No, I was sitting right there. Maybe you didn't see me.
Chairperson, the skills shortage in local government is a long-standing concern of the UDM. Indeed, in our most recent election manifesto it was an issue we raised, particularly in terms of poor service delivery. It is indisputable that a significant part of the frustration that communities express during service delivery protests relates directly to failures by municipalities. In turn, these service delivery failures are often the result of skills shortages in critical areas such as engineering, management and financial planning.
However, we need to be clear that the phrase "skills shortage" has become a more palatable way of saying "vacancy". The amount of critical vacancies in local government must be one of the first issues that must be addressed if we intend to address the widespread failure of local government.
Local government administration has suffered in many cases from undue political interference by councillors and the executive in the day-to-day running of a municipality. This is the root of the corruption which seems to accompany poor management.
In addition, there is anecdotal evidence that many vacancies stem from officials and politicians undermining or actively removing effective and dedicated specialists because these officials would not tolerate incompetence and corrupt behaviour.
Cadre deployment, which has become a byword for "nepotism", has rewarded political and personal connections over skill; just as it has celebrated mediocrity over competence. The net result is that the government, especially at local level, has lost many skilled professionals. The UDM repeats its policy proposal of filling some of these vacancies at local government level from among the ranks of the many qualified professional young people who are unemployed. I thank you.