Welcome address by Gauteng MEC for Housing Nomvula Mokonyane on behalf of Premier Mbhazima Shilowa at the third South African Local Government Association (SALGA) National conference, Gallagher Estate 22 April 2007 Programme director It is an honour to have this opportunity to welcome all of you to our province. Mr President, the Minister of Provincial and Local Government, all ministers present and the chairperson of SALGA, you are welcome in Gauteng . Members of the diplomatic core, invited guests, SALGA members, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the province of opportunities. We are pleased to be your hosts as you reflect on realities of service delivery, poverty alleviation and how to intensify delivery towards 2010 and beyond. It is appropriate that you should be meeting now to reflect on these critical issues because next year will mark the mid-point of the five year term of office of local government. But because next year is an election year for provincial and national government, it would not have been possible to have a proper reflection on the work you are doing in the communities without being hindered by election issues. While the elections will be contested on national and provincial issues, it inevitable that issues relating to local government will be brought up opportunistically by some to gain public attention, sympathy and win votes. This therefore is an opportune time to undertake a thorough reflection on what you have done so far, how you are performing and what specific steps you are going to take to realise the objectives of your five year programme of action. It is encouraging to note that apart from one place, there are no major service delivery upheavals in all our municipalities. But that should not cause us to relax. We have to find ways to redouble our efforts and accelerate delivery to meet the reasonable expectations of our people. Your conference should help us as different spheres of government to work together in an integrated manner to deliver services seamlessly to communities. It is your challenge as well to reflect on the capacity constraints that hamper our ability to deliver services appropriately and to the standards expected by our people. A clean government is what the people expect and they are entitled to it. The challenge for us in government is therefore to promote good ethical conduct, fight corruption, nepotism and entrench a culture of work and service to the people. We have promised that we will work together with our communities in a people's contract to fight poverty and unemployment. As an expression of that contract and to promote public participation, we established ward committees. We however need to evaluate how these committees are working and whether they are succeeding in deepening democracy at ward level and in ensuring a free flow of information from government to the citizens. Once again you are welcome in Gauteng . I wish you a successful conference and look forward to your resolutions. I also look forward to continuing a healthy relationship with the leadership that will be elected by this conference. Issued by: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government
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