Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Parliament (MPLs) are set to embark on the "Mandela Week" activities ahead of the Mandela Day on Sunday by visiting various municipalities throughout the province from 14 to 16 of July.
Legislature Speaker, the Honourable Neliswa Nkonyeni, Deputy Speaker Honourable Mtholephi Mthimkhulu, Members of Provincial Parliament, and Members of the Executive Council of the provincial government, will lead various delegations to several municipalities throughout the province as part of the build-up to Mandela Day.
The purpose of the visits is to familiarise MPLs with challenges the municipalities could be facing in carrying out their duties. These challenges could have led to a slow pace of service delivery. But the visits would also be to complement those municipalities that are run efficiently and encourage them to continue the good work.
"In terms of section 154 (1) of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provincial governments must support and strengthen the capacity of the municipalities. In our dedication and commitment to service delivery in this province we want to actively engage municipalities to understand the challenges they face and areas in which they require assistance," said Nkonyeni.
The visits are part of the build-up to the Mandela Day, which is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life and a global call to action for people to recognise their individual ability to make an imprint and change the world around them. Mandela Day was created to inspire people from every corner of the world to embrace the values that have embodied Mandela’s life such as democracy, equality, reconciliation, diversity, responsibility, respect and freedom.
Nkonyeni said the visits are to take place between 14 and 16 July in order to give the MPLs an opportunity to do what they would like to do for their constituencies on the actual Mandela Day which is on Sunday, 18 July 2010.
"In 2008, at the Hyde Park in London, during his 98th birthday celebrations Mandela said: ‘Where there is poverty and sickness, where human beings are being oppressed, there is more work to be done. Our work is for freedom for all.’ We as the KZN Legislature want to bring truism to these principles by visiting our municipalities that are facing challenges to see how best can we help them to overcome the challenges but we also want to encourage those that are doing well to keep up the good work," said Nkonyeni.
MPLs, including Honourable Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Honourable MECs will visit various municipalities in the following districts Umgungundlovu, Umkhanyakude, Zululand, Umzinyathi,Uthungulu, Uthukela, Ugu, Sisonke, Ilembe, Ethekwini and AmaJuba. Several municipalities in the province have experienced problems that have resulted in some being placed under administration. Members of the KwaZulu-Natal Parliament will lead various delegations to these districts and municipalities and they will be joined by MECs who are champions of various districts throughout the province.
The districts to be visited are as follows: Umgungundlovu District Municipality, Umkhanyakude District Municipality, Zululand District Municipality, Umzinyathi District Municipality, Uthungulu District Municipality, Uthukela District Municipality, Ugu District Municipality, Ilembe District Municipality, eThekwini District Municipality and AmaJuba District Municipality. KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker urges all the staff of the municipalities to be visited and their surrounding communities to cooperate with the MPLs in order to make these visits a resounding success.
For more information contact:
Wonder Hlongwa
Cell: 082 908 3532
