derick.khumalo
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
THE Municipality of Beitbridge is stepping up efforts to strengthen regional cooperation by expanding its twinning arrangements with local authorities across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as part of initiatives to improve service delivery and promote cross-border development.
The municipality already has a twinning arrangement with South Africa’s Musina Local Municipality and is now seeking to deepen regional collaboration with other municipalities in the region.
This week, Beitbridge hosted a strategic bilateral partnership meeting attended by delegations from Musina Local Municipality and Ongwediva Town Council of Namibia.
In a statement issued on Friday, the municipality said the main objective of the visit was to review and benchmark the progress made under the existing Beitbridge-Musina twinning arrangement while laying the foundation for a possible partnership between Musina and Ongwediva.
“The Municipality of Beitbridge was honoured to host a courtesy visit from our neighbours, Musina Local Municipality (South Africa), and a visiting delegation from Ongwediva Town Council (Namibia),” the municipality said.
Council officials said twinning arrangements provide municipalities with opportunities to benchmark service delivery, exchange knowledge and adopt best practices through peer learning and collaboration.
They said the partnerships cover critical areas such as waste management, revenue collection, public health, infrastructure development and local economic development.
“By learning from each other’s successes and challenges, councils can adopt best practices that improve governance and service to residents,” the municipality said.
Officials added that the arrangements also create opportunities for joint staff training, exchange programmes, investment promotion and collaborative solutions to shared challenges affecting border towns, including migration, trade facilitation and disaster management.
“Cross-border partnerships like these allow us to share vital knowledge, improve governance, and build stronger communities across SADC,” the municipality said.
Leaders from the three local authorities agreed that strengthening regional cooperation had become increasingly important as municipalities across Southern Africa continue to grapple with common challenges such as rapid urbanisation, climate change and limited financial resources.
They said enhanced collaboration among local authorities would help improve service delivery while supporting regional integration and sustainable socio-economic development.
