Regional Focus

Regional Focus

By KoKetso MaMaBolo

To the people of KZN

President Ramaphosa takes parliament to the Ugu District Municipality

“h onourable Chair, I stand here, not only as a leader of the district but as a product of the valleys and dusty villages of Izingolweni, who clearly understands the plight of an African child, having risen from an impoverished background myself,” said , speaking at the latest Taking Parliament to the People event, which was held in the Ugu District Municipality in late November. The event was attended by officials from all three levels of gov-ernment, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, who addressed the community as part of the Taking Parliament to the People Programme.

taKing it to the people

The programme was established by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in 2002 as a way to bring parliament closer to the people, in order to increase and enrich public participation in the legislative process. Community members are afforded the opportunity to see how parliament works, to give them a better understanding of how they can contribute to the law-making pro-cess. They’re brought face-to-face with legislators and the executive through public hearings and site visits where they can share their experiences, suggestions and take leaders through the challenges they are facing.

Members of the Provincial Legislature, local government officials and representatives from other spheres of government engage with the public on issues before the sitting takes place, where they are addressed by either the President or Deputy President of the country. After the event, the leaders are briefed andthen follow-up through site visits to see if the concerns of residents have been addressed.

ugu District Municipality in nuMBers

4 908 km²

the area covered by the municipality

112 km

the length of the municipality’s coastline

85

the number of municipal wards

40

the number of traditional council areas

4

the number of local municipalities

parliaMent coMes to town

“Your effort in ensuring parliament is taken to the ordinary citizens is commendable and most welcome,” said Councillor Mthiyane. Along with President Ramaphosa, the Mayor was joined by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomsa Dube-Ncube, who acknowledged the water challenges faced by the residents of the Ugu District Municipality.

From “burst pipes, leaks, vandalism, illegal connections, low pressure, pump failures and load shedding among other things,” the Premier informed the community that the provincial govern-ment is working closely with the National Department of Water and Sanitation to resolve the is-sues. A ‘war room’ has been put together, meeting daily to speed up the response.

“The war room has put a turnaround plan in place which includes replacing old pipelines and equipment through Water Services Infrastructure Grant and the Municipal Infrastructure Grants. Some areas are complete and some are budgeted in the 2022/2024 financial year. There is in-sufficient funding available to attend to all areas simultaneously [sic],” the Premier said. “There are planned major bulk projects such as the Vulamehlo Cross-Border Water Supply Scheme (R1.1 billion) and the Harding-Weza Water Supply Scheme (R1.3 billion).”

In his address, which included sections in isiZulu, President Ramaphosa spoke directly to the people of the Ugu District Municipality, placing their issues in the broader context of

DiD you Know?

the ugu District Municipality was recently recognised for its efforts to implement the extended public works programme at the Kamoso awards. out of 34 categories, the municipality won in 10, including the best performance category.

municipal management and national government’s developmental mandate.

“In many ways, the challenges facing residents in Ugu District Municipality mirror those of many of our municipalities countrywide,” said the President.

“That is why we should welcome the new Local Government Municipal Systems Amendment Act, which is an important tool for improving the manner in which our municipalities function and for accountability.”

“Among other things, the Act disallows municipal officials from holding political office, defines competency criteria for the appointment of municipal managers and strengthens the framework for performance evaluation,” continued the President.

The President went on to highlight how the Taking Parliament to the People Programme allows state officials to improve how they respond to the concerns of the population by seeing what work has been done, and what still needs to be done.

The President’s closing remarks reflect his broader approach to the relationship between the public and elected officials: “To the people of the Ugu District Municipality I say, ‘join hands with us to make local government stronger here and throughout the province.”