Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Friday that over the last 21 years, democratic local government has not adequately fulfilled its developmental role, especially as it relates to economic development.

Addressing delegates during the second day of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) Special Assembly, Dlamini-Zuma reiterated government’s commitment to working with citizens whether at the level of national, provincial or local government.

Dlamini-Zuma noted that because of its proximity to citizens and its well documented underperformance, the local government sphere was least trusted.

“Whether real or perceived, this should be a cause for concern,” she said.

DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT MODEL

She said government’s District Development Model (DDM) can improve horizontal and vertical coordination to maximise impact and strengthen the local sphere of government. 

The DDM, which is currently being piloted, aims to boost the capability of municipalities to undertake long-term planning, budgeting and infrastructure implementation.

Under the DDM all three spheres of government coordinate and integrate development plans and budgets and mobilise the capacity and resources of government and civil society, including business, labour and community, in pursuit of inclusive growth and job creation.

“We undertake our work not for ourselves but to make sure we deliver services and are prepared to do our best every day,” she said.

The DDM has so far enabled Salga to pursue social, economic and spatial transformation through a more tangible common vision, Dlamini-Zuma noted.

“By adopting a long-term view and interconnecting the local economies we will be able to reimagine a better community, district and nation. We are able to transcend our current limitations by capitalising on the endowment structure of each district,” she added.

She said the DDM would allow her department to purposefully link local economies with the district, provincial and national economies, enabling the optimisation and transformation of the structure of the economy.

She said a critical success factor for the implementation of the DDM was the mobilisation of communities to drive their own development, which would, in the long run, help expand employment opportunities.

SKILLS

She explained that district hubs could be deployed to avail shared skills where municipalities may lack.

She noted that Salga had been working with the National School of Government to equip the political and administrative levels of local government.

She promised that her department would continue to deploy the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (Misa) to rural and other struggling municipalities that are unable to attract the right expertise.

The mission of the Misa is to provide support and develop technical capacity to ensure sustained accelerated municipal infrastructure and service delivery.

She hoped that training would assist but at the same time she emphasized people’s ability to develop their own communities.