Minister Mkhize tabled the Annual Report of the Department of Traditional Affairs for the 2017/2018 Financial Year
The Department of Traditional Affairs has complied with the provisions of Section 65 of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 by tabling the Annual Report of the Department of Traditional Affairs (DTA) on 28 September 2018 in both the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
The DTA has achieved a clean audit two years in succession on both performance and financial information as issued by the Auditor General (AGSA) of South Africa. Furthermore, the AG did not raise any material findings on the usefulness and reliability of the reported performance information.
The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Zweli Mkhize, announced the 80% achievement throughout the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) period by the department. He further noted that the department will continue to work hard to provide adequate policy and regulatory frameworks for the sector where gaps exist.
In closing some of the legislative obstacles in the sector, the DTA tabled three Bills in parliament in the past years to address most of the challenges.
The Traditional Leadership and Khoi-San Leadership Bill which was introduced in Parliament during the 2015/16 financial year and has made some significant milestone in the year under review with the finalisation of the Bill by the National Assembly and referring it to the NCOP. The Department has also managed to obtain Cabinet approval to table the Customary Initiation Bill to Parliament.
In addressing legal constitution of the structures of traditional leadership, the department tabled the Framework Amendment Bill (FAB) in Parliament during 2016. To date, both National and Provincial Governments have committed that once the FAB is passed into law, all structures of traditional leadership will be constituted within the legislated timeframes.
This will then be an achievement to the Ministry to achieve its goal to ensure alignment of office terms of the structures of traditional leadership.
The DTA has also made a significant progress to strengthen engagements between the institution of traditional leadership and government. The Indigenous and Traditional Leadership Indaba which was held in 2016/17 financial year provided an opportunity for government and traditional leaders to deal with thorny issues of the sector. This issues are now on the agenda of the Government including issues raised during the President’s speech on the opening of the National House of Traditional Leadership (NHTL).
Enquiries:
Musa Zondi - Spokesperson
Cell: 0728006449
