Parliament, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 – The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) has welcomed as a work in progress a report it received on the implementation of outcomes emanating from forensic investigations that were commissioned in 2009 against a number of beleaguered municipalities across the country.
The committee had previously expressed concern at the slow pace it took the national Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to table before it a progress report on the work done by provinces and municipalities in implementing recommendations emanating from the outcomes of the forensic investigations commissioned in 2009. However, upon realising the complexities the department had to contend with in dealing with this sensitive matter, the committee appreciated the work the department has done thus far.
The committee learnt that provincial departments and municipalities were requested in 2014 to submit copies of their respective forensic reports, for assessment purposes. The department informed the committee that 120 reports have been received and assessed in conjunction with law enforcement agencies. 110 of those reports managed to produce some 500 cases involving a range of municipal employees. Some of these cases saw employees being taken to disciplinary hearings and others facing criminal charges.
Briefing the committee today, the Minister of CoGTA, Dr Zweli Mkhize, told the committee that the reason why the department appears to have taken long to table this progress report was due to, among other things, the meticulousness with which departmental officials had to exercise in dealing with these sensitive cases.
The committee requested the department to provide it with regular updates on the process.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COGTA, MR RICHARD MDAKANE.
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