SALGA says candidates must take municipal responsibilities seriously

The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has called on political parties to ensure that candidates selected to contest the upcoming municipal elections are prepared to take their municipal responsibilities seriously.

SALGA says communities cannot afford councillors who fail to perform once elected.

The association has been holding its Provincial Members Assembly in Hartbeespoort in the North West, as the term of the current cohort of councillors comes to an end in November.

SALGA provincial Chairperson Khumalo Molefe says political parties must choose candidates who understand the responsibility that comes with serving communities.

The province has four district and 18 local municipalities, whose mayors are members of SALGA.

“We’re looking at how we are structured in terms of governance but we’re also preparing an exit. We’re preparing a transition between the current cohort of councillors and the incoming cohort of councillors. We have appealed to political parties to take this matter of local government very seriously and deposit to us the best amongst them that will come to be councillors,” Molefe elaborates.