Minister of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mr Ketlhalefile Motshegwa says his ministry is committed to building resilient, adaptive and forward-looking local governments by empowering institutions to be people-centered and responsive to the evolving needs of communities. 

Presenting the ministry’s budget proposals for the next financial year on Wednesday,

Mr Motshegwa said the ministry was currently developing a comprehensive template and prototype for a High-Performance Local Authority. 

He said the model would establish clear standards for governance, financial management, service delivery and institutional capacity and position local authorities to be functional, efficient and agile. 

“It will promote accountability, revenue mobilisation, enhance planning and implementation systems and foster innovation and ultimately ensure that councils deliver quality services, value for money and sustainable local development,” he said. 

He told Parliament that a review of the Village and Ward Development Committee (VDC/WDC) Regulations had been completed. 

The review, he said aimed to strengthen community governance, align local development with national priorities and create an enabling environment for committees to operate more effectively, with key focus areas including promoting local economic development, enhancing ethical leadership and prioritising community-led infrastructure initiatives. 

Regarding the Ikageng Public Works programme, the minister noted that while it had achieved significant milestones in job creation and skills development, it faced several hurdles which included limited funding, inadequate participant training, coordination difficulties across local authorities and gaps in monitoring and evaluation. 

Addressing the transfer of Primary Health Care services back to the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mr Motshegwa stated that the transition was progressing well and key institutional and governance frameworks were now established, with measurable progress made in staff migration and piloting of decentralised systems. 

However, he acknowledged residual challenges, particularly in aligning human resource data and timely transfer of funds, which had implications for operational stability at the local level. 

Furthermore, Parliament heard that the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme was being refined to address inconsistent supply and nutritional gaps. 

Mr Motshegwa emphasised that the programme aligned social protection with economic growth and strengthens food system resilience and reflected government’s commitment to inclusive development.

 “The ministry is therefore strengthening inter-ministerial coordination to address these risks and to ensure smooth, sustainable and fiscally responsible decentralisation of Primary Health Care Services,” he said.

Parliament  approved a budget of over P15.8 billion for the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs. 

The ministry’s recurrent budget accounts for over P12.9 billion, while P2.8 billion has been set aside for the development budget. The largest share of the recurrent budget, over P7.6 billion, would be allocated to the Department of Corporate Services. 

Funds include P7.3 billion for the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) to local authorities. 

The second-largest share, over P4.2 billion, would be allocated to the Department of Social Development, a bulk of which would be used for social welfare cash allowances, including old age pensions, disability allowances, destitute cash allowances and world war veterans’ benefits. 

Minister Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said the budget aligned with government’s vision of re-engineering and repositioning the role of local government institutions, including Bogosi and local authorities. ENDS