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Humanity to be centre of development - Newsroom - 30-07-2014
Gauteng municipalities need a paradigm shift that places humanity at the centre of development, says Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo.
Delivering his Budget Vote speech at the Legislature, on Tuesday, MEC Mamabolo said the province needed to part ways, and completely abandon the notion that simply sees mortar and brick in infrastructure development, but move to a level where humanity is embraced in all the planning by all different spheres of government, particularly local government.
The MEC also emphasised that local government should transform and fundamentally improve the living conditions of the people, adding that transformation depends on government’s ability to work in partnership with the very same people within communities.
“This partnership is critical to the provision of the basket of services which include water, electricity, and waste and refuse collection, street lighting, recreational facilities, stands on which to build houses, rezoning of land for business purposes, and town planning for integrated developments and so on,†he said.
The MEC was adamant that it is the responsibility of all spheres of government to be at the coal-face of service delivery and not just the responsibility of councillors in the municipalities.
“A key step in this regard is for government to interact with the people promptly, consistently and swiftly, especially during community protests.
“This task of prompt, consistent and regular engagement should not be left to Councillors alone, but should belong to all of us as leaders of our people,†he said.
The MEC strongly emphasised that his department will continue to support municipalities, particularly around issues of capacity development, financial management, infrastructure development, revenue collection and debt management, billing, clean audits and scarce skills.
Traditional leadership
On traditional leadership in the province, MEC Mamabolo assured members of the legislature that his department has managed to harmonise relationships between local government and traditional leadership institutions within the province.
“The department is working very closely with the traditional leadership and councillors as well as linking with strategic formations such as Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA) to ensure the integration of the traditional leadership institutions into the local governance system.
“Both Traditional Leaderships are playing a key role in influencing the key decision making processes on issues of development in the Tshwane metro, where both our chieftaincies are based,†MEC Mamabolo said.
Best Provincial Government award
MEC Mamabolo also lauded his department for recently winning the award for “Best Provincial Government for Supporting Governance Processes in the Municipalitiesâ€, bestowed by the Institute of Municipal Finance Officers (IMFO).
The award is aimed at recognising good work done by provincial departments in supporting the municipalities in terms of running their budgets and improving governance towards achieving unqualified reports. - SAnews.gov.za