DEAR Editor,-
Vijay Naidoo’s ‘Good Business Basics: Are Salga’s lofty objectives being met?’ article in the Business and Finance section (SCH November 19) warrants a response – lest his unfortunate perception of the South African Local Government Association (Salga) is accepted as a matter of fact, when it is in fact his personal view.
ALSO READ : No excuse for poor service delivery, municipalities told at Salga assembly
Ignoring Mr Naidoo’s criticism would have been easier because he attempts to be balanced in his criticism, though he misdiagnoses the problem by suggesting Salga has ‘failed’ on one of its core mandates of capacitating local government.
Salga does not shy away from constructive criticism. It’s a useful building block in firming up objectives, introspecting when necessary.
What Salga cannot allow is a parading of baseless narratives, seeking to maintain that local government is all doom and gloom. This narrative ignores evidence from Stats SA and many reputable bodies that confirm local government’s continuous accelerated provision of basic services.
This progress is recorded against a backdrop of a Salga which consistently achieves 98 percent against predetermined objectives from its annual performance plan, accompanied by clean audits for the past six years.
The criticism directed at Salga by people like Mr Naidoo is often a result of the lack in understanding Salga’s role as an association of municipalities born out of Organised Local Act (1997) and the White Paper on Local Government (1998).
These prescripts expect Salga to play a leading supportive role in the transformation of local government towards developmental-oriented.
A developmental local government should be not be understood as just a concept, but as the local government committed to working with citizens and groups within the community to find sustainable ways to meet their social, economic and material needs and improve the quality of their lives.
Salga exists to support the mission as highlighted in the White Paper to build a local government that is caring, accountable, responsive, innovative, participatory, capable and resilient.
To achieve this takes deliberate planning and execution, which requires buy-in and cooperative governance where everyone works as one well-oiled machine.
Many problems facing local government are complex, requiring detailed analysis and innovative solutions that will translate into implementable solutions.
Embedded in Salga’s mandate is the role to facilitate a shared learning environment between municipalities and any local government-specific research goes a long way in solving some of the pertinent challenges faced by sector.
ALSO READ : Good Business Basics: Are Salga’s lofty objectives being met?
The irony in Mr Naidoo’s criticism is that it was triggered by a Salga advertisement calling for papers for its upcoming Research Colloquium.
We remain cognisant of the challenges besetting the sector and welcome criticism that will assist us to build Salga as an institution – we trust Mr Naidoo will heed the call and join the conversation the colloquium seeks to steer.
SIVUYILE MBAMBATO
Media Relations Officer, Salga
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