The South African Local Government Association (Salga) and the National School of Government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will result in collaboration regarding capacity building and learning to skill and empower mayors, councillors and senior managers in local government.

The signing of the MoU, which took place in Pretoria last month, comes at a time when local government is preparing to welcome new and returning councillors for the fourth democratic local government term. “This is a stage where basic systems of governance at local level are urgently needed,” according to the parties.

Moreover, induction is required to ensure that the newly elected councillors are also empowered with a “general understanding” of the leadership roles, legislation and key municipal processes.

Salga CEO Xolile George said at the signing that the cooperation was in line with National Developmental Plan requirements for local government by 2030.

“As part of Salga’s role to transform local government . . . to fulfil its developmental mandate, it is our responsibility to capacitate the sector to . . . play a developmental and transformative role in South Africa,” he said.

George added that the end goal was for citizens to “confidently put their trust in local government and its committed leadership in not only addressing the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment but also creating a sphere that is free of corruption”.

National School of Government principal Professor Richard Levin said the cooperation was “a critical intervention and bold step” towards professionalising the sector.

“We need a well-run and effectively coordinated local government sphere, staffed by skilled municipal officials who are committed to the public good and capable of delivering consistently high-quality services for all South Africans while prioritising the nation’s developmental objectives,” he added.

Cooperation between the two organisations has been ongoing for an extensive period. In 2014, when the Salga Centre for Leadership and Governance conceived, the National School of Government was one of the first partners that Salga approached.