LOUIS TRICHARDT – Pushing back the frontiers of poverty is the challenge facing the local government and the entire community in the current year.

The mayor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr Brighton Tlakula this week announced measures to develop a clear programme of action aimed at pushing back the frontiers of poverty.

At the opening of the first Council meeting for the New Year, he emphasised the importance of responsibility, honesty, commitment and empathy in handling the interests of all sectors of the local community. Higher levels of service delivery and cost recovery were singled out as crucial. He also made special mention of the importance to ensure humane and decent treatment by civil servants especially to previously disadvantaged groups, the frail and the elderly. The improvement of roads and the provision of electricity and water will, if necessary, be outsourced to speed up delivery.

Cllr Tlakula paid tribute to officials for the way they handled the disaster, which struck several villages in the municipality during December when many families were severely affected by wind damage to their properties. The provincial disaster committee had to be approached, because the local disaster fund is insufficient for the size of the municipality, he said.

In an overview of the past two years, mayor Tlakula said Council have been able to lay a solid foundation for a developmental Municipality. This enabled it to transform the organisational structure and to create infrastructure in areas where it did not exist before. During the same time a number of previously disadvantaged individuals and groups were empowered with a variety of skills and resources.

This year must be the year of performance and assessment for efficient and effective service, he said. This, he said, will imply that councillors and officials alike will assess their performance from time to time against the objectives, which they have set for themselves as a municipality. Councillors and officials will be expected to submit written reports to both Exco and Council. Strategic Planning sessions and "Bosberade" will be held from time to time to assess performance and to come up with new ideas. In this way a clear programme of action could be developed aimed at pushing back the frontiers of poverty.

Focussing on the approaching budget cycle, the mayor urged all ward councillors to make sure that the budget was people centred and people driven.

"This means that we must involve and consult with our communities from the onset so as to ensure that they support our agenda. We must make sure that the people themselves are given the opportunity to draft the agenda of this municipality, because it affects them. Our budget must be informed by our integrated development plan, which is reviewed annually. The year 2003 must be characterised by regular consultations and Imbizo's so as to listen to the views of our people, black and white. Members of the Executive Committee and all councillors will be expected to reach out to the people who elected them. PR councillors are expected to be pro-active and communicate with the Full-time council and Exco members. We must be responsible." He said responsibility is about honesty, action, commitment, obedience and compassion.

Cllr Tlakula said that Council's transformation agenda would require that certain committees be restructured from time to time. Interim measures will be put in place in cases where a committee is dissolved, so as to ensure that there is no disruption of service delivery. He announced that with immediate effect the Municipal Manager and his Directors, reporting to the Mayor, would temporarily man the Tender Committee.