Our Mandate

 

The delivery of the basic services is the most important element of poverty eradication. The Municipality further believes that the provision of the social and economic infrastructure can facilitate the local economic development. The provision of water, sanitation and electricity are identified as the main priorities in terms of meeting the basic needs.

Central to the acceleration of the basic needs is an issue of ensuring that free basic electricity and water are provided to the poor households, and the Municipality has committed itself to implement the policy of free basic services in the 2004/05 financial year.

The Municipality’s LED strategy emphasise on the attraction and retention of investment, SMME’s support, the provision of the basic needs, skills development and the implementation of the affirmative procurement framework, and the implementation of the labour intensive programme. We have also identified key strategic programme such as becoming “a regional trading hub” to accelerate economic development. The Municipality has identified competitive advantages to bolster “regional trading hub initiative”. These include implementation of the “inner urban renewal programme”, initiating of the regional shopping centre, the regional transport hub and agro-processing, and the mineral beneficiation centre. These initiatives are in consonant with the clustering components of the Limpopo Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. The Provincial Strategy has identified Polokwane as the logistics hub of the province.

We shall further implement cabinet decision on the Expended Public Works Programme. Cabinet has indicated that all spheres of governance and Parastatals should develop and implement public works programme. The objectives of this programme are facilitation of economic growth, skills development and acceleration of infrastructure investment. This programme will be included as the key element of implementing the affirmative procurement system and the overall implementation of the project management cycle.

The core objective of this key performance area is to mobilise and empower local communities to take control of the process of social transformation. This approach entrenches the principle of people-driven development stipulated in the constitution. Section of 152 (1)(e) of the Constitution asserts that local government must encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in matters of local government.

Community participation is based on the importance of ensuring that community is involved in the development process and the decision-making process of council. We have established ward committees and project steering committees to ensure that the community participates directly in the decision-making and the implementation of the municipal programme. Public Participation and Communications Unit is tasked to provide technical and the administrative support to the ward committees and the project steering committees. We have further established the IDP representative forum to ensure community participation and other stakeholders in the IDP and Budget Review Process.

Institutional transformation is a necessary condition to achieve the strategic objectives of the developmental governance. These include an outcome-based performance management system, implementation of Batho-Pele principles, employment equity and skills development. We have commenced with institutional transformation, however, we shall use the 2004/05 financial year to accelerate this initiatives. Staff training shall serve as the core priority for human resource in the 2004/05 financial year, and hence we resolved to allocate specific minimum and compulsory training hours for all individual staff members.