by Bonginkosi Masiwa

In his ninth State of the Nation Address on 8 February 2008, President Thabo Mbeki quoted the legendary Charles Dickens from his novel A Tale of Two Cities:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness … that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Dispelling fears that the country had entered an era of uncertainty and confusion about the future, Mbeki concluded his address by saying: “What I do know is whatever the challenges of the moment, we are still on course!”

Acknowledging the presence of his 92-year-old mother, the president explained that she had come “to communicate an unequivocal message from the rural masses of the Transkei who were demanding that their leaders tell them the truth of whether they remained committed to the undertaking they made that life would improve in the new South Africa”.

According to Mbeki the demand for the truth was being overshadowed by the “strong crosswinds” buffeting South Africa that made it difficult to foresee the country’s future.

Despite the uncertainty, he was able to affirm that in 2008 poverty-reduction programmes would take precedence over economic growth. An all-stakeholder partnership in strategising against poverty would be put in place. This would be in the form of a “National War Room for a War against Poverty”.

It would bring together relevant government departments at all three levels and partner with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and business to identify interventions required in specific households. The ultimate goal is to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014 in line with the targets set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Back in 2005 Mbeki stated that national government would initiate discussions with the two other spheres, provincial and local governments, to examine the feasibility of introducing at these levels “a system of institutionalised co-operation with civil society” similar to the national Presidential Working Groups.

Mbeki announced an increase in the social grant system by equalising the age of eligibility at 60, thus benefiting about half a million men in the 2008 national budget. Under Mbeki’s leadership the government has seriously pursued welfarist policies that have seen a rapid expansion of the social grant system.

In 2005 Mbeki introduced the new social security agency aimed at improving the integrity and efficiency of the social grant system in order to continue to build a social security net to meet the objective of poverty alleviation through ensuring that social grants reach all 7.7 million beneficiaries at that time. It was planned that within two years, about 3.2 million children would be eligible for child support grants as the upper age limit was raised to children turning 14.

Mbeki’s government earmarked R166 billion to be allocated over three years for social security. Inasmuch as social security has regularly been expanded, the president recently urged all South Africans to be economically innovative and do away with dependency on government handouts. He implied that people needed to be, among other things, more visible on street corners, venturing into small businesses and trading with each other.

Improving inter-governmental relations is critical to the attainment of such ambitious programmes.  Government still needs to enhance its capacity to put in place realistic and integrated plans, covering all spheres of government. Local government has to play a central role in the fight against poverty as it is the sphere of government that is closest to the people. This it can do successfully if community structures such as ward committees and community development workers are functional.    

In fighting poverty the three spheres of government are to be guided by the 24 Apex Priorities that are meant to fast-track the achievement of the goal of a better life for all South Africans. Mbeki’s era has been largely credited with record economic growth as it has seen many strategies such as GEAR, ASGISA and the current Industrial Policy Action Plan designed to continue to create opportunities for growth and employment creation.

According to Mbeki, ASGISA confirmed the need for the expansion of the small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sectors, paying particular attention in this regard to broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), and the development of women and the youth.

Skills development remains a crucial area if accelerated economic growth is to be achieved. Economic growth for 2007 was 4.5%, some way off the 6% target – however this is still viewed by analysts as a significant growth likely to keep investor confidence rising. It is also hoped that boosting the Expanded Public Works Programme budgetary allocation to R1 billion will see local government not only expanding its infrastructural projects but also creating much-needed employment opportunities.

Overall, the last five years of Mbeki’s era have seen an attempt by the state to address the shortage of skills at municipal level through the introduction of strategies such as Project Consolidate that have achieved some success.

The president announced that work to review the National Human Resource Development Strategy was to be completed in 2008, and also called for the intensification of the skills development strategy organised under the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA).

To compliment government efforts all spheres of government have agreed that critical vacancies should be filled within six months of such openings emerging. Currently 22% of municipal manager posts are vacant.

In an apparent drive to increase accountability and manage performance, the implementation of this decision is to be monitored by the Department of Public Service and Administration. During the first half of every year and within two months of the beginning of the financial year at local government level, all senior managers should have filled their Key Performance Agreements with relevant authorities which will be monitored by the Office of the Public Service Commission. SALGA has agreed to provide quarterly reports on the work being done to ensure systematic monitoring in this regard.

Calling for even more accountability at local government level Mbeki stated that municipalities were to receive assistance in developing anti-corruption strategies. The government is set to work with other social partners to ensure that, by the end of the year, the second National Anti-Corruption Programme is adopted, and that the action plan agreed on with organised business is implemented. Furthermore the implementation of the 5-Year Local Government Strategic Agenda will intensify efforts to strengthen local government capacity.

A concerted effort is needed to address challenges such as the shortage of proper sanitary facilities and the current power crisis. In his 2007 State of the Nation Address Mbeki promised that the bucket system would be eradicated by the end of the year.  The Department of Water and Forestry replaced 190 337 toilet buckets during the course of the year. However there are 46 887 buckets remaining in 2008.

Opting not to point fingers, Mbeki alluded to the crisis as not only posing a challenge, but as one that presented an opportunity for national unity in resolving it. The nation was better off exploiting challenges and turning them into opportunities to forge strong partnerships to tackle difficult situations, he said.

The president hinted at the idea that hikes in electricity were to be expected, as the era of very cheap and abundant electricity had come to an end. His plea for increased unity stopped short of openly inviting other stakeholders to be partners in the process of developing an integrated plan, with specific emphasis on energy efficiency. Mbeki admitted that many of the challenges facing government were a result of serious weaknesses in terms of planning.

Recently questions have arisen as to whether government has laid down a solid foundation to continuously defend our democratic Constitution in the future. The notion of “business unusual” is also possibly necessitated by the backdrop of an increasingly troubled South African society, anxious about what the future holds following the ANC’s Polokwane drama.

Mbeki acknowledged that events such as the suspensions and prosecutions of some key public figures in the state and the disbanding of previously respected institutions or units had resulted in fears over what some may have construed as a threat to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. However, he appeared keen to reassure sceptics that the rule of law was under no threat.

The speeding up of land and agrarian reform with detailed plans for land acquisition was also a key pronouncement in the president’s speech. This, he said, would also involve better implementation of agricultural support services and household food support and provision of micro-credit in this sector focusing on areas of large concentrations of farm dwellers and those with high eviction rates.

Government would also aim to increase black entrepreneurship in agricultural production by 5% per year. By and large, populist policies were more visible in Mbeki’s final address as he attempted to strike a balance between the factions within the ANC.

As further reassurance that the country was still headed in the right direction, Mbeki reiterated that the fundamentals that had informed the country's forward march in the past 14 years remained intact. These continue to provide a strong base on which the pursuit of the goal of a better life for all must proceed.

Local Government Transformer Apr/May 2008