Local Government Mediation Initative

To save ratepayers the millions spent on the legal and the non-legal costs of local government disputes and to prevent a Marikane incident in the Western Cape the Provincial Government is launching the first local government mediation initiative on Wednesday, 21 October 2015 at 09h45 at the Nelson Wine Estate outside Paarl.

His Honourable Minister Bredell will open the launch of this groundbreaking initiative and hand over UCT mediation certificates to senior local government officials who have successfully completed a strenuous five-day UCT/MiM mediation course.

Alan Nelson (SC), one of South Africa’s most well known advocates and mediators will talk on how mediation could have saved the lives of the 34 striking mineworkers and have prevented the estimated R 30 billion lost to the country as a result of Marikane.

Raymond Esau, the director strategic support services of the Breede Valley Municipality will talk on the potential of mediation to resolve local government disputes and to improve service delivery.

Hanlie Linde, the municipal manager of the Bergrivier Municipality will talk on the implementation of mediation in local government affairs.

The South African parliament has since 1994 passed no fewer than 44 pieces of important legislation that provides for mediation and King III on good corporate governance strongly advocates the use of mediation in the corporate sector. More recently the Department of Justice has launched the court-annexed mediation program to resolve disputes between parties who either prefer not to proceed to court or are not able to afford the costs of litigation.

South Africa is on the cusp of an international mediation trend to resolve many disputes by mutual agreement rather than relying on expensive and often unpredictable litigation, according to advocate Jacques Joubert, well-known Cape Town mediator who trains mediators for UCT/MiM.

Author: Jessica Miller from Hippo Communications.

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