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Department: Cooperative Governance and Traditional AffairsDutyeni Administrative Area (AA) under the Ngutyana Traditional Council in Qaukeni Region within the Alfred Nzo District Municipality. The functionality of District Initiation Fora (DIF) was monitored in all six districts and two metros to ensure compliance with the Eastern Cape Customary Male Initiation Act, namely: Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi, OR Tambo and Sarah Baartman District Municipalities. Monitoring also included Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Metro Municipalities. This compliance contributes to a broader outcome that involves the prevention/reduction of initiates deaths in mountains where they are initiated into manhood. The Community Works programme has been implemented with 171 job opportunities created through the Community Works Programme (CWP) from the initial target of 170, where individuals were employed for community projects such as cleaning, maintenance, and beautification of towns in their municipalities, contributing to the broader poverty eradication strategy. This intervention supported its participants in ensuring that they become economically effective members of the society after its implementation. The Department conducted an analysis on the performance of all the thirty-six targeted Local and District municipalities receiving Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) through the Provincial Municipal Infrastructure and Service Delivery (PMISD) reports. All eight targeted research reports on genealogies of Royal families were conducted for the period under review, for Nkosi ZW Mhlanga, Nkosi CN Mditshwa, Nkosi A Zunguzane, Nkosi Phikisa, Nkosi Mdabuka, Nkosi Makhunze, Nkosi Fikeni and Nkosi Sigcau. 2.2 Key challenges A challenge that is still prevalent is the occurrence and the slow investigations of Unauthorised, Irregular, Fruitless and Wasteful expenditures in the municipalities. The Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) need hands-on support in relation to the investigations of these abnormalities in expenditure within the space. 3 OUTLOOK FOR THE COMING FINANCIAL YEAR (2025/26) In the 2025/26 which is deemed the dawn of the incoming 7th Administration, the Department seeks to intensify coordination of all government support to Municipalities and Traditional & Khoi-San Leadership Institutions. The Department has a massive cooperative governance role to play in the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) Policy Priority Areas, namely, Strategic Priority 1: Inclusive Growth and Job Creation; Strategic Priority 2: Reduce Poverty and Tackle the High Cost of Living and Strategic Priority 3: A Capable, Ethical and Developmental State to ensure a better life for all. The Department will under the Province Priority Focus: Municipal Support, with the intervention ensure that functional councils and governance structures for 14 prioritised municipalities, including traditional leadership support. The Department will monitor the sitting of municipal councils and implementation of council resolutions and provide support when required as these are held quarterly through one-on-one session with Mayoral Committee (MAYCO)/Executive Committee (EXCO) to report on oversight work. The Department will continue to support Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPAC%u2019s) and providing capacity building as well as ongoing compulsory induction programme for councillors to include ethics awareness. The municipalities must be assisted to monitor and improve the functionality of District Coordination (DC) Boards. 496