Category: News

KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nomusa Dube-Ncube has expressed disappointment that there are still individuals who wish to manipulate municipal by-elections as the Electoral Court rules to delay a Phongolo by-election until the local voters’ roll has been rectified.

MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube has had to postpone and approve new date for the by-election that was scheduled to take place in ward 7 of uPhongolo Municipality in Northern KwaZulu-Natal.  The electoral court resolved to allow the Independent Electoral Commission to request the MEC to allow a new date due to discrepancies arising from the voters roll.

The case regarding the upcoming by-election in ward 7 of Phongolo local municipality was initiated by the ANC whose representatives had questioned the regularity of the voters’ roll, particularly in light of last year’s ConCourt ruling that all eligible voters must furnish an identifiable address upon registration.

It appears that the voter’s roll has over 300 voters who cannot be positively verified as per the Constitutional Court judgement.

“We want to strongly condemn what appears to be an emerging practice by some individuals and political parties who resort to all forms of illegalities in order to fraudulently win the by-elections in the province.  It is unfortunate that in this day and age there are still people who think they can win municipal by-elections by stealth. We are nevertheless pleased that the Electoral Court has stepped in at Phongolo and ordered the voters’ roll in ward 7 to be re-examined and rectified,” said Dube-Ncube.

“We cannot have a voter’s roll where non-eligible voters who do not reside in ward 7 would have been allowed to cast their ballots for the local ward councillor. This would have been tantamount to electoral fraud,” said Dube-Ncube.

“The time has come to investigate and expose all those enemies of our constitution and democracy who are hell-bent on subverting the will of the people through fraudulent means.   We appeal to the communities to come forward with information as this corrupt practice is putting a stain on our credible and revered electoral systems” added Dube-Ncube

“We want to see municipalities that derive their mandate from the popular vote. This in itself ensures that such municipalities are accountable to their constituents. No one wants to live under a municipal council whose very democratic legitimacy is being questioned,” said Dube-Ncube.

KZN Cogta’s role is to mobilise the public for municipal elections and by-elections on a strictly apolitical basis to enhance the legitimacy of local government institutions in the eyes of those whom municipalities are supposed to serve. The management of the elections and the common voters’ roll is a function of the Independent Electoral Commission.

For more information contact: KZN Cogta spokesperson Lennox Mabaso, 082 884 2403 or Msawakhe Mayisela on 060 9664220.

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KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nomusa Dube-Ncube today presided over an imbizo which saw some 3000 people from the Dube clan gather to welcome the appointment of Inkosi Mfanazonke Dube as the rightful traditional leader within the Dube clan of the uMhlathuze local municipality.

This imbizo came after a visit by MEC Dube-Ncube to the family in January when she informed the Dubes about the recommendations made by the Commission for Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims presided over by Judge Nhleko. The recommendations made in 2015 stipulated that ubukhosi be returned to the rightful house, as it had been wrongfully given to an incorrect one following the death of Inkosi of this clan in 1975.

According to Dube-Ncube, the Nhlapho Commission that made these recommendations carefully weighed all evidence presented to it and looked into the customs of the Dube clan and accordingly made the recommendations presented to the traditional community today.

“As government, our gathering with this community is to ensure that these recommendations are communicated clearly so that there can be stability within this community since disputes of this nature tend to tear apart communities and end up hindering the provision of services to communities. Our gathering today marks a turning point since these recommendations made by the Commission are binding and we now have to accept them and focus on working together to ensure that we build a better future together,” said Dube-Ncube.

In his address to his traditional community, Inkosi Dube called upon everyone to work together for unity and peace as there is much work that needs to be done for the community to progress to the desired level in terms of provision of service delivery.

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KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nomusa Dube-Ncube will tomorrow be convening a historic imbizo with the Dube clan in the King Cetshwayo district municipality where she will give feedback on the restoration of ubukhosi for this clan.

This historic gathering is part of efforts by the provincial government to restore the dignity of the revered institution of traditional leadership in KZN. “Our history is littered with many injustices and as a government we are doing all that we can to address the injustices of the past,” said Dube-Ncube.

Members of the media are invited to attend and report on this event.

Venue: Ndesheni Sportsground, near Richards Bay (uMhlathuze Local Municipality)
Date: 28 March 2017
Time: 09:00 am

For more information contact: KZN Cogta spokespersons Lennox Mabaso, 082 884 2403; or Msawakhe Mayisela, 060 966 4220

Date:27 March 2017

KZN Cogta’s disaster management teams have reported that as a result of the persistent rains that have occurred in the province over the past few days, a mother and a child drowned last night while crossing uMthamvuna River at Kwajali in the Ugu district.

“Our prayers are with the family and the community of the two victims and we would like to assure the public that our disaster management teams treat such tragedies humanely and with the utmost compassion,” said KZN MEC for Cogta Nomusa Dube-Ncube.

KZN Cogta has also reported that EMRS and SAPS’ Search and Rescue unit together with uMuziwabantu disaster management officials are currently at the scene of the reported drowning in Ugu in search for the missing bodies of the deceased mother and child.

“We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate our appeal to the public to take our weather warnings seriously and to cooperate with the authorities when disasters strike and our teams are deployed to provide emergency relief and assistance on the ground,” said Dube-Ncube.

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The lives of Sizakele Mkhize (32) and her fellow neighbours in the rural village of Mombeni in the Mlalazi District will never be the same again. This after the KwaZulu-Natal department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube officially opened the R7 Million Community Service Centre which has brought government services closer to this rural community.

The experience of Ms Mkhize and others in her community has been one of constantly travelling to the town of Eshowe which is 40KM away at a cost of R60 a return trip, in order to have access to government services like Home Affairs, SASSA and Dept of Labour.

When launching this much needed facility, Dube-Ncube emphasised governments’ commitment to unceasingly bring government services where people live.

“This facility is belongs to the community. We expect the communities to ensure that this facility is protected at all times as this infrastructure is for the public benefit and will go a long way to usher in a better life to communities that were neglected in the past. Our aim is to ensure that not even a single citizen of this province travels long distance in order to access government service. This centre is not the first one we have built many more in our province and we are proud of the strides that we have made to better the lives of our people with these community centres” said Dube-Ncube.

Dube-Ncube appealed to those who are still enduring travelling long distances to access government service to be patient as government is working very hard to fullfill its promises.

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The township of eMbali in the Msunduzi Municipality was a hive of activity this weekend as thousands of people from across the Province took part in the annual Festival of Beads. This event, which was hosted on Saturday, 17 October, is spearheaded by the department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) under the leadership of MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has benefited over 300 rural women who make the bead work that is displayed during the festival.

According to Dube-Ncube this programme is part of her department’s efforts to support strong local economic development initiatives that are focused on uplifting the lives women in rural communities. “When we launched this programme in 2013 we understood that the rural women that make the bead work would get access to bigger markets as we see thousands of people turn up to be part of our main events where we showcase the bead work” said Dube-Ncube.

This year’s event saw 5000 people taking part and winners walking away with R375 000 in cash prizes. These monies will be ploughed straight back into the co-operatives which the winners represent.

The MEC for the Department of Art, Culture, Sports and Recreated who was also in attendance commended the participants who come from as far afield as Zululand to be part of the festivities and showcase their work.

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