Alan

President Cyril Ramaphosa will unveil two statues of the Father of the Nation on 18 July 2023 in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, as part of the International Nelson Mandela Month celebrations. 

The programme spearheaded by the Nelson Mandela Museum is in partnership with the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture; OR Tambo District Municipality and King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality.

According to the statement, the statues will be unveiled at the Nelson Mandela Museum, Bhunga Building in Mthatha and Nelson Mandela Museum Youth and Heritage Centre in Qunu.

“The two statues of Nelson Mandela will resemble Nelson Mandela as a Statesman and the other as a traditionalist.”

On the same day, the museum and department will hand over a library at Zingisa Comprehensive High School as part of “Making a Difference” in the community.

This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day will be commemorated under the theme: “It is in Your Hands”. 

The planned International Mandela Day activities will kick start with an International Mandela Day public lecture at the Nelson Mandela Museum Youth and Heritage Centre in Qunu on 17 July 2023 where Minister Zizi Kodwa will be in attendance. 

Meanwhile, government has called on citizens to contribute to turning the tide against food insecurity and climate change in honour of Madiba’s legacy.

The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), in a statement on Tuesday, described former President Nelson Mandela as a leader who abhorred injustice. 

“He is known mainly for the personal sacrifices that he and fellow freedom fighters made towards achieving democracy in South Africa. 

“Even outside of prison, Mandela continued the fight against injustice, especially poverty, through various means, including mobilising local and international friends to support fundraising efforts for food insecurity and education, among others.” 

According to government, Mandela viewed anti-poverty efforts as the protection of human rights.

“He once said, ‘Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life’.

“As such, South Africans will do well to honour him by emulating these ideals not only during Mandela Month but make them part of their daily lives.” 

During this month, government will host several events led by Ministers, Premiers, Deputy Ministers, Directors-General and public servants in all provinces.

These events include the planting of trees and the donation of blankets, clothes and food. 

The programmes will also support communities by starting food gardens. – SAnews.gov.za 
 

The KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Department has deployed ministerial representatives to intervene in municipalities that are consistently receiving poor audit outcomes from the Auditor-General (AG).

According to KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, eight municipalities, including Msunduzi, Mpofana, Inkosi Langalibalele, Mtubatuba, Abaqulusi Local Municipality, uThukela, uMzinyathi and uMkhanyakude District Municipality are currently under intervention.

Dube-Ncube said challenges include consistently poor audit outcomes, as identified by the AG, the inadequate utilisation of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and other grants from provincial and national Treasury, financial difficulties, maladministration, approval of unfunded budgets and political instability.

“Each time the province intervenes, it has carefully considered the state of the municipality and underperformance that justifies placement of these municipalities under Section 139(1),” Dube-Ncube said on Wednesday.

The provincial government will continue, through COGTA, provincial Treasury and all provincial departments, to provide the necessary support to the municipalities and ensure improvement in accordance with the provincial government's aspirations. 

While these interventions follow a standardised approach, the Premier acknowledged that each municipality faces unique challenges, which must be addressed accordingly.

“We will not be intimidated, and we expect the ministerial representatives to implement consequence management resulting from Section 106 investigations within three months of completion of the reports. 

“In turn, the performance of ministerial representatives will be assessed by the MEC of COGTA within two months, and appointments will be terminated in case of underperformance,” the Premier said. 

She said the provincial government remains fully committed to ensuring the proper functioning of local government, stating that “when local government fails, all of government fails, because local government is the touchstone of service delivery". 

“We cannot allow illegal and unconstitutional decisions to bar interventions in municipalities by the province on grounds that have little to do with service delivery to the people of KwaZulu-Natal,” Dube-Ncube said.

Proper oversight for affected municipalities 

The Premier has also called on the affected municipalities, led by the mayors, to provide proper leadership and oversight to ensure that corrective measures are implemented to resolve audit issues and prevent recurrence.

Dube-Ncube, together with the COGTA MEC, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, held a meeting with the top leadership of local and district municipalities that have been identified by the AG as underperforming and received negative reports. 

The municipalities, including uThukela, Ulundi, Emadlangeni, Mtubatuba, Msunduzi, Endumeni, Harry Gwala, Umkhanyakude, Mpofana, Nquthu, Umzinyathi, Inkosi Langalibalele, and Amajuba District Municipalities received negative reports during the 2021/2022 financial year.

Dube-Ncube said some of these municipalities are already subject to interventions under Section 139(1) of the Constitution.

“Some of them, according to the latest report of the AG, presented on 31 May 2023, not only received negative reports but may have undergone regression in critical areas. We cannot allow this situation to deteriorate any further than what it is already,” Dube-Ncube said.

The Premier said at the meeting, the mayors provided turnaround plans to address the negative audit outcomes, and their responses to the Audit Action Plan, material irregularities, addressing unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

The mayors also presented their preparedness for the 2023 audit and provided the latest financial position of the municipalities. 

This included the June 2023 expenditure position on the infrastructure and disaster relief conditional grants, and the 2023/24 budget funding status.

While acknowledging signs of recovery, Dube-Ncube said the provincial government is extremely worried that the general picture that is emerging is one of “generalised weakness in the administration of some of these municipalities”.

She warned that the provincial government will not be barred from municipalities to conduct the work of government or to meet with communities. – SAnews.gov.za

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga on Tuesday said she was gravely concerned about the torching of trucks on South African roads, describing the incidents as an “act of economic sabotage”. 

This comes after trucks ferrying goods were set alight recently in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.  

Meanwhile, four more trucks have been torched on Wednesday morning on the N2 between Piet Retief and Ermelo in Mpumalanga. 

According to reports, this brings 20 trucks in total that have been burned down. 

“This is criminality that will not be tolerated. These criminals are committing an act of economic sabotage, which must attract the harshest penalties permissible in law,” said Chikunga. 

“Our road network is the lifeblood of our economy and transports valuable cargo that keeps the wheels of our economy turning,” she stressed.  

According to the Minister, road traffic law enforcement authorities, working under the coordination of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) continue to work closely with other law enforcement authorities to maintain maximum vigilance and to bring perpetrators to book.

“The ability of trucks to transport freight is an enabler of economic activity and trade with other markets, which is critical for our economy, as the road freight transports more than 80% of all country’s cargo,” she explained.  

Government, Chikunga said, has also provided a platform of engagement for any party aggrieved by working conditions in the road freight industry and that progress is being made in addressing the issues on the table.  

The Ministry said it continues to work as part of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to address the challenges facing the sector. 

“Behaviour by any party that is outside of that agreed framework will neither be condoned nor tolerated. We call upon law enforcement authorities to unleash the full might of the law in dealing with those who think they can sabotage our economy with impunity.  

“We equally appeal to other road users and communities to work closely with law enforcement authorities and report suspicious conduct on our roads.  We will not allow our roads to be used as an arena to commit crime,” she stressed.  SAnews.gov.za