More needs to be done to transform local governments

© niyazz – 123RF.com

Speaking ahead of the Africities Summit to be hosted by the City of Joburg from 29 November to 3 December 2015, South African Cities Network CEO, Sithole Mbanga, said this will require strategic partnerships with all sectors of society, from the private sector, non-governmental organisations right through to the media, as this will encourage public participation and contribute to development.

He said local government needs to be seen as an important sphere and it must be empowered with functions and resources that will help it deliver services more efficiently, particularly as we celebrate 15 years of local government in South Africa.

"Provide to local government the appropriate human and non-human resources in order to enable municipalities to play their role competitively in the development of the state," he said.

Strong cities needed

"We need a strong world, but a strong world needs strong cities, in the same manner those strong towns and localities require strong rural areas to survive. In other words, there is a direct correlation between the performance local governments and other spheres of governance."

After the first draft of the White Paper on Local Government was released in 1998, by early 2000, apartheid-era and homelands administrations dismantled and were replaced by unified and decentralised governance system comprising of national, provincial and local government spheres.

The White Paper on Local Government, in particular, paid a lot of attention to the objective of building capable municipalities that can drive the country's development through economic development, social inclusion and good governance which contributes to municipal financial self reliance and viability.

According to the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation's 20 Year Review report, the number of municipalities were rationalised from 843 before 2000 to 283 just before the 2011 elections. A new fiscal framework was put in place to guarantee local government a share of national revenue, as well as putting policies and support structures in place to capacitate the sphere to deliver services.

Effective service delivery

Millions of residents who were excluded from receiving basic services during apartheid rule, have since been targeted for effective service delivery since the establishment of the new system of local government.

Access to sanitation was improved from 50% of households in 1994/95 to 83% 2011/12. Water was made available from 60% of households in 1994/95 to over 95% 2011/12, while the number of households that were electrified increased from 50% to 86% in 2012/13.

Over and above resourcing local government, Mbanga said it is important that further devolution of the build environment functions, such as human settlements and public transport, is implemented to enable municipalities to deliver more effectively.