Parliament, Thursday, 17 May 2018 – The Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs recently heard briefings from the Eastern Cape and Free State provincial governments’ Members of the Executive Councils (MECs) of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on interventions in the Walter Sisulu and Maluti-Phofung Local Municipalities in terms of Section 139 (1b) of the Constitution.
The committee sent away officials of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, who were in Parliament to brief the committee on its intervention in Inkosi Langalibalele Dube and Mpofana Local Municipality.
After brief discussions about the absence of the KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the committee told the officials that it is a matter of convention of the committee that when the MEC of a department is absent, the committee sends the departmental officials away. The committee told the officials that it will visit KZN soon where it will get the report.
The committee expressed its unhappiness with the report from the Eastern Cape’s MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Fikile Xasa, on the intervention in the Walter Sisulu Local Municipality. The report was unclear about the terms of reference and a turnaround strategy, among other things. The committee told Mr Xasa and the administrator of the Water Sisulu Municipality that the committee will also visit the Eastern Cape soon and the progress report on the intervention must be produced within that period.
The committee welcomed the report presented by the Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and urged the MEC to share their experiences with other provinces in the spirit of cooperative governance. “Thank you very much for your clear report MEC, but be assured that we will come for an oversight visit,” said Mr Mthimunye.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, MR SIMPHIWE MTHIMUNYE.
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