Cabinet has approved the submission to Parliament of the AU Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development for ratification.

Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, made the announcement during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Thursday.

South Africa signed the charter in August 2021.

He said the Decentralisation Charter provides a framework to all Member States on the decentralisation of powers and functions from national to other spheres of government.

“The charter deals largely with the decentralisation of authority and functions, local governance framework and local development,” he said.

In 2021, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said South Africa’s signing of the charter would help to accelerate the implementation of the District Development Model.

The charter, she said at the time, would also strengthen the collaboration of the three spheres to work as one government serving the diverse needs of society.

Source: South African Government News Agency