The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and the Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, will this week undertake a joint District Development Model (DDM) working visit to the Harry Gwala District Municipality.
During the visits, which will start today and conclude on Thursday, 15 October, the two Ministers will interact with the provincial and local government leadership on various matters, including the DDM.
Today, the Ministers are visiting Umzimkhulu Municipality at 12:00. They will then proceed to Ubuhlebezwe Municipality at 14:00.
On Tuesday, they will visit Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Municipality at 15:00.
On Wednesday, they will visit the Greater Kokstad Municipality, where they will launch the District Development Model Forum at 11:00.
Dlamini-Zuma, who is reponsible for the Local Government sector and is the overall DDM coordinator, will also engage on the work of municipalities on issues related to service delivery.
Mthembu, in his capacity as the DDM district champion for Harry Gwala District municipality, will interact and engage with multiple stakeholders, in respect of the rollout of the district approach to enhance development and bring together the capacity of the three spheres of government to improve service delivery.
The engagements with municipalities is part of the work done to support local government and to help unblock service delivery challenges.
Part of the work will include mobilising and initiating social compacts with various critical stakeholders, including communities, business, traditional leaders and civil society organisations.
The DDM is an “all of government” approach aimed at achieving the constitutional goal of cooperative governance through the strengthening of intergovernmental coordination in the planning, budgeting and implementation of government programmes.
The DDM has been adopted as a logical inter-governmental vehicle for integrating and coordinating the implementation of all of government’s COVID-19 and gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) response, as well as the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plans in the 52 District spaces, dubbed Impact Zones.
The DDM working visit will be characterised by activities providing oversight to projects across the whole district, comprising infrastructure assessment exercises, engagements with targeted stakeholders, the inauguration of the District Development Forum and discussions with local municipalities and the district.
The thrust of the DDM working visit is to contribute towards planning around the immediate and long-term comparative and competitive advantages of the Harry Gwala District, while re-imagining a shared long-term vision of the district’s development trajectory. – SAnews.gov.za
