Salga defends councillors

2008-08-28 18:24

Johannesburg - The SA Local Government Association leapt to the defence of councillors' literacy levels on Thursday, saying only a small percentage had not gone further than primary school.

It disputed a media report that 32% of councillors could not read or write, saying that this statistic applied to councillors who had not completed matric.

Only five percent of councillors only had primary school education and after this was found, at least 8 000 councillors and council employees had been going for adult education classes.

"Whilst Salga is not only concerned about but is doing a lot to address the situation, we would like to emphasise that there is no direct relationship between low levels of councillor academic skills and service delivery," it said in a statement.

Combinations of skills

"Political leadership cannot only be exercised by those who possess formal academic skills. There are combinations of skills that have to be brought to the fore to provide direction to municipalities."

Salga commissioned a study in 2006 that showed that of the 48% of councillors who completed the questionnaire for the study, 60% were first-time local government political office bearers and so their experience in local government systems and processes needed to be developed.

It noted that 45% had varying levels of secondary school education and training and 49% had tertiary qualifications.

However, it found that between 67 and 86% of councillors needed some form of training.

Special courses

The councillors who did not have a matric, were being sent on a course which would give them an equivalent when completed.

Altogether implemented were courses in 35 topics, including adult education, introduction to local government, leadership development, communication skills, HIV/Aids, disaster management, procurement, municipal finance management, municipal service delivery, strategic planning, local government law and project management.

So far - excluding Gauteng and North West - 10 498 councillors had been on some form of training, Salga said.

These interventions were already showing in the form of better political management of municipalities, Salga said.

A spokesperson, Mogomotsi Mogodiri, said that these qualifications would also help the councillors branch out in later life when they were no longer councillors.

- SAPA