President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said that he would be signing performance agreements with ministers to “strengthen the capacity of the state and increase accountability” by the end of this month.
Ramaphosa was delivering his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Parliament on Thursday.
During his address, Ramaphosa said government had implemented the District Development Model – a unique form of social compacting that involves the key role players in every district in order to unlock development and economic opportunities.
“Provincial and national government will re-double their support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities as required by Section 154 of the Constitution and provide for the monitoring and support of municipalities,” he said.
Ramaphosa said 40 municipalities were under the Section 139 intervention. What this means is that the provincial executive would intervene when a municipality could not or did not fulfil its constitutional obligations.
“The measures that will be taken will complement the objectives of the new district-based model of development, that seeks to take an integrated approach to` service delivery,”
To strengthen state capacity, Ramaphosa said he would be signing a performance agreement with ministers by the end of February.
“These agreements – which are based on the targets contained in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework – will be made public so that the people of South Africa can hold those who they elected into office to account,” Ramaphosa said.
He said government saw these agreements as a cornerstone of a new culture of transparency and accountability, whether those who have been given the responsibility to serve, do as was expected of them.