Minister Des van Rooyen on his appointment as Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister

15 December 2015

I am humbled to stand before you today as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, fully cognisant of the great responsibility bestowed upon me by President Jacob Zuma.

Let me from the outset state that I understand and support the decisions made by President Zuma. As a loyal and disciplined cadre of the ANC I look forward to serving the South African public. Our President has placed our country first. I echo President Jacob Zuma's words in saying that as a democratic government we must constantly listen to our citizenry and respond to their views.

Let me take this opportunity and wish my predecessor Minister Pravin Gordhan well in his new portfolio. I also extend my sincere thanks to him for the foundation he laid and the work we must do going forward.

Certainly this is one of the pillars of CoGTA’s Back-to-Basics (B2B) programme, which I fully support and will continue implementing. The Back-to-Basics programme is premised on the 5 pillars of putting people first, promoting good governance, sound financial management, building institutional capacity and delivering basic services.

As a former ward councillor, member of the mayoral committee, mayor, and chairperson of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) in the North West Province, I fully understand the challenges at local government level and aware of the challenges facing local government. Having occupied the above cited positions of responsibilities, I believe I am ready to assume the responsibilities and implement the mandate of the department.

Over the coming months, as part the Back-2-Basics programme, we will intensify our hands on monitoring and support of local government to accelerate service delivery. I believe that my experience in local government, Finance Portfolio Committee and Economic Transformation Cluster as a whip in National Assembly, will stand me in good stead in implementing the finer points of the Back-2-Basics programme. The department will continue to support the development and implementation of a comprehensive infrastructure and maintenance plans in municipalities.

Members of the media,

Currently the country is experiencing challenges related to the impact of drought in provinces such as North West, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Limpopo and the Western Cape which have been declared disaster areas.

The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) has deployed a team to the KZN province, which is more severely affected, to assist with mitigating the effects of the drought. The NDMC team will be ceased with this matter throughout the festive season. We wish to express our gratitude to the NDMC team members and their families for the sacrifices they will be making during this time.

We affirm that the preparations for the local government elections are on track. Government will have a dedicated media briefing on the state of readiness for the 2016 local government elections in the new year.

The summer initiation season is underway. Challenges experienced include abductions and kidnappings, mushrooming of illegal and unregistered schools. To date, the death toll stands at 43, which is totally unacceptable. We are working with various stakeholders across various sectors to ensure that our young men can undergo this rite of passage in a safe manner. CoGTA has established a hotline where people will be able to report initiation related cases. The number is 0800 111 166.

Let me reiterate that parents and guardians should ensure that they send their young men to registered initiation schools and that these schools abide by the rules and regulations initiated by the Department of Health. We are also working with the department of Health on awareness campaigns to prepare for the next seasons.

We are committed to engaging all stakeholders in the local government sector, from traditional leaders, NGOs to business communities, and expanding on partnerships that have been developed over the years. We look forward to engaging with the South African Local Government Association and the Labour movements to ensure they play their meaningful role so that we can all execute on what needs to be accomplished together.

We are committed to continuing the work of my predecessor, Minister Gordhan. The Back-2-Basics programme has set the wheels of service delivery in motion and as one ANC government we will work together in the best interests of our citizens.

Like many committed South Africans we are optimistic about the future of our country.

I remain immensely proud to be a front line servant of this great nation, a duty I solemnly commit myself to execute diligently.

I thank you / Ke a leboga

Issued by Tsakani Baloyi, Spokesperson, Department of Cooperative Governance, 15 December 2015