/ 12 July 2013

Governance minister Tsenoli set to listen

Governance Minister Tsenoli Set To Listen

He has a strong background in local government and has, in one way or another, been involved in local government for the past 19 years.

He told the Mail & Guardian he was shocked when he received a call from President Jacob Zuma's office this week to inform him about the appointment.

"It's an exciting opportunity … significant for me as I'm going to an area that I'm very familiar with."

Before his appointment as the deputy minister of rural development and land reform in October 2011, Tsenoli was chairperson of the parliamentary committee that conducts oversight on co-operative governance and traditional affairs.

The year before he chaired a specially appointed ad hoc committee on service delivery to assess progress by local governments and to get feedback on the department's turn-around strategy and whether municipalities were ready to implement it.

"It will be incorrect to presume that things are still the same at the department after all this time," he said.

The ad hoc committee travelled across the country, holding public hearings and listening to communities about service delivery problems.

"We were involved in receiving the turnaround strategy and engaging it," said Tsenoli this week.

"But I can't claim to have a specific plan for the department. My biggest plan will be to open my ears and read a lot, especially on reports commissioned by the outgoing minister.

"I would also want to hear from Salga [the South African Local Government Association] – a major role player – and both the metro and rural municipalities to find out what their priorities are. So, the first couple of months will be a listening period and doing the practical things that will have to be done and cannot wait," he said.

Tsenoli became a MP late in 1994. His deployment to Parliament was interrupted when he became MEC for local government and housing in the Free State between 1999 and 2004.

He returned to Parliament after the 2004 elections.

Tsenoli, a South African Communist Party central committee member, is also a former South African National Civic Organisation president, was a member of the special ministerial political committee that drafted the white paper on local government, and has been chairperson of the committee dealing with local government.