By More Matshediso
Johannesburg - The Presidential Local Government Summit, which kicks off tomorrow, is expected to build on successes and redress failures of the past in all 278 South African municipalities.
The Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Ministry has in the past 14 years of democratic local government existence been assessing the work done by the municipalities.
The summit will be hosted by Cogta Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.
It is expected that the summit will give an insight into four broad categories that the ministry has identified during the assessment. The assessment sought to identify municipalities that were doing well, reasonably functional, almost dysfunctional, and regarded as in need of immediate intervention.
The summit is also expected to outline specifically what is going to be done in the next 6, 12 and 18 months, looking into the ministry’s budget vote.
Infrastructure and maintenance issues will also be discussed, as well as overspending and finance related challenges facing municipalities.
This is expected to help municipalities perform their basic core functions every day with optimal efficiency.
During the summit, Mayors of the municipalities that performed well will get a platform to advise underperforming municipalities on how to improve their standards.
Cogta has visited some of the municipalities that performed well to see what mechanisms they have been using to deliver efficient services to their communities.
Through the assessment that the ministry conducted, it found out that one of the major challenges that many municipalities had was uneven communication between themselves and communities, and being slow on responding to community issues.
All Mayors, Speakers, Chief Whips, Municipal Managers and Chief Financial Officers from all municipalities are expected to attend the summit. - SAnews.gov.za
