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"MADE IN AFRICA - FOR AFRICA" FDA NEWSLETTER
MASS MAIL
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The AFRICA TRADE CENTRE AND THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA proudly presents you with the following information that may add value to Africa's development.
Following the Municipal LED (Local Economic Development) Summit, held here in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently, a few very interesting aspects emerged.
It would seem that the common perception, within the private sector, is that LED (Local Economic Development) is a 'government thing' and that government must do something about it!
On the other hand government and more so local government officials have a dilemma as to not knowing where LED (Local Economic Development) should be officiated from or where it fits into existing structures.
The Foundation for the Development of Africa has always maintained that sustainable development is a process that must start from within and from the bottom up. It is a process that must be tackled by all our people, including public sector; private sector and civil society - hence the www.isupportafrica.com and now www.isupportgeorge.co.za
I chaired this Municipal LED (Local Economic Development) Summit and found the opening address of the Minister for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, South Africa, Honorable Sicelo SHICEKA, most reassuring - herewith some extracts of his speech:
"This Local Economic Development Summit could not have come at a better time. It is time for us within government and for you as stakeholders present, to partake and contribute to the direction of local economic development. Unfortunately, this summit also comes at a time when the country is going through a recession, with the output growth showing considerable levels of decline.
The poor are bearing the brunt of the global economic meltdown and the recent statistics show that the household consumption has somehow declined at an alarming rate.
We all share the responsibility of making South Africa an investment destination of choice, and that starts with investing appropriate resources to develop our economy from the ward level. As the most basic unit of governance in society, each ward needs to have an economic activity with full participation by the local communities, as well as benefits.
Defining local economic development
Ladies and gentlemen, it is important that we define LED in the manner beneficial to our people. I know that this topic has various definitions, some which are academic and some which are simple. I will not go into them as I am certain that during these two days of the Summit's proceedings you will be presented with many.
It is common cause that we sometimes fail to address LED effectively as we apply a uniform approach, which we assume, is applicable uniformly within the various communities and spaces in which economic development is meant to operate. That is incorrect.
It is my considered view that LED may mean different things to different people within a local space. For instance:
* To an investor, it means having their town application approved to develop a shopping mall in Soweto.
* To a local seamstress or fashion designer operating their business from his or her home, LED is getting an opportunity to have a shop at the mall in Soweto.
* To a hawker, LED is having demarcated space outside that mall so that when people walk alongside the pavement on their way to the mall, they stop and buy her fruits, cigarettes or sweets.
I hope that one of the things which this summit must achieve is that understanding; that LED approaches must ensure that they are tailor-made for specific interventions. They must therefore be applied and implemented differently within the rural or urban context. The local specifics and context must always determine the applicable economic development, which will also resonate with the local people who have to own, protect and nurture it to grow even beyond small enterprises and co-operatives.
Government intervention
This country has stable economic fundamentals, but also experiencing contradictory high levels of unemployment, abject poverty and inequality. Within this context, the government should provide an enabling environment for economic growth.
In this country, we have wall to wall municipalities within provincial governments, where our people reside and development takes place. It is therefore important that we locate LED within an appropriate sphere where government deliverables have ever lasting impact. In my view, it is within municipalities where LED takes shape and starts to speak to the people, be it the communities trying to get out of poverty or businesses wanting to invest.
Municipalities must drive their LED programmes through various pillars of development such as service delivery programmes, infrastructure expansion, local skills development, public employment and any other programme geared towards economic growth.
However, it is critical that a collaborative approach is applied for LED. No organisation or person exists in isolation. The provincial governments, municipalities, state owned entities and local stakeholder groupings must truly join forces to work on behalf of continued growth and prosperity of local economies. Government cannot achieve this on its own, collaborations and partnerships with civil society stakeholders are key to achieving this goal.
We need to address the misaligned planning that exists between national, provincial and local government. The Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and Local Economic Development strategies of municipalities must reflect the priorities of the entire public sector, including those of public entities and local business. The IDPs will be reviewed to ensure that the criterion which determine to what extent adopted IDPs are credible or realistic, includes critical aspects on LED strategies, plans, budgeting and implementation.
The observed uncoordinated planning, implementation and oversight across spheres of government apply equally to local and provincial government. Over the next five years, provincial governments will receive dedicated support as a sphere to ensure that alignment of plans across the two spheres becomes a reality. As the Minister responsible for coordinating government horizontally and vertically across all spheres of government, it is our responsibility and a mandate given to us by the President of the Republic, the Honorable Jacob Zuma, to see to that this co-ordination actually happens.
Ladies and gentlemen, there can be no doubt that working together is critical. Mutual support yields success. It is therefore critical that each municipality and provincial government have a dedicated unit focusing on the LED and the implementation thereof. The barriers to development must be broken for the benefit of our people and the prosperity of our country.
