Making government work
To address South Africa’s social and economic challenges, and to deliver the basic services that enhance quality of life for all citizens, government is working to strengthen the capabilities and resources of provinces and municipalities across the country.
This means improving coordination between national, provincial and local governments and ensuring that public servants at all levels have the skills and support they need to do their jobs.
Government is implementing a number of interventions to address failures at local government level and improve basic service delivery. These include enhancing the capacity of public representatives and officials, maintaining and upgrading local infrastructure, and invoking the powers of national government to intervene where municipalities fail to meet their responsibilities.
As part of efforts to build a capable state, government is taking measures to minimise the scope for political interference in state-owned enterprises by adopting a centralised model. It is also taking action to transform the public service into a professional and ethical sector.
We are amending legislation and strengthening the role of the Public Service Commission to ensure that qualified people are appointed to senior management positions and to move towards creating a single, harmonised public service.
President Cyril Ramaphosa
SONA 2024 HIGHLIGHTS
We are providing support to local government, including professionalising the civil service and ensuring that people with the right skills are appointed to key positions.
The District Development Model has proven to be an effective instrument to enhance cooperative governance and collaboration in addressing the service delivery challenges in communities.