Mkhize meets with traditional leaders

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Zweli Mkhize, accompanied by the MEC for Coghsta, Jerry Ndou, and Collins Chabane Local Municipality’s mayor, Cllr Joyce Bila, met with the Malamulele Task Team and traditional leaders during a ministerial visit at the Malamulele Boxing Gym last Thursday.

Minister Mkhize said that municipalities needed to go back to basics and do what communities expected, such as filling vacancies in strategic positions with qualified, competent and experienced professionals, improve financial management, infrastructure development and maintenance and promote good governance and ethical leadership. People and their concerns should be first priority, the minister said.

Mkhize added that they wanted clean municipalities to ensure that the communities were able to benefit. “We want you to implement viable local economic development strategies for economic growth, job creation and poverty eradication,” he said.

Mkhize also condemned tribalism within the municipality. “We highly condemn tribalism and we are all Africans and we must live in peace and harmony,” he said. He also instructed the mayor to give the municipality’s report to the traditional leaders in order for them to see the progress made by the municipality.

Speaking on behalf of the Collins Chabane traditional leaders, Hosi Eric Chauke of Mudavula village said the issue of Vuwani was all about tribalism and only a small portion of villages did not want to be associated with the new municipality. “As traditional leaders we want to work with all people and all traditional leaders in the Vuwani area under this new municipality, because we used to stay together as Vendas and Tsonga people in the past,” he said.

The Malamulele Demarcation Task Team's secretary, Dr Jan Nkuna, applauded the minister for visiting the area to meet and listen to the task team and traditional leaders. He said that it showed good governance.

Date:20 July 2018

By: Mbulaheni Ridovhona

The 22-year-old Mbulaheni (Gary) Ridovhona has been passionate about journalism to the extent that he would buy himself a copy of weekly Univen students' newsletter, Our Voice. After reading, he would write stories about his rural village, Mamvuka, and submit them to the very newsletter for publication. His deep-rooted love for words and writing saw him register for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at the University of Venda, and joined the Limpopo Mirror team in February 2016 as a journalism intern.

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