President Thabo Mbeki said on Tuesday that the national government will continue to work to strengthen South Africa’s local government system.
”From the point of view of national government, we indeed will pay particular attention to the strengthening of local government,” Mbeki said at a local government conference at Benoni, east of Johannesburg.
Mbeki said every South African knows that there is unemployment, poverty and a lack of education among the population, but skills are needed to address these problems.
”National government will continue to look at these things to see what solutions we can find,” Mbeki said.
Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi and his deputy, Nomatyala Hangana, could not attend the conference as they are in Uruguay and New York respectively.
Mufamadi is attending the installation of the Uruguayan president, and Hangana is attending the Beijing at 10 women’s rights conference in New York.
Ekurhuleni mayor Duma Nkosi and Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo attended the event.
Mbeki said he hopes the conference will come up with solutions to problems facing local government.
He said the government’s policies will be meaningless if the person who catches the last coach on the so-called gravy train gets nothing.
The conference ends on Thursday. — Sapa