23 Mar 2016

The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Slumber Tsogwane, has appealed to councillors in the Central District Council (CDC) to put aside personal interests and anchor their operations on serving the public.

When addressing the councillors on Tuesday, Mr Tsogwane reminded them that they had a code of conduct, councillor’s handbook and Local Government Revised Act of 2012 for guidance in their daily operations.

The minister said he was not at liberty to preempt issues still on his table but called upon cllrs to follow laid down procedures in airing their grievances. 

Last week, DailyNews carried a story on the sour relationship between councillors and council secretary to the effect that some councillors alleged that the relationship was not healthy for service delivery. 

 It was against this backdrop that the council called upon portfolio minister to address them. 

Though minister Tsogwane could not offer any response in the presence of public and the members of press, he said he deduced a clear nagging concern from the conduct and expressions, hence the need for the 174 members to deliberate on the issue at a committee stage. 

To that, the council chairperson Mr Peter Williams concurred and rallied his fellow councillors to the committee stage, a move that bore murmurs from dissenting councillors who wanted their views aired in public set up. 

Mr Tsogwane reminded councilors that public officers headed by council secretary had some instruments such as the Public Service Act of 2008 and general orders to guide them.  

He said such instruments were critical in crippling out friction between the administrative and the political processes.  

He emphasised the need to have a common understanding of the instruments arguing failure might create friction as it was the case at CDC. Ends