EAST LONDON – The South African Local Government Association in the Eastern Cape(EC SALGA) held an annual provincial members assembly that was held on August 2nd-3rd 2023, and was chaired by SALGA provincial chairperson Cllr Mesuli Ngqondwana. The assembly took place at the East London International Convention Centre(EL ICC), hosted by the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
This year’s theme was ‘Working cooperatively to recalibrate local government professionalization towards effective service delivery and municipal financial sustainability.’ Attendees included Executive Mayors, Mayors, Speakers, Chief Whips, Municipal Managers, and Chief Financial Officers from member municipalities in the province.
Special guests included the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane, MEC for Co-oparative governance and Traditional Affairs in the province (EC COGTA) Zolile Williams, Chairperson of the House of Traditional Leadership, and government officials.
During the second day of the Eastern Cape Provincial Members Assembly, National SALGA President, ClIr Bhekeli Stofile, gave the presidential address,”The theme of this assembly emphasizes that we need to ask municipalities to concentrate on two things , the acceleration of basic service delivery and the strengthening of municipalities to be able to take care of their financial state of affairs.”
Stofile mentioned that SALGA is advocating for a review of the funding framework of local government in national policy discussions and is actively leading this discourse.
The keynote address was given by the Eastern Cape Premier, Hon Oscar Mabuyane, “We must also make education a focal point of our poverty alleviation strategies, equipping our youth with the skills and knowledge needed to compete in today’s knowledge-driven economy, this not only secures their future but also ensures the sustainable economic growth of our municipalities.”
While the panel discussion on municipal leadership, administration, and financial sustainability was led by MEC for COGTA in the Eastern Cape, Zolile Williams. One of the main topics discussed during the assembly was the methods to address service delivery backlogs caused by deteriorating infrastructure and limited resources that have left many communities without access to basic services, such as clean water, sanitation, electricity, and proper roads.
Cllr Siyabuyela Zangqa DR AB Xuma Local Municipality Mayor, “We feel very happy about the assembly itself because it has take stock of a number of things looking at all challenges faced by municipalities. What we would like to see as the DR AB Xuma local municipality getting necessary support and intervention from SALGA, thus we do not end up as municipalities getting into section 139. We wish that SALGA could make it a point that they do assist local municipalities on issues of administration and point us where we can go learn best practices for the benefits of our institutions,” Zangqa.
In addition according to the SALGA president Bheki Stofile, efforts are being made to tackle these challenges. The Eastern Cape government, in collaboration with provincial SALGA is working to prioritize service delivery and improve the lives of citizens in the province.
The Inxuba yethu local municipality won the award for consistent unqualified audit opinion on the 2nd of August 2023. Noncedo Zonke Inxuba yethu local municipality mayor shared some light on how they managed to keep the consistency, “We want to be on the clean audit, that we are on unqualified for 6th consecutive financial years is not something we pride ourselves of because there’s only one thing that is between us and the clean audits which are the UIFW which is unauthorized and fruitless irregular expenditures and this year we started to make sure that from the previous years whether we are not there at that time but we must make sure that we regularize them, we take them to council if they need condonement we take to consequence management if there was negligence. It’s not an easy process but we are undertaking because we want to be on clean audit but then to be on unqualified audit for those past 6 years it’s a good thing as much as we want to make sure we have a clean bill of rights in terms of our financial audits,”Zonke.
While progress is being made more needs to be done to address the service delivery backlogs in the Eastern Cape. Continued investment, effective governance, and community involvement are crucial for overcoming these challenges and ensuring a better future for all residents.
