Traditional Leaders welcome partnership for development
The President of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa), Kgosi Setlamorago Thobejane, has welcomed the establishment of a partnership between traditional authorities and the Department of Social Development.
Speaking on March 4, the first day of a two-day Partnership for Development Conference called by the Department of Social Development with the view to finding solutions to challenges that continue to face rural communities, Kgosi Setlamorago Thobejani said traditional leaders stand ready to work with government to bring development in areas under their authority.
“None of us will succeed in improving the lives of rural communities if we work in silos. Things will move more progressively if we work together. We, therefore, welcome the formation of this mutually-beneficial partnership with government,” said Thobejani.
He also applauded the department’s call for a partnership because it “allows traditional leaders to reclaim their place as leaders in their communities.”
Addressing the conference, Minister for Social Development - Ms Bathabile Dlamini - said the partnership would create synergies between the programmes of the department and those of traditional leaders.
“Traditional authorities have first-hand experience of the challenges faced by rural communities and how best they can be resolved. In building a stronger partnership with traditional leaders we can ensure communities access services offered by the Department of Social Development, National Development Agency (NDA), and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa),” said Minister Dlamini.
The main aim of the partnership with Contralesa is to bring further development in rural areas. Government is already working with all structures of traditional authorities at provincial, district and local levels to reach and improve the lives of all rural communities.
Areas under traditional leadership that experience social and economic challenges are being assisted through a number of poverty alleviation initiatives. Through the partnership with Contralesa, the Department of Social Development is ensuring that South Africans living in rural areas have access to services to ensure a better quality of life.
Among the issues Minister Dlamini stressed as requiring urgent intervention were fighting against the disintegration of the family, food security initiatives, assistance to child-headed households as well as a focus on early childhood development for rural children.
The conference has gone into commissions to discuss ways of tackling these matters as well as issues around gender-based violence, alcohol and substance abuse, access to social assistance as well as non-profit organisation registration and capacity building, to name a few.
It is expected that the conference will adopt a programme of action, at the end of deliberations on March 5, to take these developmental matters forward.
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