Service - Leadership in Government - Issue 77

S
elections
“SALGA often conducts induction programmes for
councillors so that those who are new are able to catch
up fast and they learn from those who were there and
equally they learn from others who have moved on to
other spheres of government who can provide them
with the perspective of the necessary intergovernmental
relations that are a critical part of local government.”
The state of readiness for the electoral transition
Thabo Manyoni, chairperson of the Municipal
Demarcation Board (MDB), briefed the NMA on the
delimitation of the municipal wards in preparation of
the 2021 municipal elections.
Wards are delimited every five years in metropolitan
and local municipalities for electoral purposes caused
by changes in the number of registered voters as a result
of migration and the enrolment of new voters on the
voters’ roll.
“On 1 December 2020, the MDB handed 4 468
ward boundaries to the IEC to prepare for the Local
Government Elections,” said Manyoni.
Glen Mashinini, chairperson of the Independent
Electoral Commission (IEC), updated the NMA on the
institution’s state of readiness for the elections.
“The commission will be taking into cognisance
the many uncertainties of the current environment,
especially how Covid-19 is turning out. But up until
we have received a scientific report and indications
from CoGTA and the Department of Health, we as the
commission feel that we cannot deviate from what is
expected of us by the constitution. We have to discharge
our duties accordingly.”
Representing the South Africa Police Service (SAPS),
Major-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi also gave a status
update on the SAPS’s safety and security state of
readiness. He expressed confidence that all safety and
security measures have been put in place to create an
environment for free and fair elections to take place
and that hotspots in the country have been identified
and will be prioritised.
“Historically, all previous elections have experienced
challenges unique to the specific context during which
those elections were held, but were declared to be free
and fair,” said Major-General Mkhwanazi.
A reflection on the implications of legislation
Senzo Mchunu, Minister of Public Service and
Administration (DPSA), expressed disappointment that
the growing distrust and poor image associated with the
public sector continues.
He said public sector workers and government
officials needed to obtain the requisite skills and
qualifications to perform their duties and desist from
corrupt practices.
“In the public service you are expected
to produce an assessment for something,
only to find out that you are not trained
for the purpose. You still need to be
trained in such a way that your training is
tailor-made to produce high productivity.
“That’s the only way that we can
make strides in the march towards a
developmental state and it does not end
there. We need to train public servants to
resist corruption,” said Minister Mchunu.
Cllr Xola Pakati, Executive Mayor of
Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, said of efforts
underway to professionalise the public service, “Since
2019, we have been engaging in the establishment of
an office conducting standards and compliance and
the issue of doing business with the state and the
disclosure of financial interests.”
Cllr Bheke Stofile, speaker of the Matjhabeng Local
Municipality and SALGA NEC member, said of the
discussion, “We’ve always been engaging with the sector
being professionalised. Part of this professionalisation
of the sector is to accept that certain things happening
in the sector that are wrong had to be dealt with. That
is why we firmly participated in the amendment of the
Municipal Systems Bill that is before Parliament.”
Managing the transition
Nkosinathi Mthethwa, Minister of Sports, Arts and
Culture, spoke about the transformation of South
Africa’s heritage landscape. He emphasised that to
build a truly non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and
prosperous society, processes of removing the vestiges
of colonialism and apartheid racism were important.
He also spoke on how certain monuments, symbols,
signs and statues in public spaces carried a history of
oppression and tyranny and that it was important for
South Africans to begin having conversations on what
their role should be in a democratic dispensation.
“Do we create a concentration camp of unwanted
statues with a narrative or do we leave it to those who
still value them to preserve them thus running a risk
of reigniting old right-wing nationalism by privatising
public property? Do we allow for a juxtaposition of
these statues as it is the case in the Union Building
where President Mandela is given prominence and
centrality while Hertzog was moved to a less prominent
space?” he asked.
Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Minister of
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
(CoGTA), at the time spoke about the feasibility of
conducting free and fair elections in the shadow of
the Covid-19 pandemic. She emphasised that while the
country was ready to hold elections in 2021, several
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