Deputy Speaker, Deputy President, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, members, this topic is inspired or prompted by the fact that last year, 2008, constituted the 10th anniversary of the White Paper on Local Government. We couldn't engage in that evaluation at that time because we went into an election period. Now that we are back, it is important to reflect on this issue.
But the other important reason, naturally, is that we have just come from a decisive conference and an election that gave us an important mandate to do things differently this time and, in fact, act to improve the quality of service to the people in the country as a whole. This reflection, therefore, is an important one for us in Parliament, so what we are calling for is that this matter be seen to be particularly urgent.
It is made urgent especially because of the presentation we just had earlier on by the Minister of Economic Development on the global crisis and its impact on our society as a whole. In fact, this represents one of the biggest challenges that municipalities face - that if a crisis is allowed to reverse the gains we've made it will perpetuate a crisis that the poor have been left with for a long time, which the ANC-led government and Parliament have taken significant steps to reverse. It is for that reason that in reflecting on the state of municipal governance, we identify factors that are crucial to doing that exercise, including a brief reflection on some of the instruments that we used to do so.
We also need to persuade the public out there that the message of the ANC that we need to work together is indeed correct and that the government is demonstrating this in practice and in action, for example, by firing corrupt people and taking action against those who do not do their work properly. This process, which has been led by the President, is the correct path, and the announcement of the presidential co-ordinating committee that includes Premiers and mayors is an important vehicle that is going to be used to achieve this objective.
Also, it is useful to note that last year was also the first time that we received the annual report on municipal performance, which naturally we couldn't deal with in this Parliament because of the elections. When we looked at that report it was already inadequate in that many municipalities had not complied - they had not given their annual reports which they were meant to do according to the law so that the provincial and national departments can do their reports, and so on.
But also, we came to the conclusion that some of the reports that were presented were quite frankly works of fiction, they were not based on the actual performance of the municipalities as reflected by reality, and that correction was needed there. There were also catch-up reports that reported on previous years that were already outdated.
Therefore, they couldn't give us reliable assessments of things and where they were. This is why it is absolutely necessary that going forward we do things differently. We must ensure that each municipality undertakes to provide an accurate and reliable report according to the law so that the provinces themselves, as well as the national departments, present us with reports that we can rely on.
Just recently, but also consistent with the previous report of the Auditor- General - which is another state institution that provides observations and therefore assessments of municipalities - the report concluded that while there are skills shortages at national and provincial levels they are "thinnest", to quote the word he used, at municipal level.
The challenge, therefore, for doing the work properly there requires urgent attention in the area of skills and skills development. But it also requires the political leadership requirements to create an environment which enables the skills that are there to be kept, to retain them there and to attract them as well - both of people who work for the municipalities as administrators, and also of those who make themselves available to become councillors, and those who make themselves available to partner with municipalities in their civil society organisations and as individuals to bring about a different system of work at municipal level.
The other important state mechanism that does this is the Demarcation Board. When they spoke to the committee, they indicated that many provinces were not, in fact, using the capacity assessments that they were obliged to do by government as an instrument in order for provinces to make interventions in those municipalities. These things were not used, and therefore, must be used this time around. It is crucial that they are used as a basis for dealing with these issues.
It is important that the topic speaks about the state of local governance, meaning that it is not just about what government does, but what it does with people on the ground. Historically, the democratic movement has worked with NGOs both in local and in rural local governments to provide support to the work that was being done to bring about change in the localities, and so on. Post 1994 they have played an important role in the reconstruction process. Some of them have come together to constitute the Good Governance Learning Network, GGLN. They have for the first time compiled a report, and we would like to say from this podium that we appreciated its presence, because it represents the input of people who work with municipalities from outside and, therefore, it gives us valuable information that we can use.
We do not necessarily always agree on things, but some of the issues that they raised are critical, especially public participation which is one of the most important requirements that municipalities need to be on top of to perform their work properly.
In other words, the work, for example, the fact that the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is undertaking to lead an enquiry that would lead to a turnaround strategy is crucial, and it must take on board some of this work that has been done in civil society. This must happen inside the government itself.
I also want to mention our interaction with the Public Service Commission. The work that they do is crucial and as the Constitution says, it needs to be replicated towards municipalities; the useful information that emerges from the reports that they produce is equally valid for use at municipal level.
Therefore, the priorities that the new Parliament and government now have of principally dealing effectively with poverty and inequality in broad terms, and specifically with issues of health, education, rural development and combating crime - to mention those four - make up a crucial area in which municipalities are going to play an important role. And they cannot do so if institutionally they are not well capacitated and are not in a position to undertake their job properly.
With regard to the protests that have taken place, the count that we received from both Salga and others, who are local government watchers, is 35 municipal areas. But this is not taking place throughout these municipalities. It is in specific wards in those municipalities and in many of those instances there are understandable explanations. This means that there are reasons that can be traced that led to those protests, that the impatience of people often is justified in those areas. But in general, it is the requirements for our intervention both at parliamentary and government level that will turn things around at that level.
So, these protests are an indicator, not an exaggeration, of the need for us to intervene. It is a requirement for the period in which we are in to reconfigure, not only municipalities but the state as a whole, to become developmental, that is, decisive and action-oriented to bring about the kind of programmes that people on the ground require. Thank you. [Applause.]