Durban — In celebration of Women’s Month, local government structures emphasised on intersectionality and for budgets to be inclusive of women. This message was delivered by the Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature during the South African Local Government Association (Salga) Symposium.
The Salga Symposium began on Wednesday and concludes on Thursday (today) at the Gateway Hotel, Durban.
KZN Legislature Speaker Nontembeko Boyce emphasised the critical role of local government in uplifting communities through effective oversight. Highlighting the significance of Women's Month, she underscored the pivotal contributions of women in local governance and the importance of service delivery points that truly belong to the people.
She said, “If we still fail to deliver basic services and to adopt gender budgeting in our planning; deprivation and underdevelopment will remain with our women.”
Boyce echoed this message as August is Women’s Month in South Africa. She acknowledged all councillors who identify as women present at the symposium and said August is a month characterised by their leadership, which is premised on understanding the intersection of gender with all facets of service delivery.
Furthermore, it is leadership that understands that beyond March and August, the plight of citizens deprived of basic services leads them to not only feel despondent but also lose the true meaning of democracy.
“Voting is an expression of their wishes that need to be fulfilled post-election, and while all this is true, it also remains a fact that the brunt of poor service delivery is heavily felt by women and the youth,” she said.
Boyce said that the legislature is mandated to perform law-making and oversight; and this oversight of local government is done through Cogta.
Boyce said, “When service delivery declines, it is easy to blame councillors. Some of the failures of local government are due to the higher levels at national levels.”
Boyce made the example that if someone has a housing issue, they go directly to the mayor’s house and possibly damage it, instead of passing by the local councillor’s house and discussing. She added that in some cases, they would even vandalise and cause damage to the councillors’ houses.
Boyce added that budgets needed to be inclusive of both genders ‒ intersectionality and “gender budgeting”.
“When there’s a development, we need to understand that there’s intersectionality,” she said.
Regarding physical oversights, Boyce said the main issue is that they tend not to visit ward councillors.
She urged everyone to work together and take lessons from the May elections as it was the first time that South Africa did not have a clear leader nationally but under the Government of National Unity.
“We have to do this, not for us, but for those who began the liberation movement. For us to listen to each other beyond our skin colour,” Boyce concluded.
Members of Salga, the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) gathered to address the issue of service delivery.
They were accompanied by various mayors and deputy mayors from municipalities across the province.
Despite his absence, Salga chairperson, councillor Xolani Dube virtually provided a summary of the symposium and its aims.
“This event is a pivotal platform for engaging in critical discussions that shape the future of local governance,” Dube said.
Dube said the symposium was designed to tackle pressing issues that impact municipal governance and service delivery; and shall delve into the promotion of oversight, accountability, and consequence management in local government, emphasising the necessity for robust mechanisms that ensure transparency and responsibility.
He added that ethical leadership will be a focal point in the discourse on maintaining integrity and trust within municipalities.
“Risk management emerges as a crucial tool for enhancing service delivery and municipal governance; by identifying and mitigating risks, we can pave the way for more resilient and effective local government structures,” Dube said.
Dube added that they aim to explore the complexities of coalition governments in municipalities, addressing the challenges and opportunities they present.
In conclusion, Dube said that they hope a path can be forged towards sustainable governance and accountability, ensuring that municipalities serve communities with excellence and integrity.
Among other topics:
- An anchor presentation by Salga specialist Michael Chauke on: “Mechanisms for effective Local Government (LG) oversight, accountability, and consequence management.”
Session two: Performance management as a propeller for good governance. Under this session, topics included:
- “Performance management as a tool to foster accountability;”
- “The extent to which the municipal staff regulations have enabled or stifled improvements in good governance and performance management.”
Session three focused on coalition politics in local government. Under this session was:
- “Coalition governance putting the interests of communities at the forefront;”
- Panel discussion: “How can coalition governance prioritise community interests to create more effective and responsive leadership, and what mechanisms can be adopted to ensure its success?”
Session four focused on: Violent Incident Reporting APP:
- Salga Mobi Application
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