Picture: The North West MEC for COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
9 April 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, will on 10 April 2025, host the strategic meeting of the MEC with Executive Mayors and Mayors (MUNIMEC).
Molapisi said the MUNIMEC has been established in line with the Intergovernmental Relations Framework (IGR), which is the platform designed to improve collaboration, enhance municipal governance, address systemic service delivery challenges, such as housing; foster financial accountability and amplify the institutionalisation of the District Development Model (DDM).
“We will also officially launch the Clean Cities Campaign under the theme “Rata Tikologo Ya Gago” (Love Your Environment). The campaign forms part of the province’s broader commitment to sustainable development and improved service delivery.
“The meeting will take place at Protea Hotel in Klerksdorp on 10 April 2025, at 9am, while the launch of the Clean Cities Campaign will take place in Kanana Township, near Orkney at 2pm,” he said.
Picture: Northern Cape MEC for COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, Sol Plaatje municipal speaker, Dipuo Peters and Executive Mayor of Sol Plaatje Local Municipality, Martha Bartlett/Supplied
By REGINALD KANYANE
2 April 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Bentley Vass undertook an oversight visit to the Sol Plaatje Municipality (SPM), as part of a drive to accelerate service delivery and ensure better coordination between the two spheres of government. Vass said the visit began with a high-level meeting, attended by the Executive Mayor, Martha Bartlett, the Municipal Speaker, Dipuo Peters, Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs), and senior administrative leaders of the SPM.
“During the session, reports were presented on the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) project aimed at addressing the municipality’s water challenges, as well as the ongoing issues in Diamond Park related to sewerage.
“The meeting also focused on the municipality’s planned interventions to resolve these issues. Following the meeting, the delegation visited the Newton Water Reservoir and the Diamond Park area to further assess the situation on the ground,” he said.
Vass further said he was joined by the acting Head of Department (HoD), advocate Mogami Manyeneng and Senior Managers from the department. He added that they are encouraged by the positive feedback on the BFI water project and the ongoing efforts to resolve the water challenges in the city.
“We have established a task team consisting of the Department of COGHSTA, the Sol Plaatje Municipality and National Department of Water and Sanitation to explore long-term solutions for the sewer challenges in Diamond Park, while acknowledging the municipality’s interim measures to alleviate the situation for residents.
“Similar oversight visits will be conducted in other municipalities across the province to ensure that all municipalities are mobilized to accelerate the resolution of service delivery issues,” said Vass.
Meanwhile, Bartlett said: “We are pleased that Vass took the time to visit today, as it has provided us with an opportunity to engage on critical issues of service delivery.
“We value the support from COGHSTA and trust that such engagements will continue regularly so that we can work together to better serve our communities.”
Bartlett said the visit also aimed to reinforce intergovernmental coordination and improve service delivery, in line with the priorities of the 7th administration and the integration and partnership model set forth by the District Development Model (DDM).taungdailynews@gmail.com
Picture: The new NWHC Interim Board members/Supplied
By BAKANG MOKOTO
31 March 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi has appointed interim board members for the North West Housing Corporation (NHWC) with effect from 1 April 2025, until a new board is appointed. Molapisi has made appointments in terms of Section 3(2) of the North West Housing Corporation Act No 24 of 1982.
He further said the primary mission of the NWHC is to provide housing through development and property management. Molapisi added that he has appointed Dr Manketsi Tlhape, Kabelo Mataboge, Wendy Nelson, Dikeledi Moagi, Samuel Tsagae, Sarah Nkatlo, Seatlathebe Lepomane and Lenah Miga.
“In terms of Section 3(2) of the Act, I have designated Tlhape as the Chairperson of the Interim Board with Mataboge, serving as her Deputy. The interim board has been directed to lead review of the current Act and kickstart the process of filling the vacancy of the CEO, as the tenure of the incumbent ends in July 2025.
“Immediate focus will also be on the Smart and Mega Cities Project, including the Mahikeng Student City. We wish the interim board well in its efforts to assist the housing development mandate in the province,” he said.
Picture: The North West MEC for COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi/Supplied
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
26 March 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi has called on senior managers of the department to ensure the institutionalisation of District Development Model (DDM), to address challenges faced by municipalities in the province. Molapisi was addressing the strategic planning session of COGTA, held recently in Mahikeng to draft plans with clear targets, aimed at changing the face of local government and upscale support to institutions of traditional councils.
He further said service delivery challenges that as experienced by the communities, rest on ineffective local government. Molapisi added that, many municipalities lack the technical skill and resources to deal with unmaintained roads, frequent disruption in the supply of water and electricity, uncollected refuse as well as sewerage that runs in the streets.
“I demand immediate actions on amongst others the filling of vacant funded positions, inputs to the White Paper on Local Government, finalisation of policy on Traditional Leadership, particularly on issues of coronational and tools of trades as directed.
