Date: 03/09/2004
Source: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
Title: S Mufamadi: Johannesburg +2 Conference
SPEECH DELIVERED BY MINISTER FS MUFAMADI AT THE GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE ROUND-TABLE DURING THE JOHANNESBURG +2 CONFERENCE, 3 September 2004
Programme Director;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
In 1992 nations of the world met in Rio de Janeiro at a United Nations-convened conference on Environment and Development. That was an occasion for delegates to place on record, our collective commitment to the creation of conditions that will put our common globe on the path to sustainable development. Two years ago, our country was given the honour and privilege of hosting the World Summit on Sustainable Development whose aim it was to review progress made since 1992 and to reinvigorate the commitment to amount a global assault on underdevelopment and poverty.
In a nutshell, at the WSSD we adopted resolutions in which we commit to halve world poverty by 2015, halve the proportion of the population that is unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and who do not have access to basic sanitation by 2015 as well as to direct resources towards the goal of creating income-generating opportunities for the people. These global commitments resonate very well with our domestic agenda. For ours is an agenda, which derives from the normative context, we established in 1994: "We seek to bring about a better life for all."
So, as we meet here over these three days, we shall no doubt illuminate the relationship between global targets and the domestic agenda. This we shall do bearing in mind that principally, we are here to assess progress made with respect to our share of the global responsibility. This is an occasion for national assessment and, national assessments are just that - they are context-dependent.
As a country, we have just emerged from a process, which gave all our people the opportunity to say what they think about what has been achieved in the last ten years. On current trends, South Africa as a country is on course to meet the Millennium Development Goals way ahead of the targeted date. Already we have ameliorated the condition of millions of our people who, not so long ago, were without shelter, did not have access to clean drinkable water, did not have access to basic sanitation, and did not have security against the pangs of hunger.
However, the balance sheet shows that ahead of us lie formidable challenges that we must face. The services we speak of have to be extended to those who still do not have access to them. We still have to improve the quality of services that are received by those to whom we are already delivering.
We have decided that:
* All our people shall have access to clean water in the next five years
* We shall extend basic sanitation to more than 300 000 households in the coming year
* We shall eradicate the bucket system in all our residential areas by 2006
* We shall spend R14 billion in the next three years to create sustainable human settlements
* We shall redress the three million rural household backlogs in electricity
Programme Director, the WSSD adopted a resolution, which places local government at the centre of the process by which the global targets are to be pursued. That resolution is consistent with our own outlook regarding the role and place of local government in the promotion of our national agenda. Just as the WSSD recognided that "local government is a key actor in implementing the sustainable development agenda," we have taken the view that a robust system of local government is a conditio sine qua non for the achievement of the goal of a better life for all.
The WSSD Declaration has a clause, which reads: "Ten years after Rio, it is time for action by all spheres of government, all partners. And local action, undertaken in solidarity, can move the world." Animated by the same spirit, our government says, ten years after the advent of democracy, it is time to accelerate the pace of delivery, and to mount an all-round offensive against poverty and underdevelopment. For all these things to happen, we shall have to improve the quality of support given to our municipalities.
We have to pay more rigorous attention to things such as the capacity of municipalities to plan, budget and execute. For instance, according to a detailed national study undertaken recently, although all our 284 municipalities have Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and are budgeting and implementing service delivery and development programmes, development in all these respects is uneven. The study revealed that only 105 (37%) of municipalities in the country have the capacity to prepare effective IDPs. It is only this group of municipalities that can be said to have effectively mainstreamed IDPs into their core business. The study further shows that a total of 99 municipalities (35%) have the basic institutional capacity in place but are unable to prepare effective IDPs and to implement them without a level of consultancy-support which borders on the excessive. Another 80 municipalities (28%) still do not have basic institutional capacity in place and are struggling to prepare effective IDPs.
This scenario raises questions about our ability to sustain the gains we achieved in the last ten years, and compress the time required for the achievement of our own publicly declared national goals as well as the Millennium Development Goals.
The work of improving the functional capacity of our municipalities cannot be done in isolation. We also have to pay attention of improving the quality of our provincial government system. Five of our provinces (Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State) have reviewed their Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS) and are at varying stages of getting final approval for implementation. The PGDSs now reflect an appreciation of the necessity for synergies between local priorities and provincial priorities. The strategies are aimed at positioning the provinces to grow their economies and to focus on integrated service delivery over the next ten years.
As to the other four provinces, the North West is finaliding consultations on its PGS and the remaining three (Northern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng) have all started their PGDS review process. The Western Cape will use the outcomes of its successful provincial Growth and Development Summit as a basis for its PGDS.
Programme Director, Ladies and Gentlemen: the WSSD Resolution on local government encourages "partnerships among and between local government authorities and other levels of government and stakeholders for sustainable development." Later this month, we shall be unveiling measures, which are directed at qualitatively upgrading the support given to municipalities. This will make local government a more dependable all in the struggle for sustainable development.
