Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Thursday urged the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to increase its oversight role for the effective implementation of government policies.
Addressing an NCOP strategic planning workshop in Cape Town, he said the direction of the NCOP should come from and be informed by a dynamic interaction with provincial legislatures.
”The understanding from this is that matters arising from, and of concern to our provinces, are thereby placed on the agenda of this House with an intention of influencing national decision-making processes and oversight work,” he said.
This would result in a coordinated mandate flowing between the provincial and national spheres of government and simultaneously ensure that there was a harmonisation of programmes of action.
”Without a doubt, in the implementation of programmes aimed at poverty eradication and employment creation, the three spheres of government have to function in accord.
”We expect the NCOP to ensure effective provincial participation in the national legislative process, particularly with regard to matters where both the provincial and national spheres of government have concurrent legislative competence — the so called section 76 Bills.
”We are convinced as the executive, that the NCOP has a critical role, on behalf of the provinces, in ensuring that government programmes are implemented to their maximum potential,” Motlanthe said.
The NCOP brought together the legislatures of the national, provincial and local spheres of government, and therefore had a crucial role to play in evaluating implementation of government’s ten strategic priorities in each sphere.
”In truth, the urgency of this matter cannot be overemphasised given the recent spiralling challenges at local government level.”
The recent spate of service-delivery protests were an indication of the pressing work that lay ahead, which had to be tackled in partnerships, guided by the vision of an activist Parliament.
Achieving the government’s programme of action goals assumed that efforts were well coordinated across the three spheres of government, consciously driven by common imperatives.
”We can govern better if there is effective oversight of the implementation of government programmes,” he said.
The oversight role of the NCOP should also result in referrals, follow-ups and report backs.
It was not enough to just visit a project or an office and find out there were problems.
”We need to get feedback that the problems have been solved and this is something that does not necessarily happen overnight.”
The challenges, largely at local level in terms of capacity, communication, mismanagement and instability, could and would be overcome.
All had to join hands actively to consolidate their respective responses into one frontal assault on incompetence, corruption, lack of skills, and successful implementation of integrated development plans, which were aligned with provincial and national priorities, Motlanthe said. — Sapa