President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday proposed a summit between municipalities and traditional leaders to carve a strategy to improve service delivery.

"We have developed a local government turnaround strategy to intervene in development and service delivery processes," Zuma told the National House of Traditional Leaders in Pretoria.

"The turn-around strategy will be implemented together with this leadership [traditional leaders] and regular feedback and engagement meetings will take place on this matter."

Zuma was attending a debate of his State of the Nation address with traditional leaders commenting on the way forward.

"I propose that a summit be held soon involving traditional leaders and municipalities."

He said this after Inkosi Mahlalela (Mlabo II) expressed his concern that there was a gap between municipalities and the chiefs.

He added that government should come up with proper salary packages and medical aids to cater for members of the council of chiefs.

"Traditional leaders' houses are dying a slow death owing to the lack of government support. They [government] cite a lack of finances as a reason," he said.

In his response Zuma said that although it was taking a long time, government was putting measures in place.

The newly formed Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs was reviewing legislation and would provide infrastructural support to the house of chiefs.

"Funding support from government must respond to a clear programme of service delivery form traditional leaders.

"We are committed to sufficiently capacitate the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to undertake its mandate," he said.

Earlier, Kgoshigadi Mothapo told Zuma that government had sidelined traditional chiefs and communities in the hosting of the FIFA World Cup.

In response, Zuma said that the chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders Khosi Kutama was made a member of one of the host cities forum.

This, he said was testament that government was committed to traditional leaders during the World Cup.

Zuma said that it would take more than 15 years to undo what apartheid had done in a century.