Hlabisa tables 10-point plan for improving municipalities

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa has tabled a 10-point plan at a Local Government Indaba in Johannesburg.

The meeting is aimed at improving the local government sector and bring confidence to this sphere of government, that’s struggling to render much needed services to communities.

The two-day gathering, which ended on Friday focused on efforts to improve service delivery, accountability and transparency across the country’s 257 municipalities.

Over a thousand delegates met to try and find tangible solutions to local government challenges, which include ailing infrastructure and corruption that hampers service delivery.

Dry taps, unsafe drinking water, roads riddled with potholes and unreliable power supply.

These are some of the challenges plaguing many municipalities across the country that Hlabisa says needs to be eradicated.

“They are hard realities that we must call by names, the culture of no accountability, lack of transparency, political interference and no consequence management is a major weakness in our communities, especially the underperforming municipalities. This culture must be uprooted, and it must be brought to an end to ensure that we achieve a more functional and effective local government.”

Hlabisa says the indaba has come up with a 10-point plan that needs to be put in motion in order to improve the running of municipalities and thereby improve the lives of citizens.

“Resolution number nine, which deals with monitoring evaluation, and ensuring that consequence management does take place. All the resolutions, the reports by the commissions, will be collated together, and produced into a document that will be a road map, a program of action, with timelines. And this document, I will take it to the cabinet, because there is a common agreement that for our nation to succeed, local government must work.”

Hlabisa adds that the implementation of the plan will be monitored, and its impact evaluated in April next year.