President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that the government must stop diagnosing problems without implementing solutions.
- He was delivering the closing speech at a NNational Council of Provinces yesitting in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.
- Members of Parliament and members of the provincial legislature spent the week visiting various sites in the Ugu District Municipality as part of an initiative to bring Parliament to the people.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that the state’s biggest problem is its fixation on local government problems without outlining and implementing tangible changes to remedy those problems.
“We often spend a lot of time diagnosing the problem and painting a picture of what a poorly run municipality looks like,” he said.
However, the government should “focus on what an ideal municipality should look like and how to build such municipalities across the country.”
The president delivered 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.
She spent the week visiting various sites and holding public meetings where residents were able to call attention to service delivery challenges.
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Residents shared, among other things, their frustrations with poor service provision, water shortages, crime and some police stations.
Ramaphosa reiterated that his administration spent a lot of time deliberating some of the key elements that make up an ideal municipality, including “a vibrant economy, places tourists want to visit, interconnected communities, and education and training centers,” but added that he already it was time for a shift towards implementation.
“Such municipalities provide good access to health, education and recreation facilities,” he said.
He added that in an ideal municipality, not only residents can lead a dignified and quality life, but local governments become magnets for investment.
Ramaphosa added:
In summary, an ideal municipality is a place where people want to live, want to work, want to carry out their businesses and investments, and want to visit.
He spoke about the importance of showing that, even after 28 years since the first democratic session of Parliament in Cape Town, the National Assembly is still responsive and determined to make a difference in the lives of South Africans.
“This week, [the] Bring parliament to the people [programme] has come here to the Ugu District Municipality for the first time. They are here to respond to his concerns and tell him what they are doing to resolve them,” Ramaphosa said.
The pledge follows izimbizos the president has carried out in the North West, the Free State, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Northern Cape this year under the theme “Leave no one behind”.
