'Taking Legislature to the People' led by the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, which emanated from the Multi-Party Oversight Visits to Zululand district municipalities in July this year, has culminated in the Programme on 6th November 2025 where government leaders provided service delivery responses. The programme was held at the Cecil Emmet Hall, Vryheid under AbaQulusi Local Municipality. Providing answers forms part of the KZN Legislature's efforts aimed at holding government leaders accountable and it reinforces democracy by allowing communities to raise issues that affect them.
Service delivery concerns across five municipalities - Nongoma, uLundi, uPhongolo, AbaQulusi and eDumbe, include poor roads, crime and unemployment. It also emerged that the vast majority of locals previously depended on agricultural activities for their livelihoods and such activities have since dwindled. These according to the Legislature having sifted from community engagement, the lack of abattoirs, dams and production inputs, poorly resourced farms and mechanisation programme as well as rising stock theft cases.
Addressing the Legislature, which included Zululand community members, MEC for Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Ms Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, assured all Zululand farmers that every dipping tank in the district had been provided with enough dipping chemicals and that two dipping tanks had already been erected in uLundi, with AbaQulusi set to receive their own in the near future. "We are revitalising our efforts to encourage our communities to engage in agricultural activities and revive collapsing projects by providing them with fencing, mechanisation and production inputs."
"We would like to reiterate our call for communities to approach agriculture as a business. If you have cattle and are involved in farming by having agricultural fresh produce, please register your businesses so that my Department will consider your applications for assistance," said kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, stressing the need for registration of the people's stock to agribusinesses.
She concluded her responses by urging livestock farmers and owners to adhere to animal movement control measures as Foot-and-Mouth Disease persists in curtain parts of the province.
