By Thomas Thale

THE founding congress of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa will throw the spotlight on the role local government can play in developing local communities in support of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).

This is the view of Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Councillor Amos Masondo, who is also the world president of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the chairman of the South African Local Government Association.

The ICLEI is an international association of local governments, with members from more than 500 municipalities worldwide. It is dedicated to implementing sustainable development programmes.

Delegates from municipalities across the continent, including those from former French and Portuguese colonies, will attend the United Cities conference. It is being held in the City of Tshwane from 15 to 18 May.

Bongi Mokaba, the conference co-ordinator, says organisers expect 4 000 participants, including political leaders and representatives from local government structures, the private sector, academics, and exhibitors.

With Johannesburg's city manager, Pascal Moloi, the convenor of the conference and the City contributing R5-million towards the hosting of the event, Joburg's participation will be at the highest level.

On the first day of the conference, Masondo is scheduled to deliver the Vote of Thanks, immediately after the keynote address by President Thabo Mbeki.

Masondo will also speak on the "The Question of Basic Services and African Local Government" later in the day. Joaquim Chissano, the former president of Mozambique and of the African Union, will speak on "Consolidating African Unity and Integration".

The conference will provide a platform for member municipalities to exchange ideas and share experiences, Masondo says. "This is an important initiative."

Some of the common challenges facing municipalities in Africa are urbanisation, migration, unemployment, delivery of basic services, participatory democracy, inner city degeneration, HIV/Aids and malaria, he adds.

Masondo believes that the new structure will enable municipalities on the continent to speak with one voice when dealing with national governments and multilateral organisations. "It offers an opportunity to have a bigger voice, and to pursue the African agenda by contributing to Nepad and the African Renaissance."

This conference presents a great opportunity for municipalities in Africa to find one another and begin to develop meaningful relations.

"We need to interact with other municipalities in Africa to pursue Nepad goals of economic development. This is also central to the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty by half by the year 2015."

Local government is the sphere closest to communities and best placed to undertake developmental initiatives. "There are countries which are not decentralised. We must continuously lobby for the establishment of different spheres of government throughout Africa. These institutions must be interlinked, interrelated and work together to improve lives."

For Masondo, the powers and responsibilities of local government must also be clearly spelled out in legislation.

The United Cities conference will close on Wednesday, with the election of an executive committee.

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