Samwu was disturbed by Van Rooyen’s appointment
We welcome Van Rooyen’s appointment with reservation - Samwu.
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH: The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) noted with concern the appointment of David van Rooyen as the new minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), the department responsible for the running of the country’s 278 municipalities.
The union released a statement on December 14 stating that as one of the largest stakeholders and the largest union in local government their first interest is the sustainability of the country’s municipalities in the interest of service delivery and that of our members.
“Minister Van Rooyen has made headlines in the past week after he surprisingly replaced Nhlanhla Nene as the Minister of Finance sparking an outcry from South Africans. Yesterday President Zuma announced that Van Rooyen and Pravin Gordon would be switching portfolios effectively meaning that Gordon would be having a second stint as the Minister of Finance. Gordon had brought about relative stability to the department and precisely to municipalities through his interventions,” read the statement by secretary general, Simon Mathe.
“Minister Van Rooyen is no stranger to local government; he was head of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) in the North West and former executive mayor of the Merafong Municipality, a history which is of great concern to us. He was not able to effectively run one municipality and now has been tasked as the general overseer of all municipalities. We hope that his experience in Merafong will not be felt throughout the country,” he added.
Samwu also welcomed Van Rooyen’s appointment with reservation and wished him well in his newly found responsibilities with the country’s municipalities.
Regarding the appointment of Gordon, the union said, “We trust that he will help steer the Rand to recovery from the fall experienced in the past few days.”
Samwu also urged that Gordon rectify the alleged unfair treatment of municipalities by providing equitable share that will be sufficient for the running of municipalities.
