Today, as we debate KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) budget, our province is facing a crisis of confidence in local government. Our communities are tired – tired of dry taps, unreliable electricity, uncollected waste, and municipalities that have forgotten how to serve. Yet, in this moment of frustration, there is also hope.
The DA would like to start by acknowledging a quiet victory – the department’s achievement of a clean audit. In a climate where trust in government is at an all-time low, this matters. It’s a signal that under the leadership of CoGTA MEC Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, the department is not only counting rands – it is accounting for public trust.
A Budget That Begins to Build
KZN’s CoGTA budget may not be big, but it is bold in intent. It shifts the conversation from maintenance to momentum. From excuses to execution. The DA welcomes the focus on;
– Disaster preparedness, with early-warning systems and new communication platforms
– Water resilience, with targeted grants for municipalities such as Zululand and Amajuba and;
– Firm oversight, particularly for municipalities that continue to fail in spending their conditional grants.
The R861m in unspent national grants across 25 KZN municipalities is not money saved – it is services denied, something that cannot be taken lightly. Government can no longer pat under-performers on the back, it must hold them accountable. The time to leave municipalities to do as they please without playing a proper oversight role is over. Government must be bold.
Fighting Corruption with Technology
One of the brightest signals of change under KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) comes from Finance MEC, Francois Rodgers, with the announcement that a provincial electronic procurement platform will be rolled out. This is a game-changer. When the DA proposed that CoGTA extend this system to municipalities, the response was swift and clear: “We will do anything to improve systems and fight corruption – even if it means changing the law.” That is the bold leadership KZN’s people are looking for.
The electronic procurement system will block inflated prices before they drain public funds and bring honesty to the tender process. And with legislation in place, KZN’s GPU can make transparent e-procurement mandatory in every municipality. As Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke rightly said: “Clean administration is not a miracle; it is a management choice.”
Cleaning House: Section 106 Must Mean Justice
The DA applauds MEC Rodgers decisive use of Section 106 investigations into allegations of corruption and maladministration. These investigation reports must not sit gathering dust, they must lead to swift consequences including arrests. Because every day that fraud goes unpunished is another day our province’s people are robbed. KZN’s GPU must also ensure that budgets meant for communities are spent on communities, regardless of political affiliation.
71 Cents to Salaries, 29 Cents to Services
For every R1 in this budget, 71 cents goes to salaries. This includes traditional leadership stipends, support structures, and tools of trade. The DA honours their place, respects the work they do and recognises their critical role in our social fabric. But they are not employees, with formal job descriptions – they are members of an institution.
This leaves just 29 cents to address urgent needs such as disaster response, municipal support, and small-town rehabilitation that supports jobs. This imbalance cannot continue unchecked. Our municipalities need greater support and KZN needs a stronger disaster response. Both require more budget.
KZN needs a new deal – one where traditional councils are not only custodians of culture but contributors to community development. We must build economic engines inside traditional institutions so they can support themselves, reduce dependence, and grow local economies.
From Tradition to Transformation: Activating Communal Land for Economic Justice
Today, nearly 29% of KZN’s land is held under the Ingonyama Trust – land that carries deep cultural meaning, yet for millions of rural residents, remains a locked door instead of a ladder out of poverty.
KZN is not alone in facing this dilemma. Indigenous communities in Alaska once stood at the same crossroads and in 1971, the United States enacted the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which formed 12 regional corporations owned by Native Alaskans. These were empowered businesses – holding 44 million acres of land with the authority to trade, lease, invest, and build. What followed was transformational;
Every enrolled Native Alaskan became a shareholder
By 2018, over $3 billion in dividends had been distributed and;
Profits funded more than 54 000 scholarships, preserved cultural heritage, and advanced STEM education.
Importantly, they did not surrender their culture to gain capital, they used culture as capital and built a modern economy. The question is: Why can’t the same be done in KZN? Imagine a model where Community Land Corporations are established under traditional councils. Each adult becomes a shareholder. The land remains communal but starts generating income through leases – cell towers, eco-tourism, agro-processing or renewable energy. Revenues could fund bursaries, clinics, and roads. Dividends could empower rural families. Councils could co-govern these entities – combining dignity with development.
This is not a call to privatise our land. It is a call to activate it. Land should not only hold graves – it should plant dreams. It should not only be inherited – it should be invested.
KZN has all the ingredients: communal land, strong traditional leadership and a people ready to work. What it now needs is the legislative will to pilot, protect, and prove this new path. Government must lead from the front because true transformation is not a change in policy – it is a change in possibility.
Government of Unity Must Deliver
KZN’s GPU must govern with courage and compassion. It must propose more than oppose. It must build more than break and fix more than it fails. The CoGTA budget, while imperfect, is a step in the right direction. It is building bridges – from tradition to transformation, from frustration to progress.
Unity is not just a political arrangement – it is a public commitment. A commitment to better services, better systems and a better future through bold transformational decisions.