Question NW720 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

Share this page:

11 April 2016 - NW720

Profile picture: Madisha, Mr WM

Madisha, Mr WM to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

Whether he has gone to (a) Ga-Rankuwa or (b) any other area where violent protests were taking place at present, in the period since his appointment to his new post, to (i) bring fed-up protesters and slack local government authorities together around a table to address long simmering community grievances quickly, effectively and efficiently and (ii) protect the image of South Africa in the face of a regular showing on TV screens around the world that South Africa was a violent and dangerous country with ordinary people being at odds with local government and angry at national government for not being responsive and caring; if not, why not; if so, what has he achieved through his direct involvement in resolving the long-simmering dispute at GaRankuwa or anywhere else where protests have recently been flaring up because of unresolved grievances?

Reply:

(a) No, the Minister has not visited Ga-Rankuwa.
(b) The Minister visited the Tlokwe Local Municipality, since his appointment.
(i)
The Minister has taken steps to address community grievances. These include:

• Ensuring that the department continues to implement the Back-to-Basics (B2B) programme that addresses challenges in the local government sphere

• Directing the department's provincial 828 coordinators to focus on areas where violent protests are taking place, to address community grievances;

(ii) The City of Tshwane is involved in addressing concerns raised by the residents of GaRankuwa.
The Back to Basics provincial teams have identified municipalities where violent protests are taking place and are working at resolving the challenges in these municipalities.
The teams report back to the Minister regularly.

Source file