GAUTENG LOCAL GOVERNMENT TURNAROUND SUMMIT DECLARES COMMITMENT TO BUILDING SMART AND RESILIENT MUNICIPALITIES @KASIBCNEWS



GAUTENG LOCAL GOVERNMENT TURNAROUND SUMMIT DECLARES COMMITMENT TO BUILDING SMART AND RESILIENT MUNICIPALITIES @KASIBCNEWS 


The Gauteng Local Government Turnaround Summit, held at Misty Hills Hotel and Conference Centre in Mogale City, West Rand Region, on the 23rd and 24th of October 2024, opened and closed by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, concluded with a firm commitment from participants to drive transformative change in local municipalities. Themed “Building Smart and Resilient Municipalities of the Future,” the summit brought together key stakeholders, including representatives from eleven (11) municipalities, Provincial Government Departments, National Government Departments, State-Owned Entities, and experts in local government. 

The summit was facilitated by former Statistician-General, Dr Pali Lehohla and received reports from various institutions including the Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO), AGSA, Stats SA, South African Cities Network. Attended by the two Royal Houses in Gauteng other traditional leaders, Mayors and Members of Mayoral Committees from across the city region, the summit delved into issues that face the local sphere of government and through its commissions produced a plan on solutions to address these. Speaking during the opening ceremony Deputy Minister for the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Dr Dickson Masemola emphasised the importance of professionalizing local government through the appointment of suitably qualified people in the right positions, adding that there was a review of the white paper on the funding model for municipalities. 

The summit also took a report on the financial state of Gauteng municipalities from MEC of Finance and Economic Development Mr Lebogang Maile who remarked that the provincial Treasury had appointed technical advisors that would provide municipalities with financial management and would assist them in implementing Financial Recovery Plans.

MEC for Infrastructure Development and COGTA Mr Jacob Mamabolo announced that an implementation monitoring committee comprising MMC’s of Corporate Services and Municipal Managers from all municipalities would be established to ensure that decisions of the summit were implemented.



In the declaration issued at the summit’s conclusion, participants acknowledged that local governments face persistent challenges across governance, finance, infrastructure, service delivery, local economic development, spatial restructuring, and safety and security.

Key Issues Addressed: 

• Local governments face serious challenges in governance, financial sustainability, and service delivery. 

• Governance is complicated by coalition arrangements in many municipalities. 

• Infrastructure decay hampers service delivery and local economic growth. 

• Financial viability remains a pressing issue for most municipalities. 

• The global digital shift is transforming service provision. 

The summit celebrated 25 years of achievements in local governance and service delivery, but participants recognised that Gauteng municipalities must do more to meet their constitutional mandates and address emerging challenges, including climate change and rapid urbanisation. Reaffirmation of the District Development Model (DDM) A key outcome of the summit was the reaffirmation of the District Development Model (DDM) as the main approach to tackling municipal challenges. The DDM One Plan will guide turnaround efforts across municipalities in the Gauteng City Region (GCR).

Commitment to turnaround Participants pledged to transformative actions grounded in cooperative governance, intergovernmental collaboration, strategic partnerships, and social compacts. 

Strategic themes identified for the turnaround included: 

• Municipal Governance: Promoting clean, accountable, and ethical governance. 

• Municipal Administration: Committing to the professionalisation and continuous development of municipal administration. 

• Municipal Finance: Strengthening accountable financial management, with sound budgeting, reporting, and accountability processes. 

• Infrastructure and Service Delivery: Delivering projects on time, within budget, and to high standards, with active public participation. 

• Local Economic Development: Driving local economic growth in alignment with the Township Economy Development Act. 

• Spatial Restructuring: Redressing apartheid spatial planning and fostering inclusive development. 

• Municipal Digital Transformation: Advancing the digitalisation and modernisation of governance and service delivery systems.

• Safety and Security: Focusing on community safety and infrastructure protection. 

In closing, Gauteng Premier Lesufi thanked the collective leadership for addressing critical local government challenges and outlined priority areas: 

• Upgrading aging water, electricity, and sewer infrastructure. 

• Preparing for anticipated water shortages.

• Tackling municipal revenue challenges. 

• Addressing issues related to undocumented foreign nationals and businesses. 

• Combating high levels of crime, corruption, and government property vandalism. 

• Preventing land invasion and creating opportunity in waste management 

• Improving townships, hostels, and informal settlements, and implementing Central Business Districts (CBD) revitalisation, with a focus on the Johannesburg CBD 

• The repurposing of the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency to support bulk services and infrastructure development 

• The modernisation of the indigent register • Tackling climate change and augmenting disaster management

“We are pleased that for the first time since the 2021 Local Government Elections, all municipalities, without exception, today we are meeting here to work together. We are now planning together from the centre as one province, with one plan and one execution plan,” said the Premier. He emphasised that the summit was a seminal point of reference point marking a period where the provincial government and local government commit to doing things differently. 

“We must all pull our resources together for the benefit of everyone in our province,” said Premier Lesufi.



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