Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
ALL local authorities in Matabeleland South Province met the June 30 deadline for submission of master plans in response to President Mnangagwa’s “Call to Action- No compromise to service delivery”.
The province has three urban local authorities and seven rural district councils.
As part of the call to action, local authorities were expected to have developed master plans by the end of last month.
In an interview, Matabeleland South provincial acting director for Local Government Services in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr Zachariah Jusah said the consolidation of reports from all the local authorities in the province is underway.
“Matabeleland South Province’s local authorities responded to the Government’s “Call to Action- No compromise to service delivery” hence they met the Government’s deadline to produce master plans,” he said.
Mr Jusah said the province was now in the process of consolidating the reports from all the seven districts.
He said all the local authorities are now on electronic platforms and this had greatly improved communication.
“Some local authorities took advantage of these platforms to engage communities during the consultation process as they developed the master plans. The accounting systems have also been computerised across all 10 local authorities in the province,” he said.
Mr Jusah said the call to action has helped local authorities to get their properties evaluated so that they can be bankable. He said this will enable councils to access loans from the banks and other lending institutions.
Mr Jusah said local authorities have come up with teams whose responsibility is to do all the development planning guided by the master plans.
He said several gaps were identified during consultations and recommendations were made that will help local authorities improve service delivery
“During the consultation process concerns were raised by ratepayers on several issues such as failure to collect refuse, water supply challenges, problems of sewer reticulation and infrastructure development,” said Mr Jusah.
Some of the areas that will be tackled by local authorities guided by their master plans include controlling environmental degradation activities such as illegal mining and deforestation, developing infrastructure such as roads, clinics and schools, acquiring more land for development, improving refuse collection, water and sewer reticulation among other issues.
President Mnangagwa last year officially launched the Call to Action- No compromise to service delivery: first stage of interventions to modernise the operations of local authorities towards a 2030 vision”.
According to the blueprint, the quality of service provision by local authorities should be in line with an upper-middle-income economy.
Every local authority should from an organisational, systems and physical planning perspective, be in a state to develop a road map towards a 2030 vision status. Government will come up with minimum service delivery levels to be achieved by all local authorities.
Under the Call to Action, local authorities are expected to address Government’s areas of concern, which include compliance with applicable laws, leasing and selling of land in servitudes, leasing and selling of communal and agriculture land and valuation of properties for rating purposes.—@DubeMatutu
Online Reporter