SA to deliver free, fair elections

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Pretoria - South Africa will deliver incident free, safe and fair elections come 3 August.

This was the message by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister Des van Rooyen to the 23 European Union (EU) resident ambassadors in the country.

The minister met the ambassadors on Monday to discuss the upcoming municipal elections, the current challenges in intergovernmental relations in South Africa as well as the role of traditional leadership in shaping domestic politics.

The ambassadors had raised questions on the issues in the environment surrounding the elections, including the Constitutional Court judgment on Tlokwe.

Minister Van Rooyen used the platform to reflect on the key milestones in the journey of South Africa’s democracy.

“The year 2016 has great significance, as it again provides us an opportunity to reflect on the successful 15 years of a democratic local government. Of importance in local government sphere is that South Africans will be going to the polls on 3 August 2016 to refresh the mandate of this important sphere, in line with our Constitution,” Minister Van Rooyen told the ambassadors.

CoGTA spokesperson Legadima Leso described talks at the meeting as cordial, saying they took place within a positive atmosphere.

The discussions also focused on the support that COGTA will receive under the EU Multi-Indicative Programme (MIP), which will contribute  €242 million to South Africa to “build a capable state”.

COGTA, the Department of Public Service and Administration and Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation will serve as the lead departments that will be funded to undertake projects to strengthen the capacity of the State at national, provincial and local government level.

“This intervention will go a long way in ensuring that we build the necessary capacity in government,” said Minster Van Rooyen.

The Minister also appraised the ambassadors on the key objectives of the local government sector.

“As government, we are confident that guided by the National Development Plan, we will definitely work with all stakeholders to generate better public services, meet the demand for infrastructure development, grow the economy to combat poverty and unemployment, stabilise our governance arrangements, and improve levels of clarity and accountability for roles and responsibilities within government,” said Minister Van Rooyen. - SAnews.gov.za