THE South African Local Government Association (SALGA) President Bheke Stofile has called for over 1200 delegates attending the SALGA National Members Assembly (NMA) to look at what the White Paper envisaged for local government, what has transpired to date and jointly determine the desired future state for local government.
Cllr Stofile was addressing delegates at a National Members Assembly held in Ekurhuleni, Birchwood Hotel on Tuesday which is attended by leaders and stakeholders in local government across the country.
Delivering a welcome address at the start of the gathering, Cllr Stofile said: “Whilst mindful and appreciative of the progress made by the sector, we should, however, remind ourselves that, at the time of the development of the new democratic system of local government, certain policy assumptions were made as to what the system will focus on and how the system will be resourced and supported”.
One of the assumptions made on the White Paper on Developmental Local Government in 1998 was that 90% of Revenue Raising for Local government will be generated by municipalities themselves.
For that to be realized was through surplus generated from trading services (waste management, electricity, water and sanitation), a principle of buy and sell to generate municipal income, as well as funding transfers from the national government.
Cllr Stofile said, “the current reality is that Municipalities are under extreme cash flow constraints”.
The assembly is meeting 25 years since the adoption of the White Paper on Local Government. Throughout the assembly the delegates engaged and deliberated robustly around the theme: “25 Years since the Advent of the 1998 White Paper on Local Government: Are We on Course and Driven in Building a Sustainable, Responsive & People-Centered Local Government.”
Delivering a ministerial address, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister (CoGTA) Thembi Nkadimeng said the access to basic services prior to 1994 was skew and services were provided mainly in the former white suburbs and main cities.
“As a government, we continue to redress the evils of the past by prioritizing the elimination of backlogs to provide basic services such as water, sanitation, roads, electricity, low-cost housing, schools, primary health care facilities and tele-communication in areas where access was not provided before,” Minister Nkadimeng said.
She attributed the decline in existing infrastructure to many more users using the entire spectrum of infrastructure which was intended for the few.
“There is therefore greater need and urgency for economic infrastructure investment, while continuing to address the apartheid era backlogs,” said Nkadimeng.
Citing the General House Survey, Stats SA 2021, Minister Nkadimeng said: “The percentage South African households connected to the grid electricity supply has increased from 76,7% in 2002 to 89,3% in 2021.”
“Since 2002, the percentage of households in Eastern Cape with access to water in the dwelling, on- or off-site increased by 14,9%, and those in KwaZulu-Natal by 11,6 percentage points. Nationally, the percentage of households with access to tap water in their dwellings, off-site or on-site increased by 4,3%,” she added.
On the erosion on municipal revenue, Nkadimeng announced that the Department of Cooperative Governance and SALGA were engaging on the matter with the view to engage the National Treasury.
She said the review work that the partners were engaging on will make proposals on an ideal local government fiscal framework, with an emphasis on; what will be the ideal formula for the Equitable Share to achieve the developmental goals of local government? What will be the ideal way of allocating other operating grants from sector departments to local government? What is the cost of running an ideal municipality, among others.
A grand debate, led by local government founders and stalwarts was premised on the theme saw a robust debate on the shape and state of local government with delegates questioning each other if they share the same views of the prevailing challenges confronting the communities they elected them into power.
The grand debate included Cogta Deputy Minister Parks Tau, SALGA Deputy President Cllr Xola Phakathi, Chairperson of the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders Kgosi Seatlholo, Salga Women Commissioner Ntandokazi Capa, Secretary to Parliament Xolile George and Political Analyst Lukhona Mnguni.
The assembly will continue Wednesday and adopt resolutions and an action plan in line with the deliberations.
Image (COGTA Minister Thembi Nkadimeng addressed delegates at SALGA meeting in Birchwood, Boksburg on Tuesday).
