DBSA

KNOWLEDGE WEEK: MAKING LOCAL GOVERNMENT WORK BETTER – TURNING LOCAL GOVERNMENT AROUND CONFERENCE

THE NATIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT TURNAROUND STRATEGY FRAMEWORK: SOME ISSUES

Yunus Carrim, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

4 November 2009

Unique National Local Government Indaba

May I, in the first place, say how pleased I am to be here, and congratulate DBSA on organising this valuable Conference? I bring too the very good wishes of Minister Sicelo Shiceka.

Let me also, at the outset, express appreciation for the work DBSA does in local government. In view of this work that you do, it’s important that our Department interacts closely with you and the National Treasury. Minister Shiceka is to meet Minister Gordhan and the DBSA leadership soon to pursue the need for this.

Local government, as you know, is severely challenged. Yet it is a crucial site of democracy, service delivery and development. And it’s a major barometer of the success of our transformation. We just have to get it right. We have no choice about this. We must just do it. All of us – together!

To set the basis for this, the President met with the Mayors and Municipal Managers of all the municipalities in Khayelitsha on 20 October and during the following two days our Department organised a National Indaba on Local Government in Ekhuruleni, which drew over 1100 participants, including representatives of all three spheres of government, the private sector, trade unions, NGOs, traditional leaders, professional organisations, experts and other sections of civil society.  The Indaba considered the State of Local Government in South Africa report.