President Cyril Ramaphosa : Official launch of the revised White Paper on Local Government

Programme Director, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Premiers and MECs, Members of Parliament, Executive Mayors, Mayors and Councillors, Leadership of the South African Local Government Association, Traditional and Khoi-San leaders, Directors-General, Distinguished guests, Fellow South Africans.

For millions of South Africans, the experience of government is not primarily shaped by what happens in Parliament, in provincial legislatures or in the offices of national departments. It is shaped by the quality of the water that comes out of their taps, the reliability of the electricity supply, the state of the roads in their neighbourhood, the collection of refuse and the safety of their streets.

Too many communities have grown accustomed to services that are unreliable, infrastructure that is deteriorating and municipal administrations that are unresponsive. This cannot continue.

It is for this reason that we are launching the Revised White Paper on Local Government.

In 1998, the White Paper set out a blueprint for democratic local government. We inherited a deeply fragmented system, deliberately designed to serve the interests of a minority while denying the majority of South Africans access to basic services and economic opportunity. Apartheid had created prosperous municipalities with strong revenue bases and well-developed infrastructure in some areas, while leaving the vast majority of our people in underdeveloped, under-resourced and neglected townships and rural areas.

We sought to ensure that all South Africans, regardless of where they lived, would enjoy access to essential services. This revised White Paper lays the foundation for far-reaching legislative, institutional and financial reform of the entire local government system. This White Paper represents a fundamental reassessment of how local government is structured, financed, managed and held accountable.

In addition, the White Paper recognises that the role of local government as a provider of water and electricity has not been sufficiently regulated. The combination of support and regulation, respect for local government autonomy and a willingness to intervene when needed will transform the delivery of basic services.

Secondly, the Revised White Paper proposes that local government be treated as one integrated system. The District Development Model was introduced to bring government and its partners together around shared priorities in each district and metro. Local government must be a partner in growth. The 1998 White Paper helped us establish democratic local government. The task before us now is to make developmental local government work as it was intended.