Madam Deputy Speaker, we appointed a ministerial task team last year and mandated it to address some of the issues we identified as needing attention in the demarcation process in areas such as the following: Firstly, the reasons for considering changes or possible changes of municipal boundaries every time we go for local government elections; secondly, whether the public participation process is managed in an environment where all the people have an equal say in influencing possible changes in the municipal boundary situations; thirdly, whether the system is not open to manipulation where the changes may only suit certain individuals who may be more vocal or advantaged by whatever factors; and fourthly, whether all changes to municipal boundaries will lead to a better state for a municipality to deliver the services required by the people.
Having dealt with this, the task team will report to us with a view to providing the necessary remedies in case there are challenges.
According to the original mandate, the target date for the task team to report was the end of July 2013. This target date has since been adjusted due to the consideration of pressing issues in the public discourse. The task team was instructed to wind up and report as a matter of urgency. It will be presenting its report tomorrow, after which we will chart a way forward on the issues that the team was working on.
Yes; the task team engaged with the Municipal Demarcation Board on an issue- by-issue basis, related to their respective mandates. It has consulted with the board to introduce its programmes as part of multistakeholder engagement sessions and also on one-by-one engagements. We engaged the board at the conceptualisation stage by taking it on board. In fact, the chairperson of the demarcation board is part of this task team. I thank you.
Madam Deputy Speaker, Minister, arising from your response, after the intervention in Zamdela, Sasolberg, there was a joint statement made between yourself and the demarcation board. In the statement, the Minister promised to identify areas that have a potential or a spark to demarcation-related protests. How far are you with that investigation in this regard?
Also, in your response you further mentioned that the mandate of the task team is supposed to end in July 2013. The target date has since been revised. I want to find out from the Minister, when is the work of the task team envisaged to be finalised? Thank you.
Madam Deputy Speaker, yes indeed, the Minister and the chairperson of the demarcation board made a joint statement that we are working together through the task team and the demarcation board to identify areas where people raised issues related to the demarcation processes that may need attention. Insofar as progress in this regard is concerned, we are attending to these issues on an issue-by-issue basis. The Zamdela case, as raised by the hon member, is one of those cases, and we will continue to deal with the issues as we get ourselves involved through the task team and the board.
The revised target was that instead of us sticking to July when there are questions that appeal for urgent attention and where we would need to take decisions soon, we requested the task team to wind up its work and they have done so. That is why I indicated that we will receive a report from the team tomorrow. Thank you very much.
Hon members, I do not have any question on this topic. Are you all satisfied? Can you press your thing again? [Laughter.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have pressed repeatedly. Your system is not working. [Laughter.] If I may say so, after the Sasolburg disaster I can understand the Minister's desire to intervene and get things right. I think it is important that he does not give the impression that he conflates his role as a Minister and the role of the board, which is meant to be independent. Sometimes the words that the Minister uses give the impression that he is the tail wagging the dog, instead of the other way around, when it comes to demarcation. For example, it was widely reported that the Minister stopped the demarcation process - he stopped it. His chief of staff denied this and said it was a joint decision, but on radio he was quoted as saying, "I took the decision, let us stop the process". That is the kind of thing that creates a problem. And the Minister also said that this task team is there to babysit the process. If you babysit the process, who is in charge, the baby or the babysitter? It seems to me that we have an independent board and a Minister who has responsibilities. I think that it is important, and the Minister agrees, but the words he uses undermine the independence of the board.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we indicated clearly to the nation that we have a responsibility to make sure that there is stability in the local government area. We indicated to the nation very clearly and we addressed the portfolio committee - the hon member was there - that in a situation where there is total chaos, where there is a collapse of order because of issues related to us having executive responsibility, we will not be folding our arms. We are not going to get ourselves deep into semantic questions.
However, the fact here is that in consultation with the demarcation board and all the parties involved, we had to create a conducive environment where the board, the municipality, the provincial government and the community, in the absence of intimidation and violence, could engage on these issues to find a solution to the challenges. That is why we acted and we will continue to do so. There is nothing like conflating our powers. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
In light of the appointment of this task team, which amounts to the acceptance of the fact that the Municipal Demarcation Board may have done its work improperly, are there other specific instances where the Minister will re-examine the past work of the demarcation board, and what criteria will have to be met for the investigation in order for the work of the demarcation board to take place?
Madam Deputy Speaker, the demarcation board has not done its work improperly. We have to indicate that it is clearly and expressly stated in the Act passed by this august House that every time we deal with the preparations for local government elections, we also have to consider whether we want to redetermine the municipal boundaries. What the board is doing is in compliance with the Act. In complying with the Act, as you know, issues of possible redetermination of boundaries become emotive themselves.
People have an interest and identify with these issues; so what we are doing is not to suggest that the board has failed. The board is doing its work. What we are saying is that we need to revisit how we do things in terms of the dispensation that we have created. It is more about the dispensation than about specific actors in the process. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, Minister will you just call a spade a spade? The truth of the matter is that your appointment of this task team is indicative of your attitude towards the demarcation board; that it is nothing else but a toy telephone of the ANC. [Laughter.] Will you confirm that this demarcation board has not done its job; it is failing to do its job, and that is the reason why you have appointed the task team? Stop beating about the bush, because the truth of the matter is that you have no confidence in this demarcation board and that is why you appointed the task team.
Deputy Speaker, a spade will remain a spade and we will call it such. We have confidence in the Demarcation Board - no question about that. The mandate here is never to look at the activities of the Demarcation Board, but to address the process as defined in terms of the law; to address some of the issues where you will find a situation where, when it comes to public participation, the issue would be straightforward in that we need to manage those issues.
At the moment, the Act allows anyone to come forward with a proposal to move the demarcation line from one side to the other. When the board deals with those issues, in certain instances, it rejects them and when it does so, it becomes an issue. Therefore we are strengthening the board, but we are also strengthening the process itself instead of saying which areas to demarcate after every five years, which actually is a factor that is working against our ability to plan. How do you plan for a period of more than five years when you are not sure whether the boundary of this municipality will change in five years' time or not? It is just to strengthen the process; there is nothing like no confidence in the board.
I would not have appointed the chairperson of the Demarcation Board to be a member of the very same task team if I did not have confidence in him. So, we have to make the point very clearly: Call a spade a spade. But even those who are listening to you calling things by their real names must come to the party and understand that yes, it is true, it is a spade. It is our Demarcation Board. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Hon members, the time allocated for questions has expired. Outstanding replies received will be printed in Hansard.
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.