Pretoria - The provincial government's free basic services programme should be accelerated by municipalities as a safety net for the poor, says North West Premier Thandi Modise.
Speaking at the end of a two-day Provincial Basic Services Acceleration Summit in Rustenburg on Friday, Modise said that local government should be effective in taking development directly to the people and prioritise development that is sustainable and that helps to reduce poverty.
“The character of a developmental state that we envision as a nation is the creation of a local government system that is responsive, efficient, effective and accountable.
“We need to improve public confidence in our municipalities in the province as a critical step towards attracting investment by increasing the pace and improving the quality of basic water, sanitation, electricity and housing services.”
The premier highlighted that although the province has achieved the Millennium Development Goals for sanitation provision, it needed to intensify work towards universal access by next year. – SAnews.gov.za
