The King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality organised a three-day strategic planning workshop to plan for the next five years.
The goal of the gathering was to re-evaluate and debate ideas for providing high-quality services to the community.
“The purpose of this session is to create strategic agenda, analyse institutional performance, and discuss the implementation of municipal programs,” Executive Mayor Cllr Nyaniso Nelani stated in setting the tone.
“Another objective is to coordinate municipal plans with those of other government ministries and to explore new resource mobilization efforts.”
The mayor went on to say that the economy needs to be rebuilt following the negative effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, and that the first step is to create favourable economic growth conditions.
He added saying that it is the private sector create jobs and not the government. However, for the benefit of our people, the government’s obligation is to establish a suitable environment and intervene for job prospects such as the Spatial Economic Zone (SEZ), Vulindlela Industrial Park, and other investment incentives.
“We have applied to the Municipal Demarcation Board to become the Eastern Cape’s third metro. As a result, we need to think outside the box in this session and come up with a plan that would appeal to investors while also providing security and reducing red tape.” Stated the mayor.
The executive mayor also emphasized the importance of accelerating the development of Coffee Bay Town, claiming that it will improve the local economy.
He went on to mentioning the issue of crime, gender-based violence (GBV), and other societal problems, urging cooperation from law enforcement agencies and to work hard to stop criminals from using Mthatha as a playground.
The executive mayor also mentioned the importance of improving institutional capacity and critical abilities in order to improve people’s living situations.
“We must assess whether the services provided to people are of quality and standard, and then come up with solutions, clear strategies, and targets.” He said in conclusion.
KSD council members, management, and numerous stakeholders attended the meeting.
Mr Xolile Nqatha, Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, addressed the audience, encouraging the municipality to not be overwhelmed by the challenges, but rather to recognize and build on its achievements.
He also said that the municipality’s Local Economic Development unit should be strengthened.
“Having an effective LED department will allow the municipality to provide diverse areas of opportunities for public. Said the MEC.
He further said that the municipality must develop a revenue-generation strategy and devise various mechanisms to make basic services affordable to residents.
MEC also expressed the role of local government towards improving the image of government by achieving clean audit results. He went on to say that a clean audit must also correspond to improved people’s conditions, which they must attest to by seeing their lives improve.
He asked public officeholders to honour public power by acting in the manner that these positions deserve. To make sound decisions while avoiding interfering with administrative procedures.
