The LGCP conference on Back to Basics was held in Pretoria on the 27th and 28th of May 2015. As the name suggests, the conference was about “Back-to-Basics” – a new strategic focus introduced by CoGTA (Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) through which municipalities will be supported to deliver on their basic mandate (i.e. service delivery to the citizenry).

The conference was attended by representatives from the municipalities participating in the LGCP South Africa Programme, national government departments, civil society organisations, private businesses and other local government stakeholders. Presentations from the panel generated discussions which most of the delegates participated in; identified challenges and even proposed solutions to some problems.

The conference also became a great platform to launch the Anti-Silo movement which seeks to break barriers that hamper interaction among colleagues and get various departments within the same municipality/organisation working together (sharing information etc) in order to archive common goals.