At a media briefing in Pretoria today the Minister for Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi said that the majority of the submissions came from the civil society, community organisations and the private sector.

Minister Mufamadi however added that the limited response from national and provincial government departments was a particular area of concern.
Minister Mufamadi however added that the limited response from national and provincial government departments was a particular area of concern.

However, all municipalities had made a consolidated submission under the banner of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and this constituted about 22% of all the 135 submissions received.

“The second largest contributions came from ordinary people, members of the public who also wanted to be part of the process and there was also many submissions that were consolidated into one, and these mainly came from municipalities,” said Minister Mufamadi.

He said most of the submissions had been vigorously analysed and this would now allow his department to take the process into its second phase which also will still be characterised by intensive consultation.

Several non-governmental organizations also held their own conferences or seminars during this period, to which the department of provincial and local government was invited to make an address on the process. Numerous other consultative meetings were held with practitioners and stakeholders.

According to the Deputy Director-General for Governance, Policy and Research of the dplg who also is overseeing the process Derek Powell, the research and public submissions provided some new insights about the operation of the provincial and local government systems over the past thirteen years. They also confirmed the findings of assessments undertaken by the department and other state departments over the past years.

To this end, the department has classified the relevant issues and lessons that would be considered further in the process into five main thematic clusters. These themes form the framework and basis for the policy review, targeted research and further consultation, and will inform the structure of the white paper. They are substantially informed by research, submissions and experience.

The five thematic areas are the following –

1. The roles of provincial government and two-tier local government;

2. Deepening local democracy, accountability and participation;

3. Strengthening capacity to meet basic needs and enable sustainable development;

4. Refining the intergovernmental roles, functions and fiscal frameworks of spheres; and

5. Making cooperative governance work more effectively and improving oversight, performance management, and the monitoring and evaluation system.

Further research and consultations will examine these and other issues under this theme to determine whether additional measures are needed.

The next phase of the review would be undertaken under each of these areas, leading to the release of a draft white paper in mid 2008 for further public consultation. Comprehensive geo-spatial modeling for clusters one and two is underway and will enjoy priority in 2008.

The department of provincial and local government would publish on its web-site selected research undertaken during the first phase.
“It should be stressed, and the public is requested to take note, that the views expressed by the researchers in these papers belong to the authors, and should not be attributed to the department or government. The overall process will culminate in early 2009 when a white paper is submitted to Cabinet,” said Powell.