Strategic overview
Back to Basics
On Thursday, 18 September 2014, President Jacob Zuma and the Minister for
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Pravin Gordhan launched the Back
to Basic approach at the Presidential Local Government Summit.
The summit included key local government and private sector leaders who adopted
the Back to Basics approach as an urgent action plan to strengthen local government
by getting the basics right.
The Context for the Back to Basics Concept and Approach
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The White Paper on Local Government and the Municipal Structures Act,
provided that district municipalities should fulfil the following developmental
mandates:
Ensuring integrated development planning for the district as a whole;
Providing district-wide bulk infrastructural development and services;
Building capacity of local municipalities in its area to perform their functions
and exercise their powers, where such capacity is lacking;
Promoting equitable distribution of resources between local municipalities in
its area to ensure appropriate levels of municipal service within the area
Developmental local government remains the visionary foundation for the
continuing reconstruction and development of our country. The Local Government
White Paper developed a vision of local government as a key component of the
developmental state .In pursuit of that vision, basic services, social services, and civil
and political rights, including participatory governance, have been progressively
extended to more citizens than ever before. It is recognized however, that despite our
delivery achievements, much still needs to be done to improve the performance of
local government.
COGTA Initiated Back to Basics by:
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onducting a desk top assessment of municipalities in all nine provinces;
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By verifying the findings with provinces;
By presenting this state of LG to PCC, MinMec; and a launch in Presidential LG
Summit;
By developing 3 categories of municipal performance to initiate focused action.
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