KZN COGTA demands municipal accountability even if it means taking them to court

Women must be steadfast and claim their rightful leadership space in a patriarchal society. That is according to KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nomusa Dube-Ncube who was speaking at the Women of Impact Seminar in Durban on 17.08.18. Dube-Ncube cautioned that the current generation of women will be judged harshly by history for setting future generations of women up for failure if they remain mere passive spectators to men and the patriarchal society we still see in South Africa today. “Times have changed dramatically in favour of women but I do not think we have occupied the space that we should be occupying. Take for example those who came before us who against all odds resisted to have their voices drowned out. They collectively faced the might of the apartheid regime and registered their concerns. Now our generation needs to do an objective introspection and ask some difficult questions - are we truly where we need to be?” - said Dube-Ncube. “One of the challenges we are facing is that we are bearing the brunt of poverty, yet opportunities are out there for us to turn our lives around. We do not want to work together and the pull-her-down syndrome is a hindrance for us to ascend to all the new economic opportunities that are now available. We need to close ranks, work together and support one another. We desperately need forums of this nature where we share ideas and map a way forward for aggressive women empowerment processes,” said Dube-Ncube. Dube-Ncube urged women to work together to nip in the bud the scourge of abuse of women. She said if women are not supporting victims of abuse and expose perpetrators, war against women abuse would never be won. “Enough is enough - women and our girl children are raped and killed. Perpetrators are usually men known to them; men who are their partners, husbands and uncles. These are people that should be protecting them but instead they do the opposite. We protect these p

KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) insists upon full municipal accountability for all actions and decisions taken by municipal councils and officials even if this, on occasion, leads to the department taking legal action against municipalities as has recently been the case with Mthonjaneni, Nquthu, Msinga and Nkandla municipalities.

“Our record in enforcing accountability from municipal councils and officials demonstrates that we will do whatever it takes to hold people and institutions to account. Sometimes this means resorting to court action. It is, of course, not a preferred course of action but rather a measure of last resort when all other avenues have been exhausted,” said KZN MEC for Cogta Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

KZN Cogta has recently resorted to courts to enforce various employment regulations in municipalities. Mthonjaneni and Nkandla, for instance, have been taken to court to challenge the appointments of municipal managers on the basis of insufficient qualifications. Similarly, Nquthu and Msinga have been sued for illegal renewals of contracts of senior managers.

“It must be pointed out that all our court cases against municipalities are in defence of regulations by which all municipalities are expected to abide, such as minimum qualifications requirements for municipal managers. We always try to reason with municipalities before we resort to courts. Sometimes the latter is the only option,” said Dube-Ncube.

 

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