Transforming municipalities to function as efficient institutions will take a number of generations to achieve‚ Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rosebank on Tuesday.
Business leaders had told Gordhan of their frustrations with municipalities who struggle to deliver basic services.
Gordhan said there was money to help municipalities deliver the services‚ but there was a shortage of capable people who could ensure the funds are spent prudently‚ such as engineers and financial managers.
“Over the last few years‚ we have created a certain environment where certain minimum competency tests need to be passed. Many have actually passed that hurdle‚ but there is still a lot to do‚” he said.
“Building proper institutions at a municipal level is obviously a generations-long process. But if each generation does the right thing‚ then we will build a more solid foundation for the next one.”
Gordhan had earlier told the chamber that South Africa faced “no shortage of money in the system‚ but there is a shortage of implementation capacity to get things done”.
“Our focus needs to be not just talking‚ but implementing our plans; implementation of plans and programmes with the money that we currently have in the system‚” he said.
He urged the business community to find solutions to the tough economic conditions and not use easy solutions such as retrenchments to address challenges.
“You and ourselves need to do as much as we can to keep as many workers as possible. Labour and government need to make sure that we develop the right plans to make sure that we do not increase the number of unemployed people in South Africa‚” Gordhan said.
He said that “Team South Africa” had worked hard to make sure that it keeps the country’s credit rating just above junk status in the first six months of the 2016.
The bigger challenge would be to provide “concrete: initiatives that would show that the promise made to agencies in the first half of the year were been delivered on in the second half. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital
Gordhan tells businesses: Cash isn’t a problem‚ but capacity is
Business leaders had told Gordhan of their frustrations with municipalities who struggle to deliver basic services.
Gordhan said there was money to help municipalities deliver the services‚ but there was a shortage of capable people who could ensure the funds are spent prudently‚ such as engineers and financial managers.
“Over the last few years‚ we have created a certain environment where certain minimum competency tests need to be passed. Many have actually passed that hurdle‚ but there is still a lot to do‚” he said.
“Building proper institutions at a municipal level is obviously a generations-long process. But if each generation does the right thing‚ then we will build a more solid foundation for the next one.”
Gordhan had earlier told the chamber that South Africa faced “no shortage of money in the system‚ but there is a shortage of implementation capacity to get things done”.
“Our focus needs to be not just talking‚ but implementing our plans; implementation of plans and programmes with the money that we currently have in the system‚” he said.
He urged the business community to find solutions to the tough economic conditions and not use easy solutions such as retrenchments to address challenges.
“You and ourselves need to do as much as we can to keep as many workers as possible. Labour and government need to make sure that we develop the right plans to make sure that we do not increase the number of unemployed people in South Africa‚” Gordhan said.
He said that “Team South Africa” had worked hard to make sure that it keeps the country’s credit rating just above junk status in the first six months of the 2016.
The bigger challenge would be to provide “concrete: initiatives that would show that the promise made to agencies in the first half of the year were been delivered on in the second half. – Tiso Black Star Group Digital
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