Provincial Oversight Indaba held in Mbombela

A two-day Provincial Oversight Indaba was held at Nutting House Lodge on Wednesday and Thursday, May 15 and 16.
The Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature’s Speaker, Makhosazane Masilela, discussed various issues. She said in a few weeks, a new administration shall be elected, and a new Speaker shall pick up the baton of leadership.

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Masilela said it has been both a privilege and an honour to have been a part of the leadership collective. She wished the forum great success in its future endeavours.

“We are convened in line with the programme of the Provincial Speaker’s Forum to conduct a district-based oversight indaba, which will culminate into this Provincial Oversight Indaba. Let me congratulate the Speaker’s Forum and the organisers who ensured we meet to conclude our business, following the roadshows held towards the end of 2023.

Our intention was to ensure we conclude all business we set ourselves and hand over a functional Speaker’s Forum to the next administration. Thus we meet as an extended forum, targeting the troika of all municipalities, since the issues arising require strategic, structural and systemic response from all role players in the local government sphere,” Masilela said.

Their key intention is to create a blueprint for harmonising the oversight environment and the legislative sector in the province.

“This, however, does not negate the unique features that underpin various municipalities and its polities, but it does unmask these inequities.”

According to her, their task is to apply the necessary analytics that stretch the understanding of the horizon, informing public opinion, the psyche as well as the spirit of where everyone is as a nation.

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Masilela said the debate on ‘transformation’ has become more contentious and even acrimonious. “Proponents of transformation disagree about what it is, why it is needed and how it should be implemented. These two defensive logics of black and white often collide and collude in unexpected ways. Together they foster mutual resentment, which in turn isolates freedom from responsibility and undermines the prospects of a truly non-racial future.”

The guest speaker for Thursday, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, Prof Somadoda Fikeni, said 30 years often provides a good view to step back, to see what has worked and what has not. He said he thinks the work of the indaba can be seen in that context.

“To say we have had this journey of 30 years: in global, world comparative terms, 30 years is still infancy – you are still very young. You are still allowed to make mistakes, as long as you correct them.”