“The department must play a leading role in the institutionalisation of the DDM as the key vehicle for service delivery. We will host the local government focused summit soon to discuss how best we can institutionalise the DDM approach. The DDM is more than a policy. It is a call to honour our constitution,” he said.
Molapisi said they must never tire, but continue to work to resolve key challenges in the municipalities. He said they might consider aligning their strategic documents with One District Plans.
“We must also develop a tool to monitor the implementation of DDM across four districts. We need to take the lead in ensuring full participation of National and Provincial champions. We must ensure DDM champions take the lead in various interventions and programmes within their respective deployments.
“Local Economic Development leg of our interventions will also be upscaled to deal with socio-economic challenges faced by different communities. The priorities of the government include driving inclusive growth and job creation, to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living and to build a capable, ethical and developmental state,” said Molapisi.
He said, therefore, they need a leverage on this commitment to improve the state of local economic development in the municipalities. Molapisi said all officials were urged to do everything humanly possible to ensure that “Every Municipality Must Work” as local government it is the closest sphere of government to the people. taungdailynews@gmail.com
Picture: North West MEC for COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi during community engagement/Supplied
By BAKANG MOKOTO
11 March 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi said the anticipated Moshawane housing project will soon get off the ground, bringing a significant amount of excitement and interest from the local community. Molapisi said this during his recent engagement with the community of Moshawane village to address the housing backlog.
Molapisi also highlighted that the Ratlou Local Municipality has prioritised the Moshawane village in its Integrated Development Programme (IDP), which was forwarded to the Department of Human Settlements for construction that includes land ownership, budget and compliance, norms and standards as well as relevant legislation programmes. He assured the community that the housing project will soon take place in their village.
“Our department has made a commitment to build 100 housing units in the village with a total budget of R20 million and all the necessary processes towards the commencement of the project have been made. The project will be announced after the budget speech.
“The department will come for Sod-turning ceremony after the announcement of the departmental budget speech. This project must be an opportunity for job creation, sub-contracting must be given to the community members who have the capacity and knowledge to do the job,” he said.
Molapisi further said his department needs to ensure that the beneficiaries who were approved are available so that the department doesn’t encounter problems during allocation time. He added that most of the elderly people live in shacks and mud houses.
“So, it is the responsibility of the department to ensure that elderly people are prioritised, as well as People Living with Disabilities and Child-Headed families,” said Molapisi.
One of the elderly people, Peloyareng Modisakeng (74) said that he is happy that the Molapisi came to their village and he is looking forward to the project because he is old now and doesn’t have a proper home for his family.
A community leader, Goodwin Maphutshi (45), appreciated the report from the Molapisi as they have been longing for development within their village. Maphutshi said the project will clarify the dilemma making rounds within the village as many community members felt that the government has neglected them.
Meanwhile the Manager for Ngaka Modiri Molema District in the Department, Macmillan Keboneilwe said the marching orders from the MEC are clear that this project must be completed in the coming financial year of 2025/26. He said they will closely monitor the project to ensure that it will be timeously completed and emerging businesses and community members of Moshawane will benefit not only in getting houses but also in job opportunities coming out of the project.
Picture: The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
11 February 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi said they are bringing detailed key interventions aimed at improving the state of municipalities in general and enhancing service delivery in particular. Molapisi said they had a productive service delivery interventions workshop with the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality.
He further said there are challenges at the municipality and admitted that, it made headlines more than any other municipality in the province. Molapisi said the role of his department is succinctly as explained on Section 40 of Chapter 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
“The three spheres of government (national, provincial, and local sphere) are distinctive, interdependent, and interrelated. Section 41 explains principles of co-operative government and intergovernmental relations and the Constitution directs all spheres of government to exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the geographical, functional, or institutional integrity of another sphere.
“The reason I am explaining this is for you members of the media to understand that local government is another sphere of government, governed by legislation, and sometimes, as either provincial or national government, we cannot impose some of the decisions on councils,” he said.
Molapisi said, however, they have an obligation in terms of Section 154 of the Constitution to support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their affairs, to exercise their powers, and to perform their functions. He said out of 22 municipalities, at least 8 are currently under mandatory intervention in terms of Section 139 (5) (a) and (c) of the Constitution read together with Section 139 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) due to poor financial management.
“The Provincial Treasury has appointed Provincial Executive Representatives for three years. These municipalities are Ditsobotla, Kgetlengrivier, Madibeng, Ramotshere Moiloa, Maquassi Hills, Tswaing, Naledi Local Municipalities and the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality.
“Out of 22 municipalities (both local and district municipalities), only Bojanala Platinum District, Lekwa Teemane, Mamusa, and Tswaing do not have substantive Municipal Managers,” said Molapisi.
