Local government had a critical role play to ensure the continued development of Africa’s people, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan said at the launch of the Afri-Cities Summit at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rosebank, Johannesburg on 14 October.
“As the sphere closest to the people, effective, local government is critical for ensuring that citizens have a positive experience of government. Public satisfaction is a key pillar for developing responsive, effective and accountable local governments. It is when people are given the opportunity and resources to meaningfully participate in the affairs of their local governments that we can achieve the vision of a truly empowered and liberated people of Africa. Our collective mission is to support the building of a capable, efficient and effective local government system that changes the quality of life of the one billion citizens of Africa,” said Minister Gordhan.
The Afri-Cities Summit, which will be held from 1-5 December in Johannesburg next year under the theme “Shaping the Future of Africa with the People: African Local Government Contribution to the Africa 2063 Vision,” will bring together more than 5 000 participants from across the globe, including ministers, mayors, representatives of regional economic communities and senior staff of local and central administrations to discuss African local governments’ vision.
Johannesburg Executive Mayor Cllr Parks Tau said by launching the summit today, all the role players were sowing the seeds of discussion and discourse to prepare for the main event next year.
“[The Afri-Cities Summit] is a premier showcase for local governments and cities of this continent. It also plays an increasingly important role in creating discourse, dialogue and debate on the role and future of African cities,” Mayor Tau.
He said engagement with Africa’s diverse and mobile constituency with different aspirations was an important challenge that African cities had to take seriously.
“For African cities to survive and prosper in the 21st century, their officials need to work closely with these varied and dynamic urban constituencies,” said Mayor Tau.
Speaking about the summit’s theme, Minister Gordhan said it was highly appropriate to the current status quo facing Africa.
“This theme is very appropriate at a time when, throughout the world, the democratic model is perceived to serve elites only, and economic benefits are unevenly shared. The poor remain marginalised.
The world is in search of a more just and sustainable model that addresses our many challenges. Development is about people, and putting our people and their concerns first in whatever we do as local government is vital.
“Our theme for the summit requires us to define the vision and the role that local government will play towards the development of a new and better Africa by 2063, when the motherland will be celebrating 100 years as a free continent. This is a task that starts now, as we begin to outline the local government vision for the next 50 years. Ours is the task to write the next chapter in the history of Africa, and improve the quality of life of all Africans, young and old, poor and rich, urban and rural uneducated or educated, women and men,” he said.
Mayor Tau described the intended outcomes of the summit as ones that would “give the people a voice, give them a stake in the game as active engaged citizens in local government and decision-making”.
Other important issues to be discussed include urbanisation and its societal and economic impacts, low rates of economic growth and increasing urban poverty, inadequate infrastructure, growth of slums, weak urban-rural linkages, capacities of municipalities, environmental challenges and climate change.
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