Developing KwaZulu-Natal's Communities
Under the South African system of representative democracy, the local sphere of government has evolved to consist of 284 municipalities who have the right to govern their own communities, subject to national and provincial legislation.
Local government in KwaZulu-Natal is organised into the eThekwini Metropolitan Council, and ten district municipalities, namely: Amajuba; iLembe; Sisonke; Ugu; uMgungundlovu; uMkhanyakude; uMzinyathi; uThukela; uThungulu and Zululand. Each district is further divided into a varying number of local municipalities.
The goals of the local government system are to: provide democratic and accountable government for local communities; ensure the provision of services to communities in a sustainable manner; promote social and economic development; promote a safe and healthy living environment; and encourage the involvement of communities and community organisations in the matters of local government.
Municipal elections are held every five years, and the previous municipal elections were held in 2006. The 2011 South African municipal elections will be held sometime between March and June 2011 for all districts and local municipalities in all nine provinces. The 2011 municipal elections will elect the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils, who, in turn, will elect the mayors of the municipalities to office.
Integrated Development Plans
All development in the province needs to be developed in accordance to national and provincial plans. These include the:
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Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA)
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National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP)
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KZN Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS)
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Provincial Spatial Economic Development Framework (PSEDS)
These strategies have been tabled to all municipalities in the province and form the basis for a series of municipal development and growth summits that have been held. While urban areas in the province have good infrastructure and service delivery, past inequalities have left a legacy of problems, particularly in rural areas with low population densities.
In order to plan for interventions to address municipal needs, local municipalities in South Africa use “integrated deve-lopment planning”, as a method to plan and deliver future development in their areas. An Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is a wide-ranging plan for an area that gives a general framework for development. The plans aims to co-ordinate the work of local and other spheres of government in a coherent manner in order to improve the quality of life for all the people living in an area.
Local Economic Development
Local Economic Development (LED) has been identified as one of the key options that compel local areas to become more pro-active in developmental terms.
The objectives of LED are job creation; empowerment; eco-nomic growth, vitality and diversification in areas subject to recession. The overall aim is to establish the ‘locality’ as a vibrant, sustainable economic entity. By stimulating the local economy, increased revenue from taxes will be obtained, which in turn will provide resources for social services.
There is an opinion that the best way to start LED is by creating an LED Forum or development agency which can maximize opportunities for development. While an agency falls under the local authority, it operates as a separate entity, allowing a municipality to devote its energies to concerns such as providing basic services. Problems with low capacity, motivation and resources are much less of a concern.
Such an organisation is able to:
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Utilise locally available resources and skills,
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Address location factors such as basic infrastructure,
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Devising business retention strategies through incentive schemes, provision of support to newly formed businesses and attracting investors,
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Creating conducive conditions to do business locally,
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Integrate diverse economic initiatives into a comprehensive approach.
Agencies
Durban Investment Promotion Agency (DIPA)
DIPA is a part of the eThekwini Municipality mandated to attract, retain and grow direct investment into Durban. It is a free professional advisory service to assist investors, and medium to larger businesses.
Enterprise Ilembe
Ilembe District Municipality, supported by the local municipalities and all other stakeholders, have created Enterprise Ilembe in order to further entrepreneurship, both formal and informal, in the Ilembe district. (
http://www.enterpriseilembe.org.za)
Hibiscus Coast Development Agency
The Hibiscus Coast Development Agency is a company, an Association incorporated under Section 21 of the Companies Act, 1973. The Hibiscus Coast Development Agency mission is to promote economic growth and encourage new investment in the Hibiscus Coast area in, while maximising opportunities for skills transfer and job creation. (
http://www.hcda.co.za)
Umhlosinga Development Agency
The Umhlosinga Development Agency in Umkhanyakude District is working to tackle poverty and economic regeneration in the region focusing on stimulating its tourism and agriculture sectors. The development agency has a mandate to facilitate macro-economic development, to market the area to potential investors, to fast-track certain industrial and commercial developments, and even in some instances, to own some those developments in order for them to eventually be transferred to local ownership. (
http://www.umda.org.za)
