This week’s question was:
How does next year’s national election affect local government structures like the City of Johannesburg and its residents?
Ward 102 councillor David Potter answered:
The 2019 election is a national and provincial one, affecting those two spheres of government.
The local sphere of government’s term of office will run until 2021.
The impact will be indirect as the local level of the government mandate is mostly related to the delivery of services that the municipalities provide to residents, within their budgets.
This includes the repair of potholes, supply of water and electricity to properties, maintenance and upgrades of roads, the delivery of recreational facilities and many others.
Local municipalities are reliant to a degree on national and provincial government grants for the delivery of housing, infrastructure builds and others.
So having a national and provincial government that works well together with the local government is in the best interest of the residents of the municipality.
However, what will be most impacted (hopefully positively) following the National and Provincial Election in 2019, are the services provided by national and provincial managed departments such as hospitals, home affairs, control and management of the national and provincial fiscus, basic and higher education, maintenance of provincial and national roads, the rollout of large housing projects and many others.
Do you have a question for a ward councillor?
As a local newspaper, the Randburg Sun provides a platform for residents to learn about, understand and follow local government.
As an extension of that, there is a weekly column called Councillor’s Corner which is a platform for you, our readers, to voice your concerns or questions for ward councillors to respond to.
Different, willing, ward councillors will respond to a question each week.
Email your burning question to aimeed@caxton.co.za and let’s get the ball rolling.
