Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, says the District Development Model (DDM) is critical to the seamless and speedy delivery of services to communities.
Gungubele was speaking at the Sedibeng DDM Presidential Imbizo – led by President Cyril Ramaphosa – which kicked off on Friday morning at the Sharpeville Cricket grounds in Gauteng.
He explained that early into his tenure in the highest office, President Ramaphosa recognised the need for all three spheres of government to work together to ensure seamless delivery of services.
“It became clear to the President that all those partaking in delivery must communicate…there’s seamlessness [and] there are well informed expectations amongst them.
“When there is seamlessness, when we work together, the projects are delivered in a speedier manner, in a less costly manner [and] in a more accountable manner. The President took a view that all spheres of government… [must] come and work together in a seamless way [and] work together with society, business labour and all stakeholders in a seamless way. [That is the] District Development Model,” Gungubele said.
Cabinet adopted the DDM in August 2019. It is an integrated planning model for cooperative governance which seeks to be a new integrated, district-based, service delivery approach aimed at fast-tracking service delivery. It also seeks to ensure that municipalities are adequately supported and resourced to carry out their mandate.
The Minister acknowledged that government has identified several service delivery and bulk infrastructure problems in the Sedibeng District that must be addressed urgently.
“There’s a lot of painful things that we have witnessed [in Sedibeng], there are also a lot of good things that we have come across. The President is here…so that if there are gaps we go back and relevant leaders come back to correct those.”
Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the economy of the area needs to be reignited and that the provincial government has plans to ensure that it receives that boost.
“We want the President and his cabinet to know that the economy of the Vaal is in serious trouble. We need national government – not just the province – to help us revive and rebuild this economy. The unemployment [rate] in Sedibeng is 64%. This economy of the Vaal needs decisive regeneration and decisive intervention.
“We have a team working with national government. The first thing we are working on is economic regeneration of the Vaal.
“We want the Vaal to be better than it was 60 years ago. We are building the Vaal Special Economic Zone. We already have seven projects. We had an investment conference here in the Vaal last year…[businesses] pledged R45 billion investment on condition that certain things are done. The Vaal Special Economic Zone is a big economic regeneration project for this area of the Vaal,” Makhura said.
Meanwhile, Sedibeng District Mayor Lerato Maloka described the DDM Presidential Imbizo as a key step in the right direction for the district and its local municipalities.
“This is a day that we have been waiting for with great excitement and anticipation. It is a great day for the community for Sedibeng because it is a day where we will witness democracy in action whereby there are no reservations to interaction between the people and their government.
“I’m reminded of the slogan ‘Nothing about us without us’. This is a slogan that has been used for nearly 500 years to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without a full direct participation by…groups affected by this policy. This together with active citizen participation are the centre of the democratic project,” Maloka said.
Source: South African Government News Agency