The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mr Lechesa Tsenoli, had dialogue with the Eastern Cape Traditional Leaders today, Friday 1 November 2013.
The Minister called upon traditional leaders to continue to join hands with the government to undo past injustice in a dialogue that was characterised by openness and frank discussion.
Minister Tsenoli and the traditional leaders agreed that integrated development is critical in addressing the socio-economic issues and accelerating service delivery within traditional communities.
The Minister said that it was up to traditional leaders to drive integrated development, since, without them, no matter how integrated the service from the three spheres of government, there would be ongoing delays in the development of their areas.
Among other things, the dialogue agreed that the relationship between the traditional leaders and the councillors must be strengthened to speed up service delivery and improve the lives of poor communities in the country in general. The Minister emphasised that it was important for municipalities, not merely to consult, but to involve traditional leaders when planning development in their areas, so as to ensure that cooperative governance is strengthened at the local government sphere.
The Minister agreed that it was equally important to make available the necessary tools of trade to enable traditional leaders to play their developmental role in their respective communities much more effectively in the future.
When asked about the issue of the Abathembu Royal family, the Minister indicated that a separate meeting will be arranged in the near future to discuss various issues of development, and any other matters that might have concerned the royal house in the past.
