District Development Model workshop

The DDP hosted a 2 day District Development Model workshop for civil society practitioners, political parties and ordinary citizens at Elangeni Hotel on the 17-18 May 2022.

The District Development Model seeks to accelerate service delivery and ensure integrated planning and delivery of services in a sustainable manner. The Model was introduced in 2019 by president Cyril Ramaphosa to assist municipalities to accelerate service delivery, facilitate integrated planning and fulfil their developmental and constitutional mandate.  The Model further reinforces devolution of power to the district and local municipal level in order to ensure that that bulk services like water and electricity are supplied in a consistent and efficient manner.

The Model resonates well with DDPs and KAS commitment to building a culture of democracy at local level and ensuring that citizens play an active and meaningful role in building responsive and developmental local government.

The workshop was hosted and attended by civil society actors towards:

• unpacking the District Development Model and identify opportunities for civil society participation.
• Consolidating civil society input for presentation and submission to COGTA which is the custodian department of the District Development Model.
• Testing and endorsement of the DDPs District Development Model practitioners guide as a tool to empower and guide civil society’s engagement in the District Development Model processes
• Creating a conducive space for civil society formations and the government sector to engage on the model and identify social partners roles and how they will hold each other accountable (monitor and evaluation)
• soliciting input and recommendations from civil society representative in order to make a submission aimed at influencing the District Development Model processes and its implementation.
• Identifying areas of commonality and alignment of the District Development Model with existing government policies and strategies such as the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), the National Development Plan (NDP), Spatial Planning and land Use Management Act (SPLUMA)
• Developing a pool of informed, dedicated, and empowered DDM practitioners to lead and influence the implementation of the DDM and ensure that it is people driven and community oriented