Government is this year expected to expand the District Development Model to 23 new districts, drawing on lessons from the three pilot districts, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced.
President Ramaphosa officially launched the first pilot site of the district-based coordination model at a Presidential Imbizo in OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape, in September, last year. The model was then launched in the eThekwini Metro in KwaZulu-Natal and Waterberg District Municipality in Limpopo.
The model aims to address the challenge of government working in silos, resulting in a lack of coherent planning and implementation, which has made monitoring and oversight of government’s programme difficult.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Thursday, President Ramaphosa said provincial and national government will redouble their support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to provide for the monitoring and support of municipalities.
“It is only when the structured support has failed that the provincial executive or national government will invoke a Section 139 intervention,” he said.
Currently, there are 40 municipalities in the country subjected to the Section 139 intervention.
The measures that will be taken, President Ramaphosa said, will complement the objectives of the new district-based model of development, which seeks to take an integrated approach to service delivery.
“Residents of the Mamusa Municipality in North West have already seen this approach in action, where the District Development Model was effectively utilised to clear illegal dumping sites, refurbish pump stations to stop sewage spilling in the streets, build roads and lay water pipes, and provide water and toilets to local schools,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
