Bheki Stofile: Keeping SALGA’s momentum going
Bheki Stofile was elected to lead the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on March 4, 2022, and continues the mission of placing SALGA at the heart of the municipal movement in South Africa and internationally.
On Friday 14 October 2022, in his capacity as President of SALGA, Mr. Bheke Stofile was elected as one of the five co-presidents of the world organization United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Mr. Stofile’s election to the umbrella organization of cities, local and regional governments, as well as municipal associations from around the world took place at the 7th World Congress and Local and Regional Leaders’ Summit 2022 in Daejeon, South Korea. A recognition that concretizes his commitment to continue the work of his predecessors at the head of SALGA.
This is not SALGA’s first election to UCLG. In 2016, former SALGA president and Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau was elected to lead UCLG in 2019 and 2020. Tau’s successor at SALGA, Thembisile Nkadimeng, was elected co-chair of UCLG. The South African local government association is among the mature associations on the continent.
In fact, it was under the leadership of Mr. Stofile that SALGA hosted the UCLG Africa regional caucus for the Southern African region from 14 to 15 March 2022, two weeks after the installation of the president at the head of the South African local government association.
At the General Assembly of UCLG Africa, held on 20 May 2022 during the 9th edition of the Africities Summit, Mr. Bheke Stofile had obtained the green light from his counterparts to run for the co-presidency of the world organization UCLG.
In his contribution entitled: “ASISHO! LET’S SAY IT”, he reminded us that the well-being of a local community is a shared responsibility between the local authority and its residents.
“Municipalities are allocated 9.1% of national revenues, while they are given responsibilities and mandates of about 46% of the functions described in the constitution. SALGA reaffirms its commitment to work with underperforming municipalities to improve the state of financial management and governance in local governments. The Asisho campaign will promote a “people first” approach to service delivery, demonstrating that local governments are committed to improving the lives of citizens through better governance and service delivery. The campaign also aims to address key issues facing municipalities, such as the impact of the destruction of municipal buildings and illegal land occupation,” he wrote.
The Asisho initiative aims to rekindle the social contract between local governments and citizens.