ANC seeks stronger local govt
2005-01-08 15:29
Mthatha - The African National Congress is to embark on what it calls a "sustained campaign" to strengthen local government in the coming year and over the next decade.
The announcement was made on Saturday in a policy statement released by the organisation's national executive committee to coincide with the ANC's 93rd anniversary rally on the outskirts of Mthatha.
It comes ahead of the nationwide local government elections which will take place towards the end of this year.
Last year poor or non-existent service delivery at local level led to riots in several towns, while the Sabata Dalindyebo municipality that controls Mthatha has been riven by political conflict.
Speaking at a fund-raising dinner in the town on Friday night, ANC leader President Thabo Mbeki in fact joked that he did not know who the mayor of the Mthatha council was.
The NEC said the party's national general council, a body which gathers in the interregnum between national conferences, would when it met in July have to pay "particular attention" to strengthening local government, which was critical to reconstruction and development.
This would have to focus not only on council structures but also on the functioning of ANC councillors and branches, "both of which have to maintain the closest contact with the masses of the people in their localities and respond expeditiously to their demands".
Realise the vision of the Freedom Charter
"We must ensure that local government, including elected representatives, ward councils and other forums and structures for popular participation, genuinely realise the vision of the Freedom Charter at local level," it said.
This would allow people to "act as their own liberators".
Serious attention would also have to be given to meeting the SA Local Government Association's call for the immediate achievement of gender equality in the composition of our municipal councils.
The ANC would this year mount a "sustained campaign" to build local government capacity, which would include popularising ward committees, intensifying efforts to roll out community development workers, and drawing national, provincial and local leaders of the tripartite alliance into an intensive "know your neighbourhood" campaign.
Speaking to thousands of party members under a lowering sky at the Mthatha rally, Mbeki referred to the clause in the Freedom Charter which said "the people shall govern".
He stressed that the local government sphere should work properly and that mayors and municipal managers should respond "urgently" to the needs of the people in terms of the requirements of Batho Pele.
He suggested that councillors and mayors have their performance assessed at the end of the year.
Also in line with the NEC statement, Mbeki firmly recommitted his government to the Reconstruction and Development Programme, saying it was the instrument to "pursue the vision" of the Freedom Charter.
- SAPA