International Relations

This unit coordinates the relations between municipalities in South Africa and municipalities / local governments  outside of the country (on the continent and the rest of the world).

Focus

Improvement in the co-ordination of IR within SALGA  National, Provincial offices and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation ( DIRCO) through:

• Participation in key IR meetings / forums
• Packaging and dissemination of IR Guidelines
• Disseminate information for alignment with the Consultative Forum on International Relations - CFIR /  Department of International Relations and Cooperation - DIRCO as well as other IR Stakeholders

Develop and implement an International Relations strategy / policy

• To promote alignment, adherence and compliance to national (and international) IR policies and guidelines

Structured programme of support to sister organisations in Africa;

Development of structured relations with other national and international bodies representing local government, some of which SALGA is a paid-up member

• IBSA (India Brazil South Africa), CLGF (Commonwealth Local Government Forum) , UCLG (United Cities and Local Government), UCLGA (United Cities and Local Government in Africa), ACP-LGP (African Caribbean Pacific Local Government Platform), etc...

Partnerships

SALGA has a strong international recognition and presence.  This position is influenced by a number of factors, namely SALGA’s key strategic objective; SALGA executives in leadership representations of UCLG, UCLGA and CLGF ; exposure cum participation in international platforms; bilateral relations between South Africa and other countries.

In spite of the fact that SALGA has been entering into a number of international partnerships, SALGA’s approach has been without a proper plan to support them and some of the international partnerships are not regularly services.

SALGA signed a number of MOU’s with African counterparts and overseas institutions. The main objective of entering into such MOU’s has been to provide a structured platform for exchange of good Local Government practices, technical and leadership support.
 
Before signing a MOU with a counterpart, SALGA evaluates the following:

• The dynamics of bilateral relations between the two countries;
• The life and activities of the two associations;
• The need for the development of relations between South African local authorities and other counterparts of similar stature;
• The potential of developing twinning programmes; and
• The exchange of experience between the two associations.

Signed MOU’s

• MOU with the Association of Municipalities of Mali – AMM (signed: 14 November 2005 in Bamako, Mali)
• MOU with the Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya – ALGAK (signed: 20 September 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya)
• MOU with the Swaziland Local Government Association – SWALGA (signed: 24 November 2006 in Mbabane, Swaziland)
• MOU with the Association of Local Authorities of Namibia – ALAN (signed: 14 June 2007 in Windhoek, Namibia)
• MOU with the National Association of Municipalities of Mozambique – ANAMM (signed: 14 November 2007 in Dondo, Mozambique)
• MOU with the Commonwealth Local Government Forum - CLGF (signed: July 2008 in Accra, Ghana during the UCLGA Congress)
• MOU with VNG – LGA of Netherlands. The overall MOU was originally  signed in November 1997 and the collaboration was extended to these four fields of cooperation:  (1) LOGO South Country Programme South Africa; (2) Social/Rental Housing Programme; (3) Association Capacity Building; (4) Centre for Municipal Research and Advice (CMRA)

Other international exchanges

Besides the signed MOUs mentioned above, SALGA has been receiving  delegates  (councilors and officials) on Local Government study exchanges with other LG associations such as the Local Government Association of Zambia - LGAZ, Uganda - ULGA, Tanzania- ALAT, Botswana - BALA, Local Government Practitioners from Sierra Leone, Local Government Practitioners from Ghana ( November 2010), etc.

SALGA, across its directorates, has been attending roundtables discussions and conference on various issues affecting LG in countries such as UK, Malawi, Algeria, India and Brazil.

The Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) came to South Africa via the UCLGA in May 2008.

In June 2009 the Association of Finnish of Local and Regional Authorities (AFLRA)  hosted a South African delegation which comprised Environmental Officers, Water Specialist and an official from SALGA IR. The purpose of the visit was to explore partnership areas and stimulate exchanges in the field of Water, Environment, Governance, Decentralisation, Capacity Building, etc… consequently there was a proposal to start working  on a partnership between SALGA and AFLRA during the environmental conference in Mwanza, Tanzania November  2009.

The Flemish Association of Cities and Municipalities(VVSG) of Belgium hosted a City to City Cooperation conference in Mangaung in October 2010. VVSG have partnerships with six municipalities in South Africa under three sectoral themes:  Youth, Environment and Local Economy.

The six municipalities in South Africa that have Municipal International Cooperation (MIC) with Flemish counterparts are as follows:

• Mangaung - Gent
• Witzenberg (Tulbagh) - Essen
• Tshwane (Olievenhoutbosch) - Maasmechelen
• Stellenbosch (Franschoek) - Dilbeek
• uMlalazi - Geel
• Nquthu - Bornem (2008)

From 2009 to date SALGA has been  involved in discussions proposing  the Launch of the India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) Local Government Focal Point. To this extent SALGA has attended a number of meetings hosted by their  Brazilian counterpart CNM (Conferacion Nacional de Municipios) in partnership with India.

Recently, in the second week of November 2010, SALGA has hosted a delegation from Korea as the KOICA (Korean International Cooperation Agency) is interested in rolling out development programmes in some pilot rural municipalities in SA.

This year 2010, SALGA also undertook a Peer Review with its UK counterpart the UK-LGA. The high level delegation from the UK, visited SALGA offices as well as selected municipalities this year after a delegation from SALGA had gone to the UK in early 2009. The UK representative had the opportunity to  present the outcome of the Review to the EMT Legkotla.

International Organisations

In addition to Local Government Associations, the IR unit Coordinates SALGA’s involvement with international programmes such as the United Nations Millennium Campaign, UNICEF, NEPAD, ICLEI Africa, etc.

United Nations Millennium Campaign : SALGA started this programme in partnership with UCLGA which lead the Launch of the SALGA Local Government MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) Week in September 2009. The SALGA ‘LG MDGs Week’ showcases the progress of municipalities against the MDGs in a particular year and is characterized by a media campaign and provincial roadshows.

Through the linkage with ICLEI Africa, the Environment unit of SALGA was able to participate in critical Climate Change conferences such as the one which took place in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark.