Efforts are being put in place to ensure that office bearers at local government level are skilled and equipped with the necessary skills to carry out their duties efficiently.
The South African Local Government Association (Salga) together with the National School of Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see collaboration in areas of capacity building and learning to upskill and empower mayors, councillors and senior managers in local government.
The signing ceremony, which took place on 11 August, comes at a time when local government is preparing to welcome the new and returning councillors for the fourth democratic local government term. Spokesperson for Salga, Sivuyile Mbambato said this is a stage where basic systems of governance at a local level are urgently needed. He added that induction is required to ensure that the newly-elected councillors are also empowered with a general understanding of leadership roles, legislation and key municipal processes so that they can handle issues of governance better.
Salga CEO Xolile George said the cooperation was in line with what the National Developmental Plan requires of local government by 2030. “As part of Salga’s role to transform local government so as to fulfill its developmental mandate, it is our responsibility to capacitate the sector to enable it to play a developmental and transformative role in South Africa.
“Our end goal is that the citizens should confidently put their trust in local government and its committed leadership, not only in addressing the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment but to create a sphere that is free of corruption.”
Mbambato highlighted that the cooperation between the two organisations has been a long time in the making. He said in 2014 when the Salga Centre for Leadership and Governance was started, one of the first partners they approached was the National School of Government.
Principal of the National School of Government Professor Richard Levin said the cooperation was a critical intervention and a 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.”
