CoGTA needs a new Minister, not a second Deputy Minister

6 December 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa not to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Deputy Minister, Parks Tau.

Tau is one of two CoGTA Deputy Ministers, but last week accepted a job as a MEC in Gauteng.

Attrition can help the President to further reduce the size of South Africa’s expensive cabinet cohort.

Since May last year, CoGTA’s performance has not justified the cost of an additional Deputy Minister.

This marks the third year in a row that the department has failed to achieve an unqualified audit result.

The biggest source of irregular expenditure in the Department, the Community Works Programme, has not been reformed.

What is worse, Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her team have failed to arrest the decline of most (ANC controlled) provinces and municipalities.

Instead of appointing a second Deputy Minister, the President might consider replacing the Minister.

Issued by Cilliers Brink, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs, 6 December 2020