By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says although government has made significant strides in improving the living conditions of South Africans, more needs to be done to ensure better quality of life.
Ramaphosa was delivering the closing address at a National Council of Provinces (NCOP) sitting in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal, on Friday.
The NCOP has been sitting in the Ugu District Municipality this week with members of Parliament and members of the provincial legislature.
It spent the week visiting various sites and conducting public meetings where residents were able to draw attention to service delivery challenges.
Residents shared, among others, their frustrations with poor service delivery, water shortages, crime and some police stations.
Ramaphosa said, “We have expanded basic services like water … we’ve also expanded electricity distribution and built homes. We have provided access to free primary healthcare, quality basic education and free tertiary education. Since 1994, the progressive and pro-poor policies of successive democratic administrations have lifted millions of people out of extreme poverty and improved their lives.
“And yet we know that we can no longer rely on these past glories as we witness severe challenges at local government, which is where service delivery happens,” he said.
Ramaphosa reflected that much time has been spent on “diagnosing the problem” with poorly run municipalities and that the time has come to focus on an ideal municipality and “build such municipalities”.
“Such municipalities provide good access to health, education and recreational facilities,” he said.
He added that in an ideal municipality, not only are residents able to lead lives of quality and dignity, but local governments become magnets for investment.
Ramaphosa highlighted that one of the steps government is taking to fight “inefficiency, maladministration, lack of financial controls and poor governance” at local municipality level, is the new Local Government Municipal Systems Amendment Act.
Meanwhile the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members of Parliament (MPs) disrupted Ramaphosa address after they staged a silent picket in the house.
As Ramaphosa started speaking, the EFF members raised their placards which read “Ramaphosa is a money launderer”.
NCOP chairperson Amos Masondo reprimanded the red berets.
“Please sit down and desist from what you are doing, honourable members. I am ordering you to please sit down. Honourable members of the EFF, if you do not take your seats I will be forced to take you out,” he said.