The seventh administration will focus on extending the provision of basic services to those people who still do not have access to basic requirements and improving the reliability and affordability of delivery.

Responding to the debate on the Opening of Parliament Address (OPA) on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said this will require measures to improve the efficiency of local government to deliver on its ‘crucial’ mandate.

President Ramaphosa said the country has made progress in advancing towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) on the provision of basic services, highlighting that 84 percent of South African households now have access to piped water, while 71 percent have access to decent sanitation, and 94 percent of households have access to electricity.

He said Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa’s determination that all municipalities receive the necessary administrative, technical and financial support for the services to be viable and stable, repr
esents the seventh administration’s clear intention to improve the functioning of municipalities.

‘We must address with urgency the governance and oversight challenges at local government level and the serious problem of municipal and consumer debt,’ President Ramaphosa said.

WATCH | President Ramaphosa responds to the debate on the Opening of Parliament Address

On building and strengthening institutions, President Ramaphosa said government has made significant progress in deepening democracy during the last 30 years of freedom, through safeguarding human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The parties to the Government of National Unity (GNU) are in agreement on the importance of entrenching the country’s constitutional democracy and the rule of law.

‘We will continue to exert our every effort to safeguard the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the media and the work of the institutions supporting democracy. We continue to entrench gender equality across all facets of society, and in promoting the f
ull participation in society of persons with disabilities.

‘We have enacted into law the Gender-Based Violence And Femicide (GBVF) Council, which will oversee and coordinate GBV programmes across government and in partnership with all stakeholders,’ the President said.

He said an important focus of this work will be women’s economic empowerment, and on leveraging government’s policy of setting aside 40 percent of public procurement for women-owned businesses.

The President also noted that South Africa is a beacon of hope and progress when it comes to the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex (LGBTQI+) community.

‘These are all important aspects of our human rights culture,’ President Ramaphosa said.

In the same breath, the President acknowledged the challenges that the country still faces.

Source: South African Government News Agency