Supporting rural areas
The nation’s traditional leaders welcome the new district development model
THE Constitution of South Africa highlights the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner, the promotion of social and economic development as well as the involvement of communities in their governance.
To achieve this constitutional directive, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the introduction of “a new integrated, district-based approach to address our service-delivery challenges, localised procurement and job creation, that promotes and supports local businesses for the benefit of communities”.
Traditional leadership welcomes this renewed approach by government to bring services to our communities across the country through the new model which has already been launched at OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape.
Traditional leaders are the custodians of the traditions and cultures of their people, symbols of unity in their communities. As such, they are more affected by the perennial service-delivery challenges that continue to besiege communities in their areas of jurisdiction. It is within this context that we welcome the new model and urge its full implementation, hoping it will perhaps bring relief to communities who have been successfully marginalised in the delivery of services.
As traditional leaders, we have a vested interest to ensure that municipalities work as envisaged in order to bring an end to the suffering and plight of our communities, especially the poorest in rural areas.
If the District Development Model has been crafted to address service labour challenges and speed up service delivery and economic development, including job creation, it will be a much-needed, important intervention.
Furthermore, as traditional leaders we ask that in developing district plans the needs of the people be prioritised as encapsulated in the Integrated Development Plans (IDPs).
The Constitution recognises traditional leaders and envisages a role for them in local government. What is needed is a working relationship between traditional leaders and elected local representatives to maximise benefits for the community.
As part of ensuring this co-operation, traditional leaders must participate in the meetings of municipal councils so that they may place the concerns and needs of their people on the table before these councils.
The institution of traditional leadership has always been on the record to say that the non-optimal delivery of services and diminished impact on the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and employment is detrimental to the whole country, especially to those communities that are in need of services to change their lives.
Traditional leaders, therefore, welcome the fact that the new model aims to amplify the khawuleza (hurry up) approach which is a call for accelerated service delivery and that municipalities be properly supported and adequately resourced to speed up service delivery to communities, the majority of which are under the traditional authorities.
Traditional leaders will continue to work in partnership with government democratic structures to ensure that the lives of communities are improved as stability and development in rural areas can bring about economic opportunities. In welcoming the model, we are cognisant that neither the democratic state nor traditional leadership can be successful without working in partnership, motivated by the needs and aspirations of our communities.
In this context, as traditional leaders, we believe that the call to end all identified patterns of operating in silos is indeed key to South Africa’s development.
Developing a partnership between traditional institutions and elected local government structures is crucial, it is important and this should be structured. A structured partnership may take the form of regular consultations, joint planning, decision-making in certain areas.
We, as traditional leaders, hope that the model will develop, support and promote local entrepreneurs through prioritising local procurement of services and goods. In areas under traditional leaders, local economic development is important and this will assist to build public and business confidence in such areas as places to live, work and invest in.
The model also has to strengthen community participation, advocate for cohesive communities, strengthen relations and prioritise social partnerships and collaboration with all sectors of society and communities in addressing service bottlenecks. The involvement of traditional leaders in service delivery matters will help expedite the redress municipal service imbalances and inequities that exist in the rural disadvantaged communities.
In the quest for a better and improved service delivery, traditional leaders provide and add value as service delivery cannot be achieved in isolation from the integration of traditional leaders into the entire process. The integration of traditional leaders into the processes of delivering service is to ensure that these are rendered equitably, efficiently and effectively.
I urge leaders and the Houses of traditional leaders to actively participate in improving the lives of communities through service delivery and this can be done through several programmes aimed at community development such as Rural Invest and Agrarian Revolution.
The model also has to strengthen community participation