A DELEGATION from the city council of Lusaka, in Zambia, was in Buffalo City recently to look at ways the City deals with the delivery of services to its people.

Led by the mayor and town clerk, the delegation attended a workshop at which Buffalo's municipal manager, Gaster Sharpley, spoke about how the City operated.

"It is important that Lusaka visits us because of the history and role it played in the struggle against apartheid. [It] played a big role in helping freedom fighters change the political situation of the country," Sharpley said.

Turning his attention to Buffalo's challenges, Sharpley the City needed to redress the imbalances of the past.

"We need to address service delivery in places like Duncan Village. We also need to balance between economic development and problems of the past."

Areas of concern were unemployment, housing and roads, with Mdantsane having 300 kilometres of untarred roads. But through initiatives like the City Development Strategy, the municipality was trying to deal with some of these challenges.

Talking about some of its positives, Sharpley said that Buffalo City was going through a phase that would allow it to take part in the country's economic boom. It was also excelling in public participation, one of the eight components of good governance.

"We have our Integrated Development Plan public hearings every year, and people tell us about priority areas in their communities. Six months later, the executive mayor holds her Mayoral Imbizo Programme to look at progress made by the City to address these," Sharpley explained.

He hoped that the two cities would learn from each other on how things should be done to ensure smooth service delivery.

Source: bufffalocity.gov.za