2.8.8. Matabeleland North
A total of 614 meetings were held in the seven districts of the province. Although the
outreach was conducted in a peaceful environment, attendance by participants was
very low. The province recorded one of the lowest attendance figures together with
Matabeleland South Province. The low attendance was attributed to apathy, lethargic
attitude as well as inadequate civic education. A total of 53,077 people attended the
meetings in the province.
There were minimal accommodation and logistical challenges in Matabeleland North
province and as a result the process went on very smoothly. The only major challenge
was the late availability of fuel in some instances, resulting in some meetings being
held late.
The process was overseen by Hon. Thokozile Mathuthu and Hon. Brian Tshuma and
was assisted by the Provincial Coordinator Ms. L. L Dhlamini and seven District
Coordinators in the seven districts. The outcomes of the meetings in the province are
clearly indicated in the National and Provincial Statistical reports as annexures to this
report.
2.8.9. Matabeleland South
The outreach consultation process started on the 25th of June 2010 and ended on the
2nd of October 2010.
All the 477 meetings were conducted in peace across the 7 Districts of the province,
with 48,211 people attending the meetings. There was one incident, however, in
which one Rapporteur was alleged to have deleted views gathered from one meeting.
The information was then retyped from the original hand written notes with the
agreement of all the three Rapporteurs from the three political parties in the GNU.
As with other teams, the outreach teams worked very well with each other and it was
difficult to tell if they were from different political parties, one of the greatest
achievements of the outreach programme country wide.
High attendance by participants was recorded in Insiza, Umzingwane and Beitbridge
districts, with Beitbridge recording the highest attendance by members of the public.
Beitbridge had also the highest number of meetings held per ward with some wards
holding as many as five meetings in a single ward. This became a source of
consternation within the Select Committee at the Data Uploading stage. However, the
matter was amicably resolved.
The high attendances in these districts were attributed to extensive mobilisation and
information dissemination by political party liaison committees. Initial attendance
figures for the province were the lowest, and it was as a result of this that the Select
40
The Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) Report to Parliament, February 2013
Select target paragraph3
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