He said the department has however, seconded acting Municipal Managers at Kagisano Molopo, Mamusa, Tswaing Local Municipalities and Bojanala District Municipality as per the request of the respective councils. Molapisi said by law, the council can resolve to request the MEC of Local Government to second an acting Municipal Manager.
“We are implementing the Local Government Turnaround Strategy that focuses on four areas such as Leadership, Governance, and Administration, Financial Management, Service delivery and Fund Mobilization and Leveraging.
“As part of the Local Government Turn Around Strategy, we have developed an early warning system to improve service delivery in the form of a dashboard to monitor municipal performance and reporting,” he said.
Molapisi said they have also completed the skills audit for municipalities and the sole purpose was to assess the current competencies and capabilities of the municipal workforce across various units and to identify the skills gap.
“Through the audit, municipalities were able to identify the current skills of their employees and the skills gap as it revealed that in some municipalities, employees in lower-level positions are overqualified, while managers in some municipalities do not possess the necessary qualifications and competencies relevant to their positions.
“The audit report recommended that municipalities must develop targeted education and training programs or recruitment strategies to ensure the entire workforce has the necessary capabilities to undertake their duties and impact positively in the provision of services,” he said.
Molapisi said municipalities such as Bojanala, have registered an improvement for 2023/2024 and 2022/2023 audit outcomes. He said Bojanala Platinum District Municipality moved from qualified to unqualified, Madibeng from adverse to qualified, and Naledi from adverse to qualified audit opinion.
“Two districts and one local municipality, namely Bojanala Platinum, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, and Moretele Local Municipality, received unqualified audit opinions. Twelve local and one district municipalities received qualified audit opinions, and they are Kgetlengrivier, Madibeng, Moses Kotane, Rustenburg, Matlosana, JB Marks, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Greater Taung, Naledi, Ngaka Modiri Molema, Mahikeng, Ramotshere Moiloa, and Tswaing.
“Maquassi Hills and Mamusa received adverse audit opinions whilst Ditsobotla, Ratlou, and Lekwa Teemane received disclaimer audit opinions. Ten municipalities, namely, Maquassi Hills, City of Matlosana, Madibeng, Kgetlengrivier, Ditsobotla, Lekwa Teemane, Naledi, Tswaing, Mamusa, and Ramotshere Moiloa, were assisted with the application to National Treasury to participate on the programme of Municipal Debt Relief in line with MFMA Circular 123 and 124,” said Molapisi.
He said the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) expenditure as of the end of December 2024 was 41% of the total allocation of R2,1 billion. Molapisi said six municipalities are performing beyond average and have passed the 60% mark of their allocation in terms of expenditure for the end of December 2024:
Picture: The embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality
By BAKANG MOKOTO
21 January 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi is set to meet with all the councillors of the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality.
According to Molapisi spokesperson, Lerato Gambu, the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the support provided to the municipality in line with Section 154 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which dictates that national government and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions.
Gambu said the meeting will be convened at the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality offices at 2pm.
Following the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality spokesperson, Pius Batsile said the municipal council held a special council sitting on 17 January 2025, and Mazwi Moruri was unanimously elected as the new mayor of Ditsobotla Local Municipality after the removal of Thabo Nkashe, through a motion of no confidence.
“In the same breath, Rasupang Mooketsi was duly appointed as the acting Municipal Manager effective immediately following a council’s decision to place Olaotswe Bojosinyane on special leave pending the review of the MEC’s court application regarding his appointment as Municipal Manager.
Meanwhile, the suspended Municipal Manager, Olaotswe Bojosinyane sent a letter to all employees saying that, the municipal speaker decided to continue with an irregularly convened council sitting, despite the content of his letter dated 15 January 2025.
“Having noted the impact and the potential to cause political and administrative disruptions. We continue to condemn the delinquent, delusional, and mediocrity paranoia displayed by the Speaker by adjoining the irregular sitting and went on to convene bogus council sitting after he adjourned irregular council.
“Furthermore, all union affiliates and employees are advised to keep calm, despite grandiose delusional disorder displayed on 17 January 2025, bogus council sitting, though its decision will cause financial implications to the institution,” he said.
Bojosinyane said they are convinced that employees are not agitated by such decisions and will be calm, while alternative processes are followed by the affected and aggrieved parties to this regard. He added that they hope this will sit well with them and their extreme calmness will be highly appreciated.
Picture: North West MEC COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
7 October 2024- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi said the Presidential District Development Model (PDDM) programme, remains key in delivering services to the province.
Molapisi who delivered keynote address during his departmental strategic planning session in Rustenburg recently said, coordination of services among departments and other spheres of government is critical and most services require more integration from the beginning until the end.
He further said provision of services such as water, sewer, houses and many other, which remain a serious challenge to communities are priorities. Molapisi added that the DDM is the most viable tool at their disposal to address some of the challenges that they deemed as shortcomings within human settlement.
