Ward 132 councillor Annette Deppe has poked loopholes in the recently held Integrated Development Planning (IDP) session, saying it’s a ‘total disrespect for the procedures and the purpose of the session’.
The session was held at the Midrand Fire Station on May 27 and saw a huge turnout from Region A residents.
The MMC for Development Planning stood in for the Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda. However, this did not go down well with Deppe.
“The mayor is responsible for presenting the IDP and interacting with residents. The speaker’s office only hosts the public engagements which means the absence of the mayor and MMCs and their departments nullify the budget presentation process,” said Deppe.
She further said she wondered how the budget was presented without determining the number of residents and their input.
At the session, only three ward members were given two minutes to raise pressing issues affecting their respective wards.
“Total disrespect for the procedures and the purpose of an IDP public session. Bussing in residents from other areas, seven busses must have cost a fortune. Only giving three people per ward time to talk is not public participation. Not fair to residents who came with their own lists. So, it is only a tick box exercise and putting bums on seats,” she added.
During the session, some residents from Ward 132 spoke about the dire need for a multi-purpose centre.
However, Deppe believes the centre is not a huge necessity because they have many residential complexes with their own facilities and many others that can afford to join a club. “These multi-purpose centres only get abused and they never maintain or have money to upkeep them. They were only six youth members at the session and that does not represent the views of our youth.”
She said the city needed to have a comprehensive survey done in every ward to find out what the youth really want.
“You can’t have a centre with no programmes being run by the city,” concluded Deppe.
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