Thursday, March 23, 2006

Rasool urges Cape councillors to stop politicking and start working

Cape Town - Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool, says recently-elected local government councillors should shake off their election hangovers and focus on delivery issues.

"The Western Cape electorate has already spoken, and the least they expect from us is to begin focusing our efforts on improving their lives," Mr Rasool said today.

Mr Rasool, who was speaking during the opening of the Western Cape councillors summit that began today and ends tomorrow, said South Africa's development priorities transcended narrow party-political agendas.

He said that national government had already set a mandate for local government, and that what was required of newly-elected councillors was to execute this mandate, irrespective of which political party they belonged to.

"Your job is not to try and reinvent the wheel, but to ensure that the wheel is turning," he said.

Western Cape MEC for Local Government and Housing, Richard Dyantyi, said while local governments had a responsibility to ensure that they had a solid revenue base, this should not be done at the expense of the poor. BUA

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