“We must work closely with provincial government departments, districts and local municipalities, to address issues such as poor maintenance of infrastructure and inadequate bulk, poor implementation and limited community engagements and population growth, which leads to the mushrooming of informal settlements.
“However, working together will lead to increase in us fulfilling our mandate of providing habitable human settlements for the people of the North West. I would like to acknowledge my departmental performance during the 6th administration and I remain hopeful that we will emerge victorious under this capable team,” he said.
According to Molapisi, assessing the work done in the previous five years, he is convinced that there is determination from all employees within his department. He said this will assist them to realise the vision and mission of his department.
“The current conjecture (GNU), places the department at the epicentre of ensuring that we lead to improved living conditions through the provision of integrated sustainable human settlement in the province.
“We are therefore all required to place our skills and expertise to realise this objective. Some areas require our immediate intervention. However, I am disappointed about the state of infrastructure in the province, especially blocked projects,” said Molapisi.
He said the recent report by the visiting National Council of Province (NCOP), should be corrected before November 2024. Molapisi said the committee expressed disappointment at incomplete projects and further called on the department to remedy the situation and deliver habitable homes to deserving beneficiaries.
“We also focused on other key departmental service delivery programmes such as the progress recorded in areas like Deelpan village, which was hit by two devastating floods in the past two years.
“We looked into developments in Moretele and the upcoming ministerial visit to the province in the next two weeks. I am happy that managers remained confident that the department will achieve its mandate, despite cut in budget.
Picture: North West MEC for COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi addressing the CoGTA Strategic Planning Session/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
2 October 2024- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, addressed the start of the three-day Strategic Planning Session held in Mahikeng. Speaking at the strategic planning session, which coincided with 100 days of the 7th administration, Molapisi called for a paradigm shift from managers towards achieving the mandate of the department.
“We call on all officials to build on the work done over the years to restore the dignity of the institution, accelerate pro-poor service delivery and rural development.
“We also advised managers to discuss ways to improve departments’ audit status from consecutive unqualified opinions to a clean audit outcome; use of available performance information of municipalities to inform a strategy to support improved municipal audit outcomes and focus on research and innovation for solutions,” he said.
Molapisi further called on the administration to take the lead in ensuring that the District Development Model (DDM) is institutionalised across all municipalities. He added that leaving this session, they must have aligned their strategic plans with available resources, driving development and growth.
“We must prioritise the people on the ground at all material times. Our department must focus on the three key priorities as outlined in the Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) 2024-2029, with specific focus on building an ethical and developmental state,” he said.
Molapisi added that they need a renewed determination and a realistic plan to improve the delivery of basic services and bring stability to local government.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the North West House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders (NWHTKL), Kgosi Thari Maotwe, senior officials led by the Head of Department (HOD), Dr Ben Bole, SALGA and other stakeholders, were amongst attendees.
Picture: North West MEC for COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Gaoage Oageng Molapisi has announced decisive measures to improve governance and financial management across all municipalities in the province.
During the tabling of the Departmental Budget Speech for the 2024/2025 financial year at North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) in Mahikeng, Molapisi said several key initiatives aimed at enhancing municipal administration, integrity and financial health.
He further said to strengthen municipal governance, the department issued a directive last year to all municipalities to fill all senior management and critical vacant posts.
“Out of the 22 municipalities in the province, only Madibeng and Lekwa-Teemane, are yet to appoint Municipal Managers. This process is receiving the highest priority to ensure effective municipal administration.
“In pursuit of a clean administration, a training programme on Municipal Integrity Management Framework (MIMF) will be rolled out to councillors, officials and community members. The MIMF sets high standards of integrity and ethical behaviour, guiding municipalities in conducting their services,” said Molapisi.
He added that the initiative aims to restore public confidence in local government, ensuring no one is left behind. Molapisi indicated that municipalities have significantly contributed to Eskom’s financial challenges, currently owing the power utility R5.4 billion.
“To tackle this issue, the department, in partnership with the Provincial Treasury, has facilitated a programme on debt relief for municipalities.
“This initiative has assisted municipalities in meeting their contractual obligations with Eskom. The municipalities involved in this program include Madibeng, Kgetlengrivier, Maquassi Hills, Ramotshere Moiloa, Ditsobotla, Naledi, Tswaing, Mamusa, Lekwa Teemane and Matlosana”, he said.
Molapisi announced that the department has implemented a robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism. He said they have also introduced revenue enhancement policy interventions to help municipalities improve revenue collection and meet their credit obligations.
“These interventions will be closely monitored to ensure their effectiveness and sustainability. The department will continue to provide capacity support to municipalities, ensuring they prepare Annual Financial Statements (AFS) in accordance with the Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA).
“The department will also continue to empower committees such as the Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPAC) through various interventions, to strengthen and enhance their effectiveness,” said Molapisi.
The Guardian 