PREMIER'S ADDRESS
Master of Ceremony,
Your Excellencies, Mayors,
Comrades,
Distinguished guests
Let me start off by thanking you for the sterling role you played during the June elections. Through your unstinting support and hard work the people's voice in your area was able to be heard very loud and clear.
Through your efforts as Comrades in the African National Congress, COSATU, the SACP, SANCO and other democratic structures, you were able to ensure that the ANC gets a mandate to govern and ensure that the lives of our people improve.
For this the people of South Africa will be forever grateful.
There is a general consensus across the political party spectrum that the local government is the most strategic state organ to effectively meet community demands as they are the closest to the people.
The local government has an enormous task to ensure that every citizen has access to water, electricity, refuse removal, maintaining roads and all public amenities. Increasingly, communities are demanding better services. They want services delivered quickly, efficiently and effectively. In order to deliver services effectively, the local government need funds and rate payment is the key revenue source.
The pre-1994 political rationale for excessive boycotts and non-payment of rent and services does not exist anymore. But yet in some areas the culture of non-payment is still alive and kicking. Your areas are by and large rural and under- developed. Because of apartheid most of our people were relegated to the most arid parts of the country - dumped there after being used and abused by the captains of capital in the big cities and towns. Most areas were formerly classified as R293 and were administered by homelands.
Today most of you depend on inter-governmental grants. This money from the Department of Constitutional Development was used to pay everything except the running of administration. For administration you had to depend on rates payments from your communities.
But that is where the problem arose. Most of you do not have or cannot afford a proper billing system. The result was that money was not forthcoming. Whereas the problem in some areas was non- payment for services, your problem was largely that you could not properly bill residents.
Let me briefly touch on the issue of non-payment. There are several reasons why non payment exist:
- Equality of service has not been established
- Defective Municipal administration
- Growth of squatter camps
- General lack of confidence in local government
- Corruption
- Abuse of funds
- The introduction of a flat rate
- Claims of unaffordability
- The writing off of arrears
You may not have these problems yet, but soon some of you may find themselves having to address them. Some of the reasons listed above indicate the socio-economic circumstances of the population, especially in terms of unemployment.
However let us take into cognisance that as we approach the 2000 election, there will be a tendency amongst certain political parties to use pressing community issues as a tool to generate support.
It is relatively simple to mobilise by associating with the hardships of people, and challenging authority in question by posing as a mouth-piece of the community through exploiting their fears and aspirations.
We need no further proof that the opposition will try to keep momentum and support in order to further their own agendas, by discrediting councillors before the next elections.
It is thus imperative for the local government representatives to be critical of the strategies in place to solve community problems, as it has become a tendency that dwellers protest against local municipalities.
If this tendency is not curbed, it will result in higher level of instability in our communities and non-payment of services will also remain as long as the community perceive the local government as not delivering or fulfilling their needs.
Let us acknowledge that we have not been able to deliver on all our election promises in 1994 as well as 1999.
The people of Badplaas and other areas are still without electricity. The roads are in bad shape, there is a scarcity of water and in some areas there is a high crime rate. It has come to my notice that the Badplaas TLC almost collapse due to stoppage of the Inter Governmental Grant since March.
I urge the Regional Service Council to set up an appointment with the MEC for Local Government and myself to resolve this issue with immediate effect. I have full confidence that local government councillors and the MEC for Local Government, Mr Fish Mahlalela will be able to join forces and remove any obstacles towards efficient service delivery.
In conclusion, I would like to acknowledge the local councillors contribution in the various constituencies you serve. There are areas, which may still not receive the level of services, which you have hoped they would receive. And yet you find yourselves caught up in a vicious cycle.
Without payment, services cannot be improved, on the other hand, one is inclined to say that the only service worth paying for are those that meets the required standards. Paying of services is an investment to our collective future because it provides the oil to move the wheels. Local government cannot deliver effectively without the support of the people.
Our support for transformation can in part be measured through our willingness to pay for services of which we make use. Transformation has a cost, but the rewards are substantial.
I thank you.