Traditional councils' elections next month

2012-01-28 22:43

Saint Faiths - Elections for traditional councils will take place on February 19 in KwaZulu-Natal, Traditional Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube said on Saturday.

“The elections are crucial because traditional councils play a huge role in representing people’s interests,” she said.

Dube was speaking in Saint Faiths in KwaZulu Natal during the installation of Inkosi Bathebuya Cele by Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini.

Traditional council elections are part of government’s attempts to instil democratic principals in traditional governance because it plays an important role in South Africa's multi-cultural society.

The promulgation of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act of 2003 meant that only 60% of the members of the council are appointed by the senior traditional leader.

The act stipulates that the other 40% of members of all traditional councils must be democratically elected.

For centuries, the appointment of all members of traditional councils were the prerogative of traditional leaders and their advisers.

Dube said the KwaZulu-Natal government took traditional leadership very seriously, saying that it had bought cars and paid tuition fees for traditional leaders.

“Twenty-one traditional leaders were recently trained at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on leadership. The course also helped them to understand how municipalities function.”

- SAPA