KwaDukuza residents will remember casting 3 votes in the November local government elections, but what is it that district council and its councillors do?
KwaDukuza is one of 4 local municipalities which fall under the umbrella of the iLembe District Municipality – Ndwedwe, Maphumulo and Mandeni local municipalities being the others.
This differs from a metro such as Durban for example, where one body is responsible for all operations within its area.
District councillors are elected in two ways – directly and indirectly.
When voting on the district ballot last November, one’s choice of party decided the direct election of 40% (14 seats) of the district councillors.
The remaining 60% (21 seats) were decided by a calculation that took into account the votes tallied across all 3 ballots.
“Local municipalities are responsible for almost all service delivery functions that have a daily impact on residents. These include roads, electricity, storm water and waste collection,” said Democratic Alliance district councillor, Krsna Sing.
“iLembe is responsible for bulk water and sanitation services throughout the district.”
District councillors are therefore responsible for oversight of the maintenance and upgrading of iLembe’s bulk water infrastructure.
If something goes wrong at local level, ward councillors should be contacted and they will then escalate the issue to the district councillor.
“Councillors at district level are collectively responsible for ensuring the municipality performs its aforementioned duties and that the needs of the various communities are met,” said ActionSA district councillor, Annet Sewraj.
Aside from direct service delivery, the district council also plays an important role in promoting development and growth for businesses.
“Local economic development is one of the primary roles of a district council. This takes many different forms, including the drafting of the annual Integrated Development Plan which is shared with each local municipality,” said African National Congress district councillor, Jennifer Vallan.
“The district receives its mandate from the local municipalities. Once the needs are understood, district council can better affect the necessary changes.”
Although district councillors do not interact with or are as accessible to the public as ward councillors, they are still ultimately accountable to residents.
They play an important role lobbying for their local communities at district level, even though this might not always seem evident to those communities.
Change at district level is more incremental than it is locally and longer term projects are undertaken, rather than fixing potholes or streetlights which have an immediate impact.
But do not assume this means district councillors should not be contacted. They are still in their positions as a result of your vote after all.
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