East London, 15 February 2009 - Just two months after Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, accompanied by senior officials from his department, embarked on provincial stakeholder engagements in the Eastern Cape, he is back in the province to officially announce the dissolution of the Mnquma Local Municipality, placing it under an administration.

In addition, the Special Investigations Unit has been brought in to further investigate incidents of corruption that have been detected in the Municipality. The SIU is in the process of signing a Memorandum of Agreement with the department with the sole purpose of rooting out corruption in provincial and local spheres of government throughout the country.

“By the time the SIU is finished, there will be neither bush nor stone where both corruptee and corruptor will have to hide in or under,” says Minister Shiceka.

Following months of intensive work carried out under the leadership of Provincial Co-ordinators Shiceka appointed immediately after his appointment as Minister in September, and a team of senior national and provincial government officials set up after his Provincial visit in November, Mnquma is only the first in a long list of other Municipalities in the Province possibly facing a similar fate.

Minister Shiceka is in support and agrees with the MEC for Local Government, Housing and Traditional Affairs, Thoko Xasa, to place the Municipality under administration because of its ineffectiveness and inefficiency as well as an apparent inability to carry out its mandate due to a combination of factors that also include corruption.

“Not only are there high levels of corruption in this Municipality, but there are also officials who seem to have no interest whatsoever in delivering services to our people or even in working towards realising the ruling party’s promise of a better life for all…..and all these factors have combined to render the Municipality ineffective,” says Shiceka.

Two months after his appointment into the portfolio, Shiceka embarked on a programme to engage his portfolio’s stakeholders under the Intergovernmental and Community Dialogue Programme, where he took senior officials to Provinces to listen and engage with Premiers and MECs, Mayors, Municipal and Ward Councillors and Traditional Leaders. The Eastern Cape was the first on the list from November 17 to 19.

Shiceka left behind a team of senior officials led by the Provincial Director-General, Sibongile Muthwa, the CoGTA Deputy Director-General for Systems and Capacity Building, Elroy Africa and the Eastern Cape Provincial Co-ordinator from the Minister’s office, Muzi Thabethe, to assist the province in finding solutions to challenges that hinder service delivery.

Other Municipalities where the team has focused its attention on now include Mbhashe, Nkonkobe, Buffalo City, Amahlathi, Koukamma and Ukhahlamba where over 100 babies and toddlers died as a result of water contamination about 15 months ago. Most may be facing a similar fate to Mnquma.

“The team is moving in swiftly on Koukamma which is in a crisis situation despite the fact that we as the dplg had already moved in to intervene with the assistance of the Afrikaanse Handels Instituut in December, to improve quality service delivery,” says Shiceka.

“The Eastern Cape has to, and will be, turned around. All these interventions that we have carried out since we came into this portfolio, from the appointment of Provincial Co-ordinators to be represent my office on the ground in all the provinces to leaving the comfort of our offices to embark on the intergovernmental and community dialogue, to getting into partnerships with private sector organisations like the AHI and the Special Investigations Unit are focused on one thing only: service delivery for the attainment of a better quality of life for all South Africans,” says Shiceka.

Issued on behalf of the Ministry for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

For more information, queries and requests for interviews, please contact:

Vuyelwa Qinga Vika (Ms) -
Media Liaison Officer: Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Cell: 082 877 3898

For directions to the venue, call Asanda: 0829581720