In July 2019, during the Presidency Budget Vote, President Ramaphosa identified the “pattern of operating in silos” in government as a challenge which led to “lack of coherence in planning and implementation and has made monitoring and oversight of government’s programme difficult.”1 In August 2019 a new approach called the District Development Model (DDM)was adopted by cabinet. The DDM is premised on the idea that a proactive, coherent, and integrated co-ordination of development plans and budgets of all three spheres of government will allow for more targeted service delivery at district level.

The DDM, dubbed ‘Khawuleza’, which means ‘Hurry Up’, was piloted in three sites: the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape; the Waterberg District Municipality in Limpopo; and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. The OR Tambo District Municipality comprises the following local municipalities: King Sabatha Dalindyebo, Nyandeni, Ingquza Hill, Mhlontlo and Port St Johns. Ultimately the model will be rolled out to 44 Districts and 8 Metros.

Paper by CPLO