Having this in mind, it becomes essential that officials within a municipality, provincial government departments, both political heads and administrative officials, have the required skills and expertise to engage business, establish partnerships, and understand LED both locally and globally.
Each and every municipal town or provincial city must become a tourist destination. Local tourism organizations must be mobilised to market and attract both tourists and investors in order to grow business. Private sector operates within the provincial and municipal space, therefore it is befitting that private sector companies are rallied to support the LED initiatives. PPPs with the local companies should be pursued with the aim of fostering economic vitality.
Some years back, the department developed a national framework for local economic development for a five year period, from 2006 to 2011. This framework entails amongst other things:
* Government's strategy
* Implementation approach and institutional arrangement
* LED funding
In addressing government's strategy, the framework unveiled four strategies on:
* improving good governance, service delivery, public and market confidence in municipalities as the first step in attracting investment and building loyalty
Various practical and implement able initiatives are provided:
* spatial planning in order to exploit the comparative advantage and competitiveness of municipalities
* intensifying enterprise support and business infrastructure development
* introducing sustainable developmental community investment which more about building communities and empowering them.
Co-operative governance and traditional affairs initiatives
As a department, we have identified programmes in support of local economic development.
Firstly, in Pondoland, we have brought various spheres of government together at the Ingquza Hill Local Municipality in Flagstaff, OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape with the aim of bringing an integrated development package to the Pondoland region which will ultimately result in social and economic development.
In the same manner, my department continues, as a champion, to co-ordinate and facilitate government's developmental packages and we will be championing such initiatives throughout the country.
Secondly, we have taken a conscious decision to facilitate the acceleration of service delivery in all parts of this country to address the service delivery backlogs. We want all backlogs to be quantified and to be funded accordingly.
The department has undertaken an audit of water and sanitation. Within the next few days, officials within the department will be in Limpopo, to pilot this initiative with respect to the status of the water and sanitation infrastructure.
Thirdly, we have heard the critique that MIG is outdated and not effective in addressing services backlogs; this despite that an amount of R24 billion has been allocated to municipalities with significant allocations in the three least developed provinces, namely Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.
Once this policy review process has been finalised, we will engage with municipalities and I sincerely hope that this process will accelerate the delivery of bulk services.
Fourthly, on Thursday last week I launched a project called Operation Clean Audit 2014, as one leg of a strategy to turn-around municipalities in the country. This was undertaken in pursuit of achieving clean governance and bringing quality services to our people by all spheres of government by 2014. It is indeed an ambitious task, but it is an initiative which we believe will turn around service delivery to our people, clean up government and accountability process and also improve the image of government to the citizens. This initiative will assist in bringing back community and investor confidence in government which in turn will further open up more local economic development opportunities.
Fifthly, we will develop mechanisms aimed at encouraging our people and government departments to save. Our expenditure should be driven by necessities rather than nice to haves. The governance blueprint will ensure that budgets are prioritised, reduce wastage and inefficiency. A debt management and reduction campaign is in planning and will be brought to the public in due course.
The sixth point is that Ward Committees, as basic units of governance and development, must be given the necessary responsibilities to facilitate local economic development in our communities. It is our resolve, therefore, that each ward should at least take charge of an LED project and ensure that the whole community participates and benefits.
Lastly, it is our view that all these ideas will remain futile exercise if something is not done to fight the common enemy to local economic development and that is the scourge of corruption and mismanagement of public funds. As a department we have resolved to combat corruption and wastage at all cost, if we are determined to accelerate local economic development. We have partners with the state law enforcement agencies, the treasury and other stakeholders to collaborate in rooting out corruption.
Our targeted interventions in troubled provinces and municipalities are an indication that we are serious about rooting out unbecoming behaviour within the state machinery. It is a war we are determined to win for the benefit of the masses of our people who continue to live in abject poverty without even the most basic of services, 15 years after voting their government into power. This cannot be allowed to continue!
Conclusion
These are just a few initiatives which the department is involved in to show our commitment to providing quality of life in under-developed communities and to improve public confidence in government.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is rather unfortunate that I cannot be a part of the summit over these two days, to engage, exchange ideas and learn from you as well. Finally and in closing, with your permission programme director, I would like to leave you with this statement to chew over, which is taken from the Polokwane resolutions under economic transformation.
"A South African developmental state, whilst learning from the experiences of others, must be built on the solid foundation of South African realities. Whilst engaging private capital strategically, our government must be rooted amongst the people and buttressed by a mass-based democratic liberation movement. Whilst determining a clear and consistent path forward, it must also seek to build consensus on a democratic basis that builds national unity. Whilst acting effectively to promote growth, efficiency and productivity, it must be equally effective in addressing the social conditions of the masses of our people and realising economic progress for the poor."
Need I remind you all that as citizens of this country and advocates of the poor, we are obliged to deliver in terms of this resolution. I therefore challenge you to partner with government in doing just that.
On that note, I wish you a very productive and enjoyable summit.
I thank you"
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