GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
7 March 2023
While the appointment of a new Deputy President and Minister of Electricity headlined President Ramaphosa’s 6 March Cabinet re-shuffle, the new team in charge of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) is arguably more important.
The former COGTA Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, did not win many friends for her management of the Covid State of Disaster, but Dlamini-Zuma’s greatest failure was her invisibility as many of the country’s most important municipalities descended into coalition chaos.
Instead of foreseeing the instability that unregulated coalitions would occasion, with councillors prioritizing positions and power over the delivery of services that are their primary function, she was nowhere to be seen.
The people of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni – and many smaller “hung” municipalities – are suffering as a direct consequence of her inaction.
The good news for local government that President Ramaphosa announced yesterday extended beyond Dlamini-Zuma’s departure (to take the reins as Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities). There is now an entirely new team of Minister and two Deputies, all of whom appear fit for purpose.
The new Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Thembi Nkadimeng, has extensive experience in local government, as a former Mayor of Polokwane and head of Salga.
She also comes with the integrity of leading the struggle for justice with respect to the murder of her sister, Nokuthula Simelane, by apartheid agents in 1983 – despite the best efforts of her party, the ANC, to ignore the recommendations on prosecutions by the TRC.
New Deputy Minister Parks Tau is a former Mayor of Johannesburg, who Nkadimeng replaced as Salga President. Tau is also a former President of the global network, United Cities and Local Governments. He has previously served as Deputy Minister of COGTA, and as an MEC in Gauteng, giving him practical experience at all three levels of government.
The second newly appointed Deputy Minister, Prince Zolile Burns-Ncamashe, will presumably focus on the department’s Traditional Affairs component. He is well-qualified for the role, the son of Chief Sipho Burns-Ncamashe with a string of degrees from Fort Hare University.
Between them, the new Minister and her deputies have little more than a year before national and provincial elections to formulate a set of rules and regulations to stabilize local government coalitions, stop the backroom horse-trading and incessant motions of no confidence, and put the focus back on service delivery.
If they fail to do so, with election polls predicting there may be a necessity for coalitions at provincial and national levels next year, the plague of political recklessness and lack of concern for citizens will sweep through national parliament and the legislatures.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za