Zuma said the current administration will continue to work hard to achieve radical and meaningful change in the performance of local government.
He was speaking at the second Presidential Local Government Summit (PLGS) held at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.
"Out of this summit must emerge a focused action plan, to strengthen local government by getting the basics right," said Zuma, adding that local government, together with other spheres of government, must provide basic services efficiently and effectively, and in a caring manner.
He said South Africa's constitution enshrines socio-economic rights, including the rights to dignity, water, sanitation and housing, among other basic needs.
Zuma said there has been progress in basic service delivery in various municipalities and that the recent report on the non-financial census of municipalities confirmed that the services rendered by municipalities have reduced poverty.
"The report focuses on basic services, namely: water services, electricity services, sewerage and sanitation services, and solid waste management services offered by the 278 municipalities across the country," Zuma said.
He said the report showed that 11.8m basic water services are provided to households, with 5.3m receiving free basic services. Of the 11.8m who receive basic water services, 2.5m benefitted from indigent support and qualify for rebates or subsidies.
Zuma said the report also showed that 10m consumers were receiving sewerage and sanitation from municipalities in South Africa, and 31.1% of the consumers had access to free basic sewerage and sanitation.
"These are just a few examples of positive developments mentioned in the report," Zuma said.
Zuma said the 2014 summit showed that all municipalities agree that the basic services and people's needs must be met.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan said the summit aimed to highlight successful achievements by municipalities and come up with solutions for issues that needed intervention.
Gordhan said too many municipalities fail to do the basics for their communities, and that the summit was all about going back to basics and serving communities better.
He added that municipalities should maintain infrastructure properly and timeously to enable state properties to last longer and while about a third of municipalities across all provinces were not doing well, two-thirds of the municipalities were doing fairly well in delivering good services to communities.
"It is our collective responsibility to root out corruption in our municipalities and communities," said Gordhan. "Our motto should be: No service failures," he added.
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