Kouga strengthens ties to boost service

THE Kouga Municipality is strengthening its ties with provincial and national government departments to boost service delivery in the area.

A delegation from the provincial Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs (DLGTA) and the national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) visited the municipality on Monday to meet with Kouga’s councillors and management.

Themba Zakade, general manager: Local Economic Development Facilitation in the DLGTA, said the visit was part of a nationwide outreach to municipalities by the provincial and national government to ensure that the objectives and action plans of all spheres of government were aligned to meet the needs of communities.

He commended Kouga for the report the municipality, guided by councillors from all political parties, had compiled in preparation for the visit.

“It shows that Kouga is indeed among the best of municipalities,” he said.

The delegation from the DLGTA and COGTA had a brief session with the political leadership of Kouga before meeting with directorates to discuss five key performance areas: Institutional Transformation, Service Delivery, Local Economic Development, Financial Viability and Management, and Good Governance and Public Participation.

The report and feedback from these meetings will be compiled in a comprehensive assessment of the state of the municipality. It will be used to identify those areas where the provincial and national departments can assist local government to fast-track service delivery.

Kouga executive mayor Robbie Dennis welcomed the outreach initiative by the DLGTA and COGTA.

“Kouga is regarded as one of the best municipalities.While we are proud of this reputation, it has resulted in us not always receiving as much assistance from the other spheres of government as we would have liked.