesis that we, the people of South Africa, now live in an age of better prospects. You reminded us of the generation of democrats, who fifty years ago, identified the denial of democracy as posing a strategic challenge. In the form of the Freedom Charter, they postulated a future which in many respects has since become the lived experience of our generation. When they said: “THE PEOPLE SHALL GOVERN”, they gave us a perspective which keeps nudging us to the finish line.
In designing the new system of local government, care was taken to ensure that we put in place, a framework for progressively doing away with the consequences of a system which exposed White and Black South Africans, to vastly different socio-economic environments. We knew that the conditions of high segregation had translated directly into economic disadvantage and structural deprivation for the majority of our people. The legacy of that system is a key conditioning variable for some of the problems which persist to this day. For instance, we still have a relatively higher concentration of poverty in geographic spaces which were historically designated as “Native Reserves”. It is in those areas where we find a pernicious interaction between high poverty rates and the paucity of skills that are critical to good governance and effective administration.
Mr President as you said on Friday last week, in the first eight years we have allocated to the local government sphere, a quantum of resources which is proportionately higher than allocations which were made hitherto. Needless-to-say, on current macro-economic trends, there is a distinct possibility for those allocations to increase even further. The continuing challenge we face therefore, is one of ensuring that all municipalities develop the requisite capacity to translate those resources into instruments with which to confront problems of poverty and underdevelopment.
The challenge was brought into bold relief by the feedback we received as we interacted with our people through Izimbizo as well as in the period leading to the 2004 provincial and national elections. These interactions offered us the opportunity to approach the problems of unattained targets through introspection. Those municipalities which have substantially high levels of service delivery and infrastructure backlogs are now receiving systematic support which is rendered in terms of Project Consolidate. It is a combination of this support and the expansionary budget allocated to municipalities which offer the potent material for acceleration.
The two-year engagement programme is aimed at getting national and provincial governments, together with key partners and stakeholders outside government, to find new creative, practical and impact-orientated modes of supporting local government. The interventions must make a positive impact on the way we meet such challenges as: public participation, programme management as well as creating conditions for sustainable service delivery and economic development.
One of the aims of Project Consolidate is to increase local government capacity for strategic planning. The capacity of our municipalities to prepare good Integrated Development Plans remains uneven. Key observations in this regard are that:
* 37% of municipalities (106) in the country have the capacity to prepare effective IDPs. These municipalities have mainstreamed IDPs as part of their core business.
* 35% of municipalities (99) have the basic institutional capacity in place but require support to prepare effective IDPs and implement them. These municipalities still have to take full ownership of the IDP process.
* 28% of municipalities (79) still do not have basic institutional capacity in place and are struggling to prepare effective IDPs.
It needs to be said though that the overall picture is one in which there is a growing local ownership for the IDP process and the local government sphere is asserting itself more and more as a locus of strategic planning for sustainable development. We seek to deepen this process by conducting nationwide IDP Public Hearings starting from April to June this year. This exercise will help us to develop more intimate familiarity with the needs and priorities of local communities. It will also help to bring local and provincial priorities into synergy with national objectives.
The IDP Public Hearings, together with the ongoing work which we do in the context of the Ward Committees, will enhance the quality of public participation in matters of governance. Not only does this broad mobilisation give effect to the vision of the Freedom Charter but also, it creates the space for innovations which are of local inspiration.
As you indicated Mr President, in the recent period we have witnessed a substantial growth in the establishment of Ward Committees. At least five of our provinces, namely Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape and Free State, have achieved a 100% establishment rate. The overall rate was, however, brought down by the fact that for a while there existed in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape provinces, a strategic balance which constituted a fetter on transformational advances. Happily, the situation has changed for the better and the communities in those two provinces now also have the possibility to enjoy an institutionalised interaction with their government.
The challenge we seek to meet over the next two years, under the banner of Project Consolidate, is to sustain the positive trends and work towards a 100% national establishment rate, and more importantly, to improve the functional capabilities of all our Ward Committees.
To this end, we intend to hold a National Conference on Ward Committees in March this year. The aim of the conference is to look at the ward committees and to generate ideas which will help enhance their functional capabilities. The Ward Committees must be seen not as entities whose usefulness is only to the local government sphere. Other spheres of government should increasingly utilise ward committees as channels for providing information to communities about public services, programmes and development possibilities.
The emerging cadre of Community Development Workers will also work in close collaboration with the Ward Committees. These Ward Committees should therefore be seen for what they truly are: a cord which keeps the whole system of government, articulated to local communities.
Honourable Members, as we were reminded on Friday, this is the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter encapsulates a vision of freedoms which we sought to bring into fruition when we conceived legislation on local government. That legislation was not adopted without acrimonious debates. It was even challenged in the Constitutional Court.
Clearly debates between us and those who stand in strategic opposition to the intent of local government legislation are not just “in-house” exchanges between democrats. There is no doubt that we proceed from different sets of philosophical assumptions as well as theoretical and practical commitments. Some take perverse delight in accentuating “the as-yet unaccomplished targets” and seek to project them as evidential proof of the non-viability of the system.
We stay committed to integrating the Freedom Charter’s implications into our thinking about current challenges and we have a plan which accounts for the progressive improvements that are already in evidence. Like our forebears who pledged to fight side-by-side for the attainment of the goals which are contained in the Freedom Charter, we chose a future rather than no future.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
15 February 2005
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