Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces hon Mahlangu, hon members of the House, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to convey the most profound apologies from the SA Local Government Association's chairperson, Councillor Masondo, for his inability to attend this sitting. He is abroad at the moment and has requested me to convey his greetings to the President and to the members of this august House.
It is indeed an honour and a privilege to address this sitting exactly one month before we complete a full decade of democratic local government - since 5 December 2000. The recently conducted Provincial Week gave permanent delegates to the NCOP and members of provincial legislatures an opportunity to undertake oversight visits and interact with communities in order to get first-hand information on the needs and challenges that were confronting the public. They also visited projects that were implemented by both national and provincial government in the provinces to ascertain progress that has been made.
Salga has taken an active part in the provincial week and must register its appreciation for the manner in which it was allowed to play a constructive role in the successful execution of this event. We are firmly of the view that the enhanced interaction between the House and Salga will ultimately have a beneficial effect on meeting the needs and challenges of our communities across the length and breadth of South Africa.
The Provincial Week and, indeed, this debate took place and is taking place within the context in which, firstly, national and provincial government have committed themselves to supporting and monitoring local government in terms of the five-year local strategic agenda. Such monitoring and support took place within the five key performance areas identified by Cabinet, namely good governance, institutional transformation, finances and financial management, basic service delivery and infrastructure and local economic development. The Provincial Week undoubtedly indicated quite sharply to this House the successes and challenges of implementation of the five-year local government strategic agenda.
Secondly, the Provincial Week and this debate could not, and cannot, ignore the service delivery protests that gripped the country until now. The President, in his recent address in Khayelitsha, in the Western Cape, to mayors and municipal managers, adequately and aptly captured the current local government situation. He indicated, firstly, that discussions about service delivery take place against the backdrop of the impact of the global economic crisis, which is depleting the resources of municipalities; secondly, that many municipalities face serious governance challenges owing to internal political power struggles; and, thirdly, that there is a glaring need to strengthen the basic administrative system and institutional capacity of many municipalities.
As a consequence, the third aspect of the context within which this debate is taking place is the current process in which a turnaround strategy is being developed for government at local level. We are deliberate when we refer to "turnaround strategy for government at local level" as opposed to a turnaround strategy for local government as it is known. Please allow me to explain.
The Provincial Week has shown very clearly to this House the extent to which national and provincial government have experienced challenges in the delivery of services to communities in the areas of primary health care, housing, education, roads and transportation and the provision of identity documents. The consequences of such nondelivery are experienced most acutely at the local level, where communities often take to the streets to vent their frustration. It should be abundantly clear to this august House that a focus on a "local government turnaround" could be seriously misplaced, as it would shift the focus solely to local government as opposed to the whole of government where all spheres are responsible in one way or another for the delivery of services at the local level.
The need for a government-wide turnaround strategy is apparent with regard to the Provincial Week report. I will return to this point later. Please allow me to restate the point that as we gather on this important occasion, we are under no illusion that local government faces many challenges, but we remain optimistic. We know that we can do more, whatever the challenges that face us: ongoing urbanisation and migration, the need to grow our economy and create jobs, the extensive service delivery needs, the negative impact of a globalising world and the many complexities that we have to grapple with on a day-to-day basis in rural and urban and in big and small municipalities.
Turning to the report itself, and especially those aspects dealing with local government, it correctly highlights the internal challenges, as well as the external challenges being faced by local government. On the internal challenges, there is pervasive and corrosive presence of corruption, which robs our communities of the scarce resources desperately needed for sustainable service delivery. This scourge must be fought with all means at our disposal, and the leadership of local government and, indeed, organised local government is unwavering in its commitment to rid this sphere of this cancer by the sustained implementation of anticorruption policies and criminal prosecution of those found in flagrant disregard thereof.
A further internal challenge is the ever-growing backlog in the provision of basic service delivery. Although local government is doing well in the eradication of backlogs, as measured in terms of the 2001 census, urbanisation and migration to the cities have placed significant strain on the resources within those areas.
On the external challenges, the report notes the insufficient funding of the sphere of local government. Unfortunately, the basis for the allocation of financial resources to local government is the seriously outdated 2001 population census figures. This external factor has received serious attention at the recent budget forum, and government has been tasked with coming up with alternatives that will address this situation.
A second external challenge identified in the report relates to the powers and functions performed by national and provincial government at the local level. The provincialisation of health care has had a dramatic downward impact on the level of service provided to a number of communities, whether urban or rural.
This situation brings us to the question of how to address the challenges identified in the report and, more importantly, the role of the NCOP in the implementation of any strategy aimed at turning around government at local level. As indicated earlier, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is driving the development of a national local government turnaround strategy. This strategy will focus on turning local government around in the areas of governance, service delivery and infrastructure, financial management and labour matters.
A report titled "The state of local government in South Africa" has been developed, as well as a draft framework local government turnaround strategy. It must be stressed, however, that these documents are in the final stages of development and have not yet being signed off by the national executive.
Hon Chairperson, be assured that Salga and its member municipalities remain steadfastly committed to finding innovative solutions to achieving the goal of a better life for all residents and communities across the length and breadth of South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]