Deputy President Yunus Carrim and Director General of Department of Traditional Affairs, Professor Charles Nwaila led a senior delegation from Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) to meet King Zwelonke Sigcawu at the Great Place in Nqadu Eastern Cape to listen to his concerns and consider progress on several projects in the Mbhashe on which traditional leaders and councillors are cooperating.
The king said he was very pleased about the visit and commended the good working relationship between traditional leaders and councillors in Mbhashe. He said that the national and provincial government should provide more support to the projects in the area.
Deputy Minister Carrim expressed the government’s appreciation to the king for his guidance on service delivery and development.
The delegation was accompanied by Kgosi Maubane, the Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Mr Bagudi Tolo, the Chairperson of the Commission on Traditional Disputes and Claims and representatives of the Provincial Department of Traditional Affairs and Provincial House of Traditional Leaders (PHTL).
The delegation also visited Matatiele and Alice and the headquarters of PHTL and considered projects on Nguni cattle, poultry, vegetable gardens and HIV and AIDS programmes.
“We are impressed with progress,” said Deputy Minister Carrim. “While councillors and officials have distinct roles they are interdependent, and where they work effectively together, and with communities, there can be significant improvements in service delivery and development.
“We need to draw lesson from these experiences and spread them elsewhere in the province and the country more generally.”
Director General Nwaila said, “We will work with the provincial department to see what more support we can give to projects on which councillors and traditional leaders work together. We will, over time, within budgetary constraints look into expanding training and other capacity programmes.”
At a meeting in the headquarters of the PHTL, Carrim said, “This wonderful new building symbolises the seriousness with which government takes the role of traditional leaders and the importance of your developmental role. We appreciate your work but think you could, working with communities, do more.”
Inkosi NJ Mantanzima, the Chair of the PHTL committed the traditional leaders to doing more and asked that traditional leaders be given more support.
For more information regarding this statement, kindly contact:
Josephine Appolus
Cell: 082 455 9291
Vuyelwa Vika
Cell: 082 877 3098
Source: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
