HealthMay 2015 • Rural Development • Employment • Safety & Security • Education1 Vuk’uzenzele FREEFREE Brought to you by Government Communications (GCIS) May 2015 From the Government New build Union tackles TB programme Buildings creates jobs P3 P5 P8 Improving local government Ongezwa Manyathi municipalities have reduced poverty. The report shows that 5.3 million households After 15 years of local are receiving free basic services and that of the 11.8 million who receive basic water services, government, South African 2.5 million of them benefit from indigent sup- port. Indigent households are those that qualify communities are experi- for rebates or service subsidies. Ten million consumer units are receiving encing better access to sewerage and sanitation from municipalities in South Africa and 31.1 per cent of these services such as water, con¬sumer units have access to free basic sewerage and sanitation. sanitation and electricity. “While the lives of millions have improved meaningfully, there are many others who are ousing developments have created still waiting, who still need to see their lives vibrant communities that have changing for the better. facilities such as crèches, clinics and They want water, electricity, housing, roads H schools. and decent schools near their homes,” empha- Government has also replaced almost 500 sised President Zuma. informal settlements with quality housing and basic services over the past five years. “We have made significant progress since the SOUTH AFRICA'S GOOD STORY dawn of democracy to respond to the injunc- The President told delegates that a lot of good tion that there shall be houses, security and had happened in South Africa during the past comfort, cited in the Freedom Charter,” said 20 Years of Freedom and that the country did President Jacob Zuma says much more needs to be done to improve the lives of South President Jacob Zuma. He was speaking at the Africans. have a good story to tell. South African Local Government Association “This is a story of a caring, effective govern- (SALGA) National Members Assembly (NMA) ment that has worked wisely and diligently held in Midrand recently. local government and improve services. basic services. with scarce resources to make deep, positive The NMA is a meeting for local government The theme for this year’s conference was “The release of the 2011 Census confirmed changes in people’s lives. leaders to reflect on progress made in local “Celebrating 15 years of Democratic Local the great strides made in providing basic “This is a story of good work and centres of government and also to find ways to strengthen Government. Going back-to-basics to consoli- services. This upward trend is reinforced by excellence that have emerged across the length local government and improve services. date and deepen a developmental and people the last report on the non-financial census of and breadth of our country, in provinces and The theme for this year’s conference was centred local democracy.” municipalities which was released on 2 Sep- in the local sphere.” “Celebrating 15 years of Democratic Local The President said many communities were tember 2014,” he said. Continued on page 2 government and also to find ways to strengthen already experiencing progress by receiving According to the report, services provided by Enhancing the quality of education in SA Allison Cooper still needs to be done to improve learner partici- “The MST Lab will develop mechanisms to pation and the success rate in the MST space, encourage greater learner participation and The national Department there’s no doubt that considerable progress has will finalise a sector plan needed for a sys- been made tematic and increased success rate,” Minister of Basic Education (DBE) is The department has already established a Motshekga said. fully functional and dedicated MST Directo- working hard to improve the rate, which is driving a MST improvement GETTING A HANDLE ON THE plan that has already undergone a thorough CHALLENGES quality of education across review process. The Minister and Deputy Minister Enver “Plans are afoot to collapse the Dinaledi and Surty raised a number of challenges around the country, particularly when technical schools’ conditional grants into a MST during The New Age Business Briefing new and combined system-wide grant - the recently. These included providing resources, it comes to maths, science MST Conditional Grant - and discussions with teachers’ capacity, monitoring and support. Treasury are at an advanced stage,” she said. These challenges were identified by a Min- and technology. Dinaledi is a DBE initiative with a particular isterial Task Team looking into MST. focus on maths and science. The team also found that provinces do not t the third Mathematics, Science In addition, the DBE has commissioned a have adequate plans in place for external sup- Basic Education Minister Angie and Technology (MST) Roundtable MST Big Fast Results Lab to develop a long- port or partnerships with the private sector Motshekga. recently, Minister of Basic Education term strategy to improve teachers’ content or non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Continued on page 4 AAngie Motshekga said although a lot knowledge on these subjects. “This often results in an avalanche of NGOs Vuk’uzenzeleVuk’uzenzele is is FREE . but. but please please pass pass it on it whenon when you you are aredone done 2 Vuk’uzenzele May 2015 GENERAL Innovative solutions for an effective local government Ongezwa Manyathi the largest number of winners coming from lo- cal government. Cooperative Governance INNOVATION BRINGS SERVICES CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE and Traditional Affairs Minister A number of municipalities across the country use innovation to provide services to their Pravin Gordhan urged communities. One such municipality is the eThekwini Municipality’s Water and Sanitation delegates attending a South (EWS) unit. The EWS unit manages the water and sanita- African Local Government tion within the eThekwini Municipality and has worked with, among others, the Bill and Association (SALGA) National Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Bank. Members Assembly (NMA) to In 2014, the unit won the 2014 Stockholm Industry Water Award for the “Most innovative do more with less. and progressive water utility in Africa”. EWS unit representative, Dave Wilson, outlined the n his speech at the NMA held in Midrand use of modified shipping containers as com- recently, the Minister said: “We have finan- munity ablution blocks to solve the sanitation cial limitations in South Africa. The ques- challenge in informal settlements. tion is how do you do more with less and The makeshift ablution containers benefit The eThekwini Municipality's Water and Sanitation unit uses modified ship containers to I deal with the sanitation challenges in informal settlements in the province. for the next few years, that’s all you’re going approximately 600 informal settlements. to hear.” “These settlements have been identified for South Africa, as with the rest of the world, future formal housing development by the million people. According to the municipality, Another innovative platform launched by is facing tough economic challenges. This municipality,” said Wilson. an estimated three million people will have the City is the DigiMbizo, a digital version means that government as a whole and local To date 1 100 ablution facilities have been access to free Wi-Fi by the end of 2015. of izimbizo that national government holds government in particular, will have to come up installed on 600 sites throughout eThekwini, “Internet connectivity must be treated as across the country to communicate face-to- with innovative solutions to provide services and one facility serves about 50 shacks within a basic delivery of service. Populations are face with communities. to communities. a 200-metre radius. becoming younger, which means government “DigiMbizo allows Tshwane communities to In an effort to encourage municipalities to “The municipality appoints caretakers and needs to keep up and move with the times, have an Imbizo with the mayor in the comfort think out of the box, a few municipal repre- community liaison officers to maintain the particularly when it comes to young people,” of their own homes,” said Ramokgopa. sentatives shared their innovative solutions facilities, and the toilet paper and soap are said the Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Kgo- Community members are able to use Twit- with their counterparts at the SALGA NMA. supplied by the unit,” said Wilson. sientso Ramokgopa. ter to tweet their questions or concerns with “Innovation is critical in dealing with chal- Apart from creating jobs and stimulating In November last year, the City also launched the Mayor using the hashtag #DigiMbizo lenges in local government. We are an innova- small business development, this project also Tshwane Wi-FiTV, which hit the one million or #AskRamokgopa and get an immediate tive nation with some of the most innovative protects the health of the local communities. view mark in early February this year. response. ideas coming from the most rural parts of The City of Tshwane is another municipality Tshwane Wi-FiTV covers topics such as mu- Through the DigiMbizo, the municipality our country,” said Centre for Public Service that is using innovation to improve people’s sic, current affairs, entrepreneurship, religion, is able to reach social groups that normally Innovation (CPSI) in South Africa CEO, Thuli lives through its digital-technology initiative jobs and sport. do not attend traditional forums, explained Radebe. called Project Isizwe. “The Wi-Fi filmmakers for this content were Ramokgopa. She said every year the country witnessed Project Isizwe has rolled out some 600 Wi- previously unemployed or under-employed,” “It also helps us to monitor public sentiment this innovation through the CPSI Awards, with Fi sites to date, offering coverage to over two said Ramokgopa. and enhances the speed of resolving issues.” Continued from page 1 government legislation such as the Municipal “Back-to-basics also enjoins municipalities to democratic society.