SALGA National Conference 2011

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) will be hosting its elective National Conference from 29 August to 1 September 2011. The conference is held under the theme: “Building Municipal and Social Cohesion for Quality and Sustainable Services: 2011 and Beyond”.

The Salga National Conference is a platform to strengthen municipalities and consolidate the association’s voice as a representative organ of municipalities.

• This conference is held every five years (after every local government election) to review progress made by municipalities in the delivery of services to communities.
• The conference is expected to have the majority of elected representatives being new to the process and to local government. Local government stalwarts and Salga leadership have served the communities well and have passed on the torch to new leaders.
• The conference will be attended by approximately 3 000 delegates, of whom more than 1 000 are representatives of 278 municipalities. It follows the successful local government elections held in May this year.
• The conference will also consider current issues facing South Africa such as  climate change and preparations for the 17^th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to be held in South Africa during November and December this year.

10 years of local government

• Salga has visibly grown in its representation of local government and has asserted itself as the sole representative voice of local government as mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
• Salga has built the reputation and profile of South African municipalities internationally and regionally, establishing partnerships that have seen shared municipal best practices and support systems.
• Access to basic services has improved over the past 10 years, seeing areas with no infrastructure beginning to receive access. Challenges are acknowledged and improvement is needed as we look forward to the new cadres in local government.

Addressing the challenges relating to the delivery of services and to restoring the confidence of communities in their municipalities,

• The Local Government Turnaround Strategy (LGTAS), with clear targets for 2014, is intended to stabilise local government and ensure that municipalities respond to the needs of their communities by delivering quality services in an efficient manner.
• Local government is everyone’s business. Municipalities can be made to work better for everyone by everyone. The structure of the local government system remains. Notwithstanding certain changes that may have to be effected, the overall architecture of the system of local government is still sound.
• The local government system is evolving. The new system of local government was always intended to be phased in over time and the current problems must be seen as part of an effort to learn and correct as we continue with implementation.
• An ideal municipality in our system will strive to contribute to building a developmental state in South Africa and draw from the constitutional and legal framework established. The role of councillors to ensure that the LGTAS is implemented in the manner that it was intended therefore becomes an uncompromising priority.

Municipalities intend to make good on government’s strong will and commitment to improve and steer local government towards a clean administration to better the lives of all South Africans.

• Salga headed the Councillor Induction Programme and Handbook as a programme aimed at appropriately equipping councillors with the required knowledge and expertise.
• It is important for the leadership of respective municipalities’ to champion constant monitoring and evaluation as well as to impose relevant sanctions where there are deviations from internal control.
• Government’s priority since 1994 has been to meet the basic needs of the millions of South Africans living in poverty. In line with the millennium development goals, government’s target is to ensure that by 2014, all households have access to the minimum standard for each basic service.
• A related 2014 goal is to decrease unemployment and poverty by half. By obtaining labour-intensive services and the use of labour-intensive methods to maintain and build infrastructure, municipalities can broaden participation in the local economy and create work opportunities for the poor.

Clean administration at all municipalities by 2014 is still an achievable target that requires the leadership to set the right tone and lead the movement towards ultimate clean administration in their municipalities.

• The Auditor-General presented the inaugural Clean Audit Awards to seven municipalities that had achieved the ultimate clean administration, as measured by audit reports for the 2009/10 financial year.
• These seven municipalities have made it a way of life to perform daily, monthly and quarterly reconciliations of their financial records.
• Mpumalanga’s Ehlanzeni district municipality, Steve Tshwete and Victor Khanye municipalities, the City of Cape Town, the district municipalities of Metsweding (Gauteng) and Frances Baard (Northern Cape), and the local municipality of Fetakgomo (Limpopo).
  

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