NATIONAL NEWS - About 300 KwaZulu-Natal municipal councillors have indicated that they would like to be taught how to read and write.
This is according to the KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Department, which recently concluded its skills audit on the province’s 54 municipalities.
Presenting the provincial Cogta skills audit findings in Pietermaritzburg during uMgungundlovu District Municipality’s council meeting on Tuesday, Sibusiso Mkhize, who is a deputy director at the department, said the audit found that 298 of the KZN’s 1 944 councillors do not have adequate writing and reading skills, and others have no formal education.
They indicated that they would like to enroll in programmes which can offer them writing and reading skills.
The department, Mkhize said, is currently pursuing partnerships with various education institutions to make it easier for the councillor to access education and training.
Concerns around councillors who lack sufficient reading and writing skills
While there are concerns around the number of councillors who lack sufficient reading and writing skills, Mkhize said the department is impressed with the fact that a significant number of councillors have a matric certificate.
The audit also found that 10% of the councillors have a degree.
Some of the areas in which the councillors indicated they want to receive training include project management and finance.
Further, the audit found that about 12% of the province’s councillors have additional sources of income.
In terms of councillors who are currently employed in other government departments, Mkhize said it is the departments which have an obligation to grant such employees permission to work as councillors.
The audit also assessed the qualifications and competencies of the province’s municipal employees.
In the uMgungundlovu District Municipality, which has 521 employees, the audit found that 47 of those employees have university degrees.
While some of the district employees were found to possess qualifications which are higher than that required for the positions they occupy, 27% of the council’s workforce lack the competences required for the position they occupy.
The audit report also raised concerns that a whopping 34% of the municipality’s employees have only one year of work experience.
uMgungundlovu District Municipality speaker Nonhlanhla Gabela said the council merely noted the department’s skills audit report as it did not have all the facts to enable it to either approve or reject the report.
The report will be referred to the human resource committee, which will check whether the statistics contained in the report are accurate. It could be that there have been developments since the time the audit was conducted.
