On what platforms should a ward councillor should communicate?
RANDBURG – Most residents want to see their ward councillors use all communication platforms, but there is no protocol or rule outlined for this.
Everyone wants to feel like their ward councillor is accessible and actively dealing with issues in the area.
Communication is key for this and after a resident raised concerns about his ward councillor’s perceived lack of communication platforms, Randburg Sun sought to find out how a ward councillor is required and expected to communicate with residents.
We spoke to the municipality and also ran a poll on Twitter asking people how they would prefer ward councillors to communicate. The options were WhatsApp only; calls, emails and SMSs; Facebook and Twitter; and all of the above.
The majority (61.1%) voted for all of the above while an equal 16.7% of respondents voted for WhatsApps only, and Facebook and Twitter. Only 5.6% of respondents wanted calls, emails and SMSs.
“The City does not have a council-approved policy that determines how communication should take place with residents,” explained City of Johannesburg spokesperson, Virgil James.
“They are, however, expected to make use of ways that are most suitable to communicate with their constituents or be tuned into what people may prefer for information dissemination. This may be meetings, email, face to face, loud hailing, SMS, media release, advert, via ward committee members or relevant social media platforms if they so desire. Most, if not all councillors, have broken up their wards into blocks and formed WhatsApp groups as a quick way of responding to community issues.”
He said the objective is to keep residents informed and educated and respond to issues using suitable means.
