COGTA Minister Thembi Nkadimeng at a media briefing in April. Last week, she spoke about illiteracy amongst councillors in KZN.
From officials politicising food donations to a president who couldn’t count his fingers, South Africa unfortunately has a seemingly unlimited supply of unfit office bearers. No surprise then, when a report revealed nearly 300 councillors in KwaZulu-Natal were illiterate.
A skills audit by the provincial department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) found that 298 out of the 1 944 councillors in KwaZulu-Natal were unable to read nor write. Yet, a meagre 33% of them asked the state to teach them.
Addressing a development model conference at Stellenbosch University last week, Cogta Minister Thembisile Nkadimeng said education qualification requirements needed to be introduced.
She blamed the councillors’ illiteracy for widespread dysfunction in municipalities within that province.
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Education requirements
Becoming a member of the council, supposedly to represent the interests of communities, is fairly unrestricted. There are certain instances whereby a citizen may not contest an election, but there are no requirements as far as a candidate’s education level is concerned.
Nkadimeng said it was important to “set a certain threshold” of educational requirements, even if the law did not do so. She added the South African Local Government (SALGA) had urged political parties to set this right by instituting requirements of their own.
Meanwhile, Dr Zamokuhle Mbandlwa, a political analyst at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), dismissed the minister’s suggestion as merely a “political statement”.
“Communities must not elect people because they talk too much or sing nicely. The communities must elect credible people who understand the municipality systems … This is because the councillors need to guide the municipalities,” he said.
With the 2024 elections around the corner, politicians would be eager to say things to gain credibility. “This is just a popularity stance trying to gain relevance. If the government has an intention to change the situation, requirements for people to stand for the councillor position must change,” said Mbandlwa.
Although vague in what the minimum requirements should be, Nkadimeng said “what we need to do at least is to set a certain threshold”. Mbandlwa, however, suggested candidates wishing to contest an election should at least hold a qualification in public administration either through a university or TVET college.
