By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: GettyImages.
President Cyril Ramaphosa convened the eighth engagement in a series between national and provincial governments, to discuss economic growth and local government stability.
The engagement at the University of Free State’s Centenary Complex on Friday (27/3), themed A Year of Decisive Action, focused on strengthening intergovernmental relations and advancing the province’s plan to restore local government structures and boost the regional economy.
Ramaphosa said, Free State province’s strategic location has the potential to catapult the province into South Africa’s natural logistics and distribution hub.
“The Free State is uniquely positioned to be at the heart of our country’s economic growth story. “It is strategically located, making it a natural logistics and distribution hub, linking major economic centres,” Ramaphosa said.
Reflecting on the State of the Province Address delivered by Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae earlier this year, Ramaphosa commended the “ambitious, future-facing and outcomes-oriented” plans for the province.
“I was particularly struck by the attention to detail given to the initiatives planned for the year ahead, particularly around youth job creation, vocational training for young people, support for the agricultural sector, township economy revitalisation and others.”
“This is what the District Development Model (DDM) we initiated in 2019 is all about – namely the finer, granular details of not just what is being done to localise development, but also the ‘how’ and the ‘when’.
A central theme to the President’s remarks was the need to restore municipalities that face severe challenges. Ramaphosa said the failures needed to be rectified.
“To put it bluntly, local government is in crisis and has become the weakest link in our government architecture. Many municipalities are practically paralysed by poor governance, financial mismanagement and corruption, “said Ramaphosa.
“When there are weaknesses or failings at local government, it isn’t just service delivery that suffers, but the trust between government and citizens becomes frayed. Timeous implementation is the yardstick by which we are measured, and also by which we will be judged.”
“When local government is effective, capacitated, and professional, service delivery is improved. With effective financial management and strong, accountable leadership in local government, we are responsive to citizens’ needs and enjoy their trust.”
The president called on leaders to prioritise the restoration of local government services. This, according to Ramaphosa, will attract investment that creates jobs and boosts the economy.
“Inasmuch as we need to drill down into what the challenges, obstacles and bottlenecks are, this must be matched by solutions, and timelines for implementing them.”
“With the State of the Nation address having given the line of march, as it were, we are here to offer our support, and also our counsel. Being agile and responsive is a hallmark of the capable, ethical and developmental state we are striving to build, and we are also here to listen.”