BY KWANELE TSABEDZE
LUDZIDZINI – “Reflecting on the tenure of the past three Governments, what Governance lessons may be drawn from that operation, and what changes can you recommend?”
This was the challenging question which was addressed by Former Prime Minister Cleopas Sipho Dlamini when speaking on day 5 of the Sibaya People’s Parliament at Ludzidzini.
The former PM first addressed the Government’s fiscal operation, suggesting that the budgeting process should begin from the Tinkhundla level, where the people are consulted district by district as to what their service delivery needs are.
“Once the budget is completed and is in front of Parliament, MP’s tend to have a limited assessment for the benefits of how the budget is structured – such as the roads by their communities. MP’s should be looking into the needs of the whole country, not assessing budget needs on a micro level, but rather on a macro level,” advised Dlamin.
He also suggested that the decentralisation aspect of Tinkhundla should be highly leveraged when Governance decisions are being made.
The former PM also suggested that there should be stricter controls for Government capital project expenditures, so that there are no projects that stretch beyond their budgets and timelines.
“We need to really assess as to whether the contractors which are hired for Government projects are capable of developing the projects with the scoper,” added the former Prime Minister, Cleopas Dlamini.
Former PM Cleopas also advised that indeed there needs to be an upgrade of the education system to cater for a the level of development in the country, instead of sticking to mostly old syllabi.
Cleopas Dlamini was not the only former Prime Minister who made submissions, as Absalom Themba Dlamini also spoke to the nation at Sibaya today during the panel discussions. He was challenged to speak about how he could improve service delivery if he were appointed as the Prime Minister.
“The reason it is called a Monarchical government means that we are governed by the monarchy, through the Tinkhundla system The Monarchical government means that it starts at the Tinkhundla level with the chiefs. Chiefs are the impetus of the Tinkhundla governance system where different communities get to directly participate,” detailed the former PM.
He suggested that some people do not understand the system because they do not discuss it often.
“For the system to be strong, we need the country to be educated about it. From emhlangeni, to elusekwaneni, to emabutfo,” advised the former Prime Minister. The former PM also advised on issues of security in the country, suggesting that the country’s security’s facilities need to be improved. Sibaya Day 5 concluded with the panelists answering questions from the public, in a magnificent display of accountability and transparency under the Tinkhundla system of Governance.
