MOSSEL BAY NEWS - In a bid to improve municipal service delivery despite the severe and mandatory budgetary cuts, a new district-based service delivery model was introduced to break down the separation between the different spheres of government.
Mossel Bay Municipality is embracing the new model, the Joint District Approach (JDA) first announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his third state of the nation address in June this year.
"Local governments, like other levels of government, are facing the challenges of the severe downturn in the economy, and financial constraints are putting huge pressure on budgets.
"Municipalities, in particular, have to comply with the very stringent Cost Containment Regulations. To meet the service delivery demands irrespective, and to live up to the expectation that local governments through their local economic development programmes should drive a developmental strategy and focus, the need for changes in approach to accommodate the new policy position of a JDA has become evident," Mossel Bay municipal manager Adv Thys Giliomee said.
The JDA is seen as an important innovation for the implementation of service delivery excellence that will ensure coherent planning, budgeting and implementation of service delivery projects in all the districts by all three spheres of government - national, provincial and local.
Adv Giliomee indicates that the Western Cape provincial government's provincial coordinating forum has adopted the new approach to service delivery that was launched province-wide on 4 October.
"To give effect to the new joint district approach, five district teams consisting of both departmental and municipal representatives were formed.
"Each district team will work towards the identification of strategic and planning priorities and service delivery challenges in their respective areas and use the team as planning and reporting platforms. The district teams will effectively form the link between the district, in our case the Garden Route and the provincial government in terms of any strategic or operational work," Adv Giliomee explained.
Success will hinge on co-planning, co-budgeting, and co-implementation to ensure better service delivery and community development. Senior officials of the district municipalities are mandated to ensure the coordination of planning, implementation and reporting within their geographic areas.
"The Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, expects the notion of 'radical, urgent and absolute commitment' in addressing service delivery. Mossel Bay Municipality can identify with this notion and therefore fully supports the premier in the new approach."
The priorities identified for the Garden Route are to grow the regional economy, to develop resilience as a region and to improve good governance through integrated management.
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