KZN COGTA PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE RAISES CONCERNS ON AMAKHOSI PENSION FUND
MEDIA STATEMENT
1 October 2025
KZN COGTA PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE RAISES CONCERNS ON AMAKHOSI PENSION FUND
As Chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Legislature’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Portfolio Committee, I recognise the vital role of Amakhosi in our communities and support efforts to ensure their dignity in retirement.
However, the approval of new Amakhosi Pension Fund comes at a time when CoGTA has lost its clean audit, failed to pay creditors on time, and municipalities across KZN are collapsing under financial strain and poor service delivery. Public dissatisfaction is growing as communities continue to face failing water, electricity, roads, and basic governance.
As a committee, we have continually called for greater oversight and stronger support to municipalities but have repeatedly been told that this was not possible due to budget constraints. It is therefore of great concern to us that resources are now being directed to a new initiative of this scale.
The approval of the new Amakhosi Pension Fund raises serious questions. The Committee will raise these matters with the MEC at a special portfolio committee meeting where he has committed to answer all questions relating to traditional leadership.
Our key concerns are as follows:
- Where is the money coming from?
CoGTA is under austerity and has already taken budget cuts. We need clarity on how this pension and medical scheme will be funded.
- Is it sustainable?
Traditional leadership wages were once an unfunded mandate, later covered by Treasury. We must not repeat this mistake with another unfunded commitment.
- What about municipalities?
Oversight, disaster management, and township rehabilitation are already under-funded. Municipalities are failing, service delivery is collapsing, and communities are increasingly dissatisfied with government’s inability to provide basic services.
- Audit regression.
The Auditor-General has reported that CoGTA lost its clean audit because it failed to pay creditors within 30 days. If the department cannot manage existing obligations, how will it manage new financial commitments?
- Transparency.
The Committee requires a full business case: scheme rules, contribution model, medical benefit costs, and the financial forecasts that show whether the fund is affordable in the long term.
The Committee stresses that while it respects Amakhosi and support their welfare, it cannot ignore the reality that municipalities are failing, and service delivery is at an all-time low. Supporting Amakhosi is important, but it cannot be done at the expense of fixing our municipalities, strengthening oversight, and restoring basic services to our people.
ISSUED BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COGTA PORTFOLIO COMMITTTEE, HONOURABLE MARLAINE NAIR
Honourable Nair can be reached on 0726928963
