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The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has welcomed the news of the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) probe and that the investigation into alleged breaches of governance and violations of the Public Financial Management Act on several counts is well underway.
 
The Chairperson of the committee, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela said: “All the recipients of public funds have a moral obligation to ensure compliance with the provisions for good governance, accountability and transparency. Such funding to the tune of R29m per annum is intended to benefit the traditional leaders and their communities on tribal lands in KwaZulu-Natal.”
 
The Chairperson is also on record calling for a review of the funding to the ITB to assess whether it reaches the intended beneficiaries. In addition, the committee has long held the view that funding of traditional leaders and their communities cannot be confined to one group. Many traditional leaders and communities, especially Khoisan communities, should also benefit from public funding. These communities faced the brunt of the land dispossession and many have been alienated from their traditional lands.
 
Regarding the probe against the current chairperson of the ITB, the committee trusts that justice will take its course and that beneficiary communities will get what is justly due to them, said Inkosi Mandela.

Issued by The Chairperson of The Portfolio Committee On Agriculture, Land Reform And Rural Development, Inkosi Zwelivelile Mandela