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3 March 2008

Programme Director,
Members of the Community Development Workers (CDWs),
Government officials,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

It's more than just protocol when one says that it is an honour and privilege to take part in a meeting of this nature. It is not often that politicians, such as myself, have an opportunity to rub shoulders and interact with such a distinguished core group of Community Development Workers. And I should say that it did not take much persuading and convincing for me to attend this event. Thank you for the invitation to be part of this important meeting of the Community Development Workers.

I feel truly honoured to be part of this meeting, mainly because CDWs are very close to my heart as we move towards ensuring that we strengthen our efforts to take government closer to the people. The Community Development Workers (CDWs) vision was articulated by the President Thabo Mbeki when he opened Parliament on 14 February 2003, when he said:
"The government will create a public service echelon of multi-skilled community development workers who will maintain direct contact with the people where these masses live. We are determined to ensure that government goes to the people so that we sharply improve the quality of the outcomes of public expenditures intended to raise the standard of living of our people.

It is wrong that government should oblige the people to come to the government even in circumstances in which the people do not know what services the government offers and have no means to pay for the transport to reach government offices". The President further stated that: "among other things, these workers will help to increase the effectiveness of our system of local government, strengthening its awareness of and capacity to respond to the needs of the people at the local level." (State of the Nation Address, President Thabo Mbeki, March 2003).

The Community Development Workers Programme was established to facilitate access of government services and information to communities that you serve. It is evident from the reports we have received over the past few years that you have assisted a lot of our people in accessing social and civil services and information. Part of the broader role and responsibilities of CDWs also include:

* data collection for development and planning purposes
* mobilisation of communities for participatory democracy purposes
* advocacy around government programmes, projects and services
* facilitation of referrals between communities and government departments, its agencies and other interested parties
* facilitation of feedback on issues raised and suggested interventions between sector department, its agencies and communities they serve.

When doing that you must remember that we are obligated by the Constitution to involve our communities in the affairs of local government to give effect to participatory democracy. It is expected that as members of CDWs you should have a better understanding of community concerns, wishes and expectations of the people at local level, because you have that dynamic daily contact with the communities that you reside in.

You then should also be in a position to alert government about what type of interventions are necessary. Most of our municipalities are grappling with a number of challenges, including a culture of non-payment by our communities, lack of proper debt recovery and credit control systems as well as high turnover of key personnel. Despite all these challenges, municipalities are making extraordinary efforts to respond to the needs of the people they serve. We envisage a situation where the CDWs will play an integral part in turning this situation around.

We have agreed on a programme that will facilitate interaction between CDWs and the relevant agencies that will provide you with the necessary support for you to improve on your activities around local economic development. We want to see you at the forefront of processes to develop Local Economic Development plans and the Integrated Development Plans in consultation and partnership with Ward Councillors and Ward Committees.

We are looking at the issue of capacitating CDWs and developing a proper support system for you to carry out these functions very well. You have an instrumental role to play in the collection of data that will inform the plans and to also mobilise communities to take part in the Integrated Development Plan (IDPs) consultative processes.

Another programme we would like to see you playing a big role in is that of collecting data that will assist the department to account for service delivery backlogs like water, electricity and sanitation. Furthermore, we hope that you will engage in a process of developing and updating the Indigent Registers for the municipalities. You are however required to continue to assist our communities with the social and civil services and information.

The roles that you will be playing around Local Economic Development (LEDs) and IDPs may pose challenges of their own, so you will need to approach it with proper care and sensitivity. It is not your role to replace councillors, but to assist them so that they can meet their electoral mandates. You have to respect ward councillors and tread carefully in areas that they control or service.
In essence, there should be no tension between you as CDWs and the elected councillors and their ward committee members.

You are there to give them support and make sure that their communities have access to information, and the people participate in consultative processes that are taking place in their wards. This means that you will need to forge better working relations with them. I have been informed that you are expected to meet with the ward councillors on a weekly basis to discuss the dynamics around the ward and agree on how you will address challenges that exist in your respective areas, but this arrangement is not honoured because of these strained relations that exist between you and the councillors.

It is however proper for you to try and make this happen and report on any problems experienced so that they can be attended to before they turn into an unmanageable crisis situation. A worrying trend is a tendency of many CDW members to be active political players as well. This tendency confuses ordinary people about the role of CDWs as opposed to that of councillors. Those of you who aspire to be fulltime politicians must do so at their own leisure time and after hours.

As government, we cannot tolerate a situation where a CDW member uses time and resources of the state to further his or her political ambitions. We need to see CDW members who are committed to their work and are focused on in it so that there may be no accusations levelled against you. We expect you to adhere to the highest standards of professionalism. This includes withdrawal from playing an active political role, which may have a much higher profile than that of a ward councillor of your area.

While, we cannot ban you from engaging in politics but you have limit your involvement to after hours and you must be very discreet in your political activities as this might be confused with the role you play in the community, that of being a public servant that is also involved in party politics.
It is advisable for you to refrain from taking up political positions as this might in some instances compromise what you stand for as a Community Development Worker, a position that is governed by the Public Service regulations and procedures.

Should you feel that you want to get deeper into party politics, you will be encouraged to resign from your position as a CDW member. Government cannot afford to have structures that it has created for the benefit of communities to be at each other's throats and to act at cross-purposes. You must remember that the birth of CDWs came as a result of weaknesses that were identified in our system of servicing the people.

They were created to make the contract that we have with our people of making a better life for all a living reality. CDWs must at all times apply the and be guided by the spirit and principles of Batho Pele, by putting people first and servicing people in a manner that has no ulterior motives or agendas. You must practice the principles of courtesy, care, consultation, transparency and respect. That must be at the core of your interaction with our people and communities. I wish you well in your deliberations and hope that you will be in a position to tackle all the obstacles that may be standing on your way as you serve our people.

I thank you.

Issued by: Developmental Local Government and Housing, North West Provincial Government
3 March 2008