Hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Chairperson of the NCOP, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma, hon Minister, Deputy Ministers, hon premiers, hon Premier of the Free State Mr Ace Magashule, hon speakers of provincial legislatures, deputy speakers of legislatures, MECs, MPs, MPLs, hon executive mayors, mayors, speakers of councils, councillors, Salga leadership, Chairperson of Traditional Leaders, our officials, the House at large and my fellow people of the Free State, as I stand in front of you today, I am putting forward the voice of the people and the SA Local Government Association, as well as all supporters of the local government.
We stand here today, Mr President, to support the statement you have just put forward because it is a reflection of the school of thought that Salga believes in throughout. We therefore want to support the statement and commit to continuing to support the President and his Parliament throughout.
As we march towards the 2011 local government elections, this week has given us a significant opportunity as a province and government as a whole to reflect on the progress made in expanding the delivery of services and to acknowledge the challenges facing government in our quest to speed up service delivery to our people.
Effective performance against our constitutional mandate requires a coherent and co-ordinated set of support initiatives from all spheres of government. While local government is uniquely positioned as the sphere of government closest to the people, it is the responsibility of all spheres of government to ensure a better life for our people. But, as indicated earlier in the week, the belief that we are one government is yet to be solidified in policy, practice and implementation. The President has just alluded to that.
While there is a realisation that the achievement of shared growth and integrated sustainable development requires collaboration and partnership among various actors, particularly between the spheres of government and its departments, it has proven to be especially challenging in the light of the varied roles and resources of the different spheres to invest in the same physical spaces. Remember that it is a call by the President that we need to do things quicker, cheaper and faster.
The fact is that the national and provincial governments, while equally responsible, are not at the coalface of the delivery chain and so are not subjected to the same pressure as local government, which is then perceived as the villain when service delivery breaks down. That is a matter that we are all aware of and we believe and understand that local government and councillors are at the coalface for the people.
In this regard, we would like to acknowledge the work of Parliament's multisectoral Ad Hoc Committee on co-ordinated Oversight on Service Delivery, whose report was adopted by the National Assembly on 10 September. This was very good for us. We believe that this has created an understanding among policy-makers of the complex Co-operative governance framework within which local government operates and the support required by municipalities in delivering key government services. It is very important that other spheres of government see it as we see it from Salga's perspective.
Parliament would also be able to hold executives at national level to account for the incoherent approaches followed with regard to supporting or failing to support local government and failing to adhere to the constitutional and legislative framework when dealing with local government. This is an important element in moving towards an integrated governance framework centred on local government.
Accountability is fundamental to our democratic system of government, as embedded in section 195 of the Constitution. It should also form the bedrock of our outcomes-based approach and commitment to do things differently and result in a clear understanding and appreciation of the roles and responsibilities of the relevant participants, importantly, those of the responsible political, administrative and financial heads.
Sound governance is often a combination of legal and organisational structure, management and leadership, aimed at facilitating accountability and improving performance. Failure to do so in practice, on our part, will ultimately lead to poor service delivery.
However, equally critical to its success is that politicians and administrators alike must understand the interrelationship and interdependencies of the activities in the governance environment. The importance of sound monitoring systems - the President has alluded to those things - and instruments cannot be overstated. Our interrelationship system and supporting structures must ensure that relevant information flows up, down, across and in all levels in the various government departments in a timely manner to allow for effective decision-making.
To conclude, in my view, unless an integrated and coherent approach to addressing the challenge of governance is taken, the spheres and departments of government will continue to plan and implement policies and programmes in isolation from each other. Such an approach is prudent and vital because, from the residents' and investors' perspective, there is only one government, also mentioned by the President. Communities are not interested in which sphere of government or which department is responsible for providing housing, sanitation or health care. They become frustrated when municipalities appear to pass the buck to provincial or national government. We must begin to operate as one government. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]