22 April 2004

By Clifford Mogotsi

THE Mogale City municipality has established an umbrella intergovernmental forum designed to integrate all governmental and parastatal institutions in the area.

Speaking at the Flip Uys Hall in the Mogale City Civic Centre, Shared Services executive director, Hugh Gosnell, said the forum aims to develop methods of assisting various governmental departments on how to deliver better service to communities.

Developed in accordance with the South African Constitution Act that delineates areas of responsibility of different spheres of government, the forum will focus on networking among all governmental departments, Telkom South Africa, Eskom and Rand Water and the community.

According to the plan, the following government departments will be clustered together:

* Economic and infrastructure development

Directorate of Local Government Development Directorate of Infrastructure Development Directorate of Housing and Land Eskom, Telkom, Rand Water and Spoornet

* Safety and security

South African Police Services Department of Correctional Services Department of Justice Department of Defence Municipal Directorate of Public Safety

Department of Health Department of Education Department of Social Services Community Services Directorate Department of Home Affairs

* Governance

Department of Home Affairs Department of Labour Municipal Corporate Services Directorate Municipal Finance Service Directorate Office of the Executive Mayor, Speaker and Municipal Manager

The Department of Trade and Industry and Agriculture and the Government Communication and Information System will be roped in at a later stage of the process.

Forum chairperson and Corporate Services director, DM Mokoena, introduced guests from the Office of the Gauteng Premier, Sipho Mbele and Clifford Legodi to share details of the Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCC) to be established in Mogale City as part of the forum's strategy.

"MPCCs are a way of bringing government closer to the people. They are centres from which roadshows, campaigns, exhibitions and community participation events will take place. These activities will provide communities with information they can use to improve their lives and develop community," Mbele explained.

MPCCs will ensure that government information products and services are available to communities, even in remote destinations, and aim to provide training and skills for information and communication technologies like the internet, which can be a valuable tool in helping with local development programmes, Mbele said.

Though the forum is still in its adolescent stage, Mbele said a management team was on the cards.