President continues visits to government departments

Friday, May 11, 2018

Following his commitment in the State of the Nation Address to visit government departments and key state institutions, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday visited the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to interact with top management and the staff.

The visit was aimed at ensuring alignment in the work of government as well as promoting good governance and professionalism in the public sector.

President Ramaphosa said Cogta is the epicentre of the work of government, focusing on addressing the many service delivery challenges facing communities across the country.

“We were here to listen to the top management on what challenges the department is facing and how we can work together to address those challenges to ensure that government functions efficiently.

“Cogta is an engine of government as it is the glue between the people and government. This department is involved in the real work of government which is specifically the delivery of basic services to our communities and ensuring a good relationship between government and institutions of traditional leadership.

“As we experience protests in some part of the country, which are reportedly caused by lack of service delivery, this department is very key in addressing those issues and ensuring that municipalities deliver adequate and quality services to our people,” President Ramaphosa said.

He pledged his support to the department as it undertakes its work to address the challenges faced by local government.

These challenges include the department’s skills development programme, which develops professional capacity in the form of town planners, civil engineers, architects and others to capacitate local government.

The President urged the department to lead the charge around integrated urban development to decisively dismantle the legacy of apartheid spatial planning.

He welcomed Cogta’s commitment to mobilise all stakeholders including traditional leaders, other government departments and civil society around initiatives for an agrarian revolution, a critical imperative to reduce urban migration and accelerate rural development. – SAnews.gov.za