Public Protector Stakeholder Roadshow moves to KwaZuluNatal

Public Protector Adv. Busisiwe Mkhwebane and Deputy Public Protector Adv. Kholeka Gcaleka will this week meet with the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial House of Traditional Leaders as part of the nationwide Stakeholder Roadshow which commenced last week in the Free State and the Northern Cape.

In a 2021 investigation, Adv. Mkhwebane found that provincial departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs failed to promote partnerships between district municipalities and Kingship or Queenship Councils in contravention of the Traditional Leaders Governance Framework Act (TLGFA).

The departments also failed to provide information to traditional leaders and councils on their assigned roles and functions and on the Provincial Gazette which regulates their participation in proceedings of a municipal council and prescribes their role in the affairs of a municipality. They were further found to have failed to provide traditional leaders and councils with information on their funding, resourcing and remuneration.

The findings followed an own-initiative systemic investigation on alleged strained relations between some traditional authorities and the local sphere of government, with a specific focus on the impact of such relations on the quality of public service delivery to local communities. In the light of the findings, Adv. Mkhwebane directed MECs of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs across the country with the exception of Gauteng and the Western Cape to put measures in place to support and strengthen traditional councils to fulfil their functions.

These included helping traditional authorities to enter into service delivery agreements with municipalities in accordance with the TLGFA. The MECs were further urged to put in place measures to promote partnerships between municipalities and traditional councils in line with the TLGFA and the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act.

The implementation of the remedial action remains unsatisfactory across the board. Along with other service delivery and good governance issues, the matter will feature prominently during discussions on Wednesday with the KwaZuluNatal Provincial House of Traditional Leaders in Durban.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Adv. Mkhwbane and Adv. Gcaleka, accompanied by Ximba Traditional Council, will conduct an inspection in loco at service delivery problem areas in KwaXimba, Ntshanga. Through the roadshow, the Public Protector South Africa seeks to strengthen ties and foster collaboration and cooperation with organs of state including provincial legislatures, government departments, municipalities and traditional authorities, with a view to promoting quality service delivery and good governance in state affairs.

Meetings with Premier Sihle Zikalala, his Executive Council and the Speaker of the Provincial Legislature, all of whom are not available to meet this week, will be revisited at a later stage on mutually convenient dates.

Meeting with Traditional Leaders and the inspections in loco will take place as follows:

Meeting with Traditional Leaders

Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Time: 10:00 Venue: Garden Court, South Beach, Durban

Inspection in loco

Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Time: 13:00 Venue: KwaXimba, Ntshanga

The roadshow is a flagship outreach programme of the PPSA during which the office interacts with parties interested in its work in fulfilment of its constitutional mandate to investigate, report on and remedy alleged or suspected improper conduct in all state affairs and to be accessible to all persons and communities.