Transcript DDP October 2-

Summary and Closing Remarks
Malcolm Wallis
Regent Business School
 A very lively day with excellent well researched
presentations from different perspectives
 An interesting range of questions from the floor
raising important issues (pity not enough time to
entertain more questions)
 Divergence of views a feature of the day especially on
service delivery protests
 Several important themes emerged: ‘Back to Basics’,
the need for better integration and better links with
planning, the idea that decentralization is a necessary
but not sufficient condition for democracy
Day one continued
 Key issues: gender mainstreaming and quotas, the
complexities of capacity building, social factors such
as patriarchy and the spatial dimension and the
tensions between audit requirements and service
delivery (did eThekweni get the balance right?)
 The perils of bureaucracy and excessive time spent in
meetings
 Too many HR practices counter- productive (hiring,
lack of continuity)
 In spite of the problems, considerable progress made
Day One continued
 Inter Governmental Relations important to get right –
work in progress?
 An area of disappointment: ward committees: what is
to be done?
 Tensions between politics and administration: what is
to be done?
 Tensions related to class and poverty, reference to
Fanon
 Tensions and progress made around the role of
Chapter Nine Institutions
Reflections on day two
 Leadership and professionalism: about values but also
about working with communities and understanding
local economies and social context
 The marginalization of the local sphere, especially as
pertains to small municipalities and to poverty.
 Importance of learning by individuals and by
organizations
 Corruption, bureaucracy and development
Day two continued
 The role of the councillor in the ward
 The issues of token compliance
 The importance of risk management
 Refreshing t0 receive a presentation on the NDP
within KZN and the inter-governmental framework
(but implementation…..)
 Deal with spatial inequalities
Conclusion
 The need for thorough research to achieve a fair perspective
based on evidence
 Questions outstanding over local government in relation to the
developmental state (for example, are we decentralizing
inequality ? and the difficulties of rural development)
FINALLY:
 Provided an excellent forum for dialogue (academics; public
servants; councillors; community organizations; SALGA etc.)
 DDP and KAS– a success story in support of local government,
twenty years of history in need of documentation but also
congratulations