Community Development Workers and Ward Committee hold summit
Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Mr Mandla Msibi encourages councilors to work hard to represent and serve the people.
A Community Development Workers (CDW) and Ward Committee summit was recently held at the Emalahleni City Hall.
The summit organised by the office of the speaker of Emalahleni Local Municipality Clr Mduduzi Nkosi was held on Monday, June 19.
Mpumalanga MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Mandla Msibi was present.
Other officials present include the district speaker Clr Lucky Ndinisa, the South African Local Government Association (Salga), SAPS, the Department of Correctional Services and Mr Xolani Khumalo, the Sizokuthola television show presenter as well as other dignitaries.
In his presentation, Msibi stressed the importance of councillors, CDW and ward committee members working together.
It was stated that ward councillors are a critical pillar in local government.
They are accountable to their ward and to the municipal council.
Councillors are meant to live in the areas that they serve in order to ensure that there is a genuine understanding of the needs of the ward.
Councillors must report back regularly through ward meetings and assist the community in identifying needs and prioritising areas of development which feed into the municipality planning processes.
Msibi further told councillors that being a councillor is not as easy as it appears, they need to work hard to represent the people and to deliver to them.
“As councillors, you need to equip yourself, have skills and educate yourself, have programmes and projects and prioritise them. You must remember that you are the bridge between the people and the council. Yours is to deliver service to the people and work hand in hand with your ward committee. A councillor does not decide on their own but consult with the community and takes their interests to the municipal council. You will have different people in the ward and you must treat them the same. Share views with the people in the ward, consult, plan and implement. Be sober-minded at all times and be prepared to work 24 hours,” Msibi said.
Salga presented a document about council committee roles, responsibilities and expectations and ward operational plans.
Ndinisa talked about roles and responsibilities, stakeholders, petitions and community concerns.
The representatives were supposed to form five commissions.
The commissions were to discuss on review and aligning ward operational plans and municipal planning processes in line with the current municipality challenges.
They also brainstormed on the implementation of stakeholder engagement policies, ward governance and public policy reviews, reporting and assessment of ward committees and alignment of portfolios to directorates and improvement of community participation in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP).
Budget consultative engagements and the introduction of e-Participation and Policy Modelling Platforms for South Africa were also being looked at.
The meeting decided that because of time constraints, the representative will discuss the issues and report back to the office of the speaker.
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