Municipal office bearers and guests gathered at Protea Hotel Ranch Resort last Tuesday evening for a stakeholder engagement hosted by the South African Local Government Association (Salga) Centre for Leadership and Governance.
Makoma Makhurupetje, MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs delivered the key note address and said that significant strides have been made in the delivery of social and economic amenities over the last 15 years of government. “With the 2016 local government elections now a reality, this is an opportune moment for us to up the tempo in stressing the importance of strong leadership within our municipalities and the role of local government leaders in discharging much needed services,” Makhurupetje said and added that the role of Salga to build capacity and to respond to the challenges faced by municipal councillors by inter alia introducing the Councillor Development Programme (CDP) is highly esteemed. According to Makhurupetje, the interventions will finally culminate in the smooth implementation of the Back to Basics Programme that is based on five pillars, being Delivering Basic Services, Good Governance, Public Participation, Sound Financial Management and Building Institutional Capacity. Makhurupetje informed that more than 300 councillors in the province have already benefitted from the programme. Certificates were accepted on behalf of the councillors by delegates from their respective municipalities.
“We want to make a clarion call to our municipalities to explore, share knowledge and apply best practices in areas of service delivery, human resources, institutional systems and policies applicable to the local sphere of government because working together we can do more,” Makhurupetje concluded.
Story: BARRY VILJOEN
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Featured photo: Makoma Makhurupetje, MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs delivers the key note address.
