Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests and comrades, forgive my truncated protocol; I will comply with protocol as I observe!
Tomorrow we celebrate our democratic icon, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. It will be the first time we do so without him. President Zuma has called on all of us to mark International Nelson Mandela Day by cleaning up our cities and our towns, our villages and our communities. Let us answer this call.
We also pay tribute to Nadine Gordimer, a partisan for justice, writer, Nobel laureate.
On 7 May this year millions of South Africans said loudly and clearly: Together we want to move South Africa forward! Together we want to build a better life for all! They said that the good story of our first two decades of freedom must be told into the future by speeding up the pace of radical socioeconomic transformation. In short, they were saying: Implement our National Development Plan.
Our task here is to carry out that mandate. To do so we need a capable developmental state, a state that intervenes to support and guide development so that benefits accrue across society, especially to the poor. It must build consensus, so that long-term national interest overrides short-term, sectional concerns.
Such a state has to be built, brick by brick, institution by institution, across all spheres of government, including local government. This requires leadership, sound policies, skilled managers and workers, clear lines of accountability, appropriate systems, and consistent and fair application of rules. It also requires zero tolerance for corruption, and getting the basics right.
Developmental local government is central to the successful implementation of our National Development Plan. Democratic local government, as described in our Constitution, is only 14 years old. One of the good stories we have to tell is how a patchwork of hundreds of racially based municipal entities were transformed into a system of 278 democratically elected municipalities covering our entire republic.
However, far too many municipalities have found that expectations exceed their administrative and financial ability. This has contributed to the false and destructive perception that local government is an unmitigated disaster zone.
The Constitution refers to the three spheres of government as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated". No sphere is an island. All activities of national and provincial government take place in municipalities. Tip O'Neill, the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, once said: "All politics is local."
The Constitution emphasises the role of national and provincial government in supporting local government. This role goes beyond simply producing legislation and regulations. A sound system of intergovernmental collaboration is key to implementing our NDP.
In relation to local government, five particular issues need to be addressed: The first is to improve clarity on roles and responsibilities in a differentiated system; second, to promote regionalisation as a response to capacity constraints; third, to develop a coherent set of powers for metropolitan municipalities; fourth, to adopt a more focused role for provinces; and, fifth, a proactive approach to identifying and resolving problems.
Central to this is the need to clarify the division of roles and functions, especially in the areas of housing, water, sanitation, electricity and public transport, and to ensure that disagreements are resolved quickly and effectively. Large cities should be given greater fiscal and political powers to co- ordinate human settlement upgrading, transport and spatial planning.
The state needs to mediate agreements between district and local municipalities where there is duplication of or conflict over the allocation of responsibilities and resources.
The Constitution conceives of local government as the most participatory sphere of government. However, we need to ensure that participation is not a formulaic exercise run by consultants, in which citizens have little confidence. Participation in integrated development plan processes needs to engage communities in prioritising and making trade-offs. IDPs need to be more narrowly focused on the core responsibilities and priorities of local government. We must go to community organisations, housing associations and business associations rather than expect them to come to us. Community development workers also have an important role to play. We require an active citizenry.
The next local government elections must be held by 18 August 2016. Cabinet has tasked the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs with the responsibility of chairing the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on Municipal Elections to make sure that everything necessary is done to ensure that these elections take place in a safe and free environment. The Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs will soon proclaim a formula that will determine the total number of councillors. MECs for local government will determine the number of councillors for each council based on this.
The Municipal Demarcation Board will, in turn, determine the delimitation of wards for the 2016 local government elections after a process of consultation and public participation. The board has determined that a number of municipalities should be reconfigured, either by way of amalgamation or disestablishment. Our present number of 278 municipalities will be reduced to 267.
The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is working with municipalities and provinces to support these processes leading up to the 2016 local government elections.
Ladies and gentlemen, and hon members "Local government is everybody's business - be part of it." I thank you.