The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is in the process of initiating further consultations with the communities of Moutse and Matatiele to assist government in the re-determination of their borders.
The exercise is in line with the Cabinet decision of April 2009, instructing the department to go back and test the views of the people in those areas before a decision of where their boundaries would lie was made. A critical difference of the current exercise from the previous one is that the views of the local people as "citizens" rather than as a "constituency" will be tested. The Cabinet's view was that the previous process was not sufficient to resolve the boundary disputes.
To achieve the stated objective of this exercise, the following process will be followed:
* Consultative process on a village-by-village or ward-by-ward basis in both towns
* Consultative process in local areas in the affected local municipalities which will be limited only to the affected towns and surrounding villages
* Maximum participation of residents in both Moutse and Matatiele to be ensured
* Efforts to be made to ensure that the process enjoys wide legitimacy among those who will be participating, to ensure collective ownership of the outcome
* Demarcation of the affected towns in the affected Municipalities, together with wards/villages that they service in terms of service delivery, for purposes of consultation
* To ensure that persons who reside outside the affected areas will NOT be allowed to participate in the process.
The IEC voters roll used in the general elections of April 2009 will be used local residents, and in cases where a person does not appear other means of validating residency will be applicable.
A national consultation task team led by the department, and including the affected provincial governments, municipalities and traditional leadership, has been set up to drive the process. This team has been meeting on a regular basis since the beginning of July.
It is anticipated that the process will be finished by September, after which a report will be submitted to Cabinet for a decision on the issue.
For further enquiries, please contact the undersigned:
Ms Vuyelwa Qinga Vika
Ministerial Media Liaison
Minister for cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Tel: 012 334 0995
Fax: 012 326 4478
Cell: 082 877 3898
E-mail: vuyelwaQ@dplg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
20 July 2009
Source: Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (http://www.dplg.gov.za)
