16 February 2009
Just two months after Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Sicelo
Shiceka, accompanied by senior officials from his department, embarked on
provincial stakeholder engagements in the Eastern Cape, he is back in the
province to officially announce the dissolution of the Mnquma Local
Municipality, placing it under administration.
In addition, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has been brought in to
further investigate incidents of corruption that have been detected in the
municipality. The SIU is in the process of signing a Memorandum of Agreement
with the department with the sole purpose of rooting out corruption in
provincial and local spheres of government throughout the country.
âBy the time the SIU is finished, there will be neither bush nor stone where
both corruptee and corruptor will have to hide in or under,â says Minister
Shiceka.
Following months of intensive work carried out under the leadership of
provincial co-ordinators Shiceka appointed immediately after his appointment as
Minister in September, and a team of senior national and provincial government
officials set up after his provincial visit in November, Mnquma is only the
first in a long list of other municipalities in the province possibly facing a
similar fate.
Minister Shiceka is in support and agrees with the MEC for Local Government,
Housing and Traditional Affairs, Thoko Xasa, to place the municipality under
administration because of its ineffectiveness and inefficiency as well as an
apparent inability to carry out its mandate due to a combination of factors
that also include corruption.
âNot only are there high levels of corruption in this municipality, but
there are also officials who seem to have no interest whatsoever in delivering
services to our people or even in working towards realising the ruling partyâs
promise of a better life for all and all these factors have combined to render
the municipality ineffective,â says Shiceka.
Two months after his appointment into the portfolio, Shiceka embarked on a
programme to engage his portfolioâs stakeholders under the Intergovernmental
and Community Dialogue programme, where he took senior officials to provinces
to listen and engage with Premiers and MECs, Mayors, Municipal and Ward
Councillors and Traditional Leaders. The Eastern Cape was the first on the list
from 17 to 19 November.
Shiceka left behind a team of senior officials led by the provincial
Director-General, Sibongile Muthwa, the Department of Provincial and Local
Government Deputy Director-General for Systems and Capacity Building, Elroy
Africa and the Eastern Cape Provincial Co-ordinator from the Ministerâs office,
Muzi Thabethe, to assist the province in finding solutions to challenges that
hinder service delivery.
Other municipalities where the team has focused its attention on now include
Mbhashe, Nkonkobe, Buffalo City, Amahlathi, Koukamma and Ukhahlamba where over
100 babies and toddlers died as a result of water contamination about 15 months
ago. Most may be facing a similar fate to Mnquma.
âThe team is moving in swiftly on Koukamma which is in a crisis situation
despite the fact that we as the Department of Provincial and Local Government
(dplg) had already moved in to intervene with the assistance of the Afrikaanse
Handelsinstituut in December, to improve quality service delivery,â says
Shiceka.
âThe Eastern Cape has to, and will be, turned around. All these
interventions that we have carried out since we came into this portfolio, from
the appointment of provincial co-ordinators to be represent my office on the
ground in all the provinces to leaving the comfort of our offices to embark on
the intergovernmental and community dialogue, to getting into partnerships with
private sector organisations like the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI) and the
Special Investigations Unit are focused on one thing only: service delivery for
the attainment of a better quality of life for all South Africans,â says
Shiceka.
For more information contact:
Vuyelwa Qinga Vika
Cell: 082 877 3898
For directions to the venue contact:
Asanda
Cell: 082 958 1720
Issued by: Department of Provincial and Local Government
16 February 2009
Source: Department of Provincial and Local Government (http://www.thedplg.gov.za/)
