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:
CoGTA is under austerity and has already taken budget cuts. We need clarity on how this pension and medical scheme will be funded.
Traditional leadership wages were once an unfunded mandate, later covered by Treasury. We must not repeat this mistake with another unfunded commitment.
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.
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?
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
MEDIA ADVISORY
For Immediate Release
30 SEPTEMBER 2025
KZN LEGISLATURE TO HOST ITS ANNUAL SENIOR CITIZENS PARLIAMENT IN UMDONI MUNICIPALITY
In line with its Constitutional mandate of facilitating public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Legislature as provided for in Section 118 of the Constitution, the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature will host its annual Senior Citizens Parliament in Umdoni Municipality under Ugu District to provide older persons with a platform to raise issues that affect them.
The Senior Citizens Parliament to be held on 02 October 2025 will take place after the United Nations International Day for Older Persons which is celebrated on 01 October the world over.
The Senior Citizens Parliament will be held under the theme “Older Persons Driving Local and Global Action: Our Aspirations, Our Well-being and Our Rights”. Participants in the event are older persons who represent senior citizens from all districts of KZN including the Metro and representatives from all political parties that are represented in the Legislature.
The Senior Citizens Parliament will form commissions that will discuss the following issues that are of interest to older persons:
The event will be attended by Members of the Legislature, Premier and Members of the Executive Council (MECs) to engage with the delegates and listen to the issues that concern them. The Senior Citizens Parliament will finally adopt a set of resolutions that will be processed and overseen by the relevant Legislature committee and then forwarded to the provincial government for implementation.
The event is scheduled to take place as follows:
Date: Thursday, 02 October 2025
Venue: Umzinto Town Hall, Umdoni Municipality
Time: 9h00
The media is invited to the event.
For more information, please contact Sina Nxumalo, Communications Manager
Cell: 0829060449
ENDS
