Cabinet to send high-level team to intervene in North West crisis

Cabinet will intervene in the crisis in the North West. A high-level delegation of ministers has been tasked with visiting the beleaguered province in order to establish the facts on the ground before submitting a report that will assist in determining if any more intervention was needed. The report is due to be submitted in the next two weeks.

Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane said this in a media briefing in Parliament on Thursday morning.

“Cabinet expressed concerns on the instability in the North West, however felt that it was important to satisfy itself through engaging with the North West government before taking additional action.”

In its meeting on Wednesday, Cabinet approved the invoking of section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution.

Currently, the only Cabinet intervention will be in the provincial health department.

“This was necessitated by the breaking down in negotiations between heath sector management, labour and the provincial government,” explained Mokonyane.

The pressing intervention in the health sector had been compelled by the fact that some clinics had shut their doors even prior to the political turmoil wrecking the province, she said.

Cabinet agreed to send out a task team that included ministers of planning, monitoring and evaluation; health; finance; cooperative governance and traditional affairs; as well as the justice, crime prevention and security cluster of ministers. They would assess the situation and then submit a report in the next two weeks.

Mokonyane explained that the main objective of this intervention was to:

• Restore trust and confidence between labour and government;

• Assist the province to upgrade its systems and capabilities to a new normal;

• Ensure compliance with the legislative and regulatory frameworks of government; and

• Stabilise the labour environment, restore sustainable service delivery, restore security of staff and improve financial management.

Mokonyane was quick to explain that the task team was not mandated to engage the premier on whether to resign.

“The Presidency, particularly the president of the country and his deputy, has been actively engaging the premier and the provincial government with the intention of finding a speedy resolution to the crisis in the North West,” Mokonyane said.

	Juniour Khumalo Journalist City Press p: +27 (0) 11 713 9001 w: www.citypress.co.za  e: juniour.khumalo@citypress.co.za
Sign up for City Press' morning newsletter On a Point of Order here