Although our intervention programme will be focused on deliverables that must come to fruition in the short-term, we have designed it such that it will ensure skills-transfer both to the provinces and to municipalities. The areas to be impacted upon by the process of skills-transfer are the ones that are crucial to sustainable development. These will include such areas of competence as programme management, budgeting and planning. We hope that in addition to a review of progress, this round-table will generate ideas, which enrich these processes. For our ability to achieve sustainable development depends on this.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
3 September 2004
Source: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
Title: S Mufamadi: Johannesburg +2 Conference
SPEECH DELIVERED BY MINISTER FS MUFAMADI AT THE GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE ROUND-TABLE DURING THE JOHANNESBURG +2 CONFERENCE, 3 September 2004
Programme Director;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
In 1992 nations of the world met in Rio de Janeiro at a United Nations-convened conference on Environment and Development. That was an occasion for delegates to place on record, our collective commitment to the creation of conditions that will put our common globe on the path to sustainable development. Two years ago, our country was given the honour and privilege of hosting the World Summit on Sustainable Development whose aim it was to review progress made since 1992 and to reinvigorate the commitment to amount a global assault on underdevelopment and poverty.
In a nutshell, at the WSSD we adopted resolutions in which we commit to halve world poverty by 2015, halve the proportion of the population that is unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and who do not have access to basic sanitation by 2015 as well as to direct resources towards the goal of creating income-generating opportunities for the people. These global commitments resonate very well with our domestic agenda. For ours is an agenda, which derives from the normative context, we established in 1994: "We seek to bring about a better life for all."
So, as we meet here over these three days, we shall no doubt illuminate the relationship between global targets and the domestic agenda. This we shall do bearing in mind that principally, we are here to assess progress made with respect to our share of the global responsibility. This is an occasion for national assessment and, national assessments are just that - they are context-dependent.
As a country, we have just emerged from a process, which gave all our people the opportunity to say what they think about what has been achieved in the last ten years. On current trends, South Africa as a country is on course to meet the Millennium Development Goals way ahead of the targeted date. Already we have ameliorated the condition of millions of our people who, not so long ago, were without shelter, did not have access to clean drinkable water, did not have access to basic sanitation, and did not have security against the pangs of hunger.
However, the balance sheet shows that ahead of us lie formidable challenges that we must face. The services we speak of have to be extended to those who still do not have access to them. We still have to improve the quality of services that are received by those to whom we are already delivering.
We have decided that:
* All our people shall have access to clean water in the next five years
* We shall extend basic sanitation to more than 300 000 households in the coming year
* We shall eradicate the bucket system in all our residential areas by 2006
* We shall spend R14 billion in the next three years to create sustainable human settlements
* We shall redress the three million rural household backlogs in electricity
Programme Director, the WSSD adopted a resolution, which places local government at the centre of the process by which the global targets are to be pursued. That resolution is consistent with our own outlook regarding the role and place of local government in the promotion of our national agenda. Just as the WSSD recognided that "local government is a key actor in implementing the sustainable development agenda," we have taken the view that a robust system of local government is a conditio sine qua non for the achievement of the goal of a better life for all.
The WSSD Declaration has a clause, which reads: "Ten years after Rio, it is time for action by all spheres of government, all partners. And local action, undertaken in solidarity, can move the world." Animated by the same spirit, our government says, ten years after the advent of democracy, it is time to accelerate the pace of delivery, and to mount an all-round offensive against poverty and underdevelopment. For all these things to happen, we shall have to improve the quality of support given to our municipalities.
We have to pay more rigorous attention to things such as the capacity of municipalities to plan, budget and execute. For instance, according to a detailed national study undertaken recently, although all our 284 municipalities have Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and are budgeting and implementing service delivery and development programmes, development in all these respects is uneven. The study revealed that only 105 (37%) of municipalities in the country have the capacity to prepare effective IDPs. It is only this group of municipalities that can be said to have effectively mainstreamed IDPs into their core business. The study further shows that a total of 99 municipalities (35%) have the basic institutional capacity in place but are unable to prepare effective IDPs and to implement them without a level of consultancy-support which borders on the excessive. Another 80 municipalities (28%) still do not have basic institutional capacity in place and are struggling to prepare effective IDPs.
This scenario raises questions about our ability to sustain the gains we achieved in the last ten years, and compress the time required for the achievement of our own publicly declared national goals as well as the Millennium Development Goals.
The work of improving the functional capacity of our municipalities cannot be done in isolation. We also have to pay attention of improving the quality of our provincial government system. Five of our provinces (Limpopo, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State) have reviewed their Provincial Growth and Development Strategies (PGDS) and are at varying stages of getting final approval for implementation. The PGDSs now reflect an appreciation of the necessity for synergies between local priorities and provincial priorities. The strategies are aimed at positioning the provinces to grow their economies and to focus on integrated service delivery over the next ten years.
As to the other four provinces, the North West is finaliding consultations on its PGS and the remaining three (Northern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng) have all started their PGDS review process. The Western Cape will use the outcomes of its successful provincial Growth and Development Summit as a basis for its PGDS.
Programme Director, Ladies and Gentlemen: the WSSD Resolution on local government encourages "partnerships among and between local government authorities and other levels of government and stakeholders for sustainable development." Later this month, we shall be unveiling measures, which are directed at qualitatively upgrading the support given to municipalities. This will make local government a more dependable all in the struggle for sustainable development.
Although our intervention programme will be focused on deliverables that must come to fruition in the short-term, we have designed it such that it will ensure skills-transfer both to the provinces and to municipalities. The areas to be impacted upon by the process of skills-transfer are the ones that are crucial to sustainable development. These will include such areas of competence as programme management, budgeting and planning. We hope that in addition to a review of progress, this round-table will generate ideas, which enrich these processes. For our ability to achieve sustainable development depends on this.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Provincial and Local Government
3 September 2004
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