Hlabisa says education levels for public representatives must be revisited after report shows hundreds of KZN councillors illiterate
A skills audit report in 2023 found that about 300 councillors in KwaZulu-Natal could not read or write.
COGTA Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa speaking at the Youth and Women Dialogue held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg. Picture: @City_Ekurhuleni/X.
JOHANNESBURG - With a 2023 report revealing that hundreds of councillors in KwaZulu-Natal can’t read or write, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said education levels for public representatives must be revisited.
Hlabisa spoke at the Youth and Women Dialogue to review the 1998 white paper for local government held at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.
The dialogue aims to collate views from all groups of people for new and updated policies on local governance, which will be presented in a white paper next year.
Local government legislation currently places no minimum education requirements for people to become councillors, mayors or speakers.
A skills audit report in 2023 found that about 300 councillors in KwaZulu-Natal could not read or write.
Minister Hlabisa said that public representatives could not do their oversight work effectively if they couldn't read critical documents like financial statements and reports.
"Because it goes with education, we can’t run away from that fact. You can be intelligent, have every ability, but if you do not meet certain academic levels, you will hardly monitor the billions under your control."
The deadline for submissions on the local government white paper review is 31 July.