EMALAHLENI LOCAL MUNICIPALITY - Public Participation Unit

Legal requirements

The cornerstone of the democratic government is to encourage effective public participation processes of community engagement between government and citizens. The need for meaningful participation requires that established systems and processes must be known by communities as they improve government transparency in its business conduct. Ward Committees are established amongst others to facilitate community participation and enhancing participatory democracy in local government.

Section 17 of the Municipal Systems Act requires municipalities to put in place systems for communities to participate in the decision-making process. These include the following:

The process of receiving, processing and considering petitions
Procedures for notifying the public of issues being considered by the council and a process that allows for public comment
Procedures for public meetings and hearings by councillors and officials
Regular sharing of information on the state of affairs of the Municipality through consultation with Community Organisations and Traditional Leaders Public Participation is located in the Office of the Speaker and is implemented through the Community Participation Policy. Ward Committees operate within the guidance of the Ward Governance Policy to facilitate the process of community engagement. The responsibility of the Public Participation Unit amongst others include:

Management and monitoring of Ward Committees functionality;
To organise, promote and encourage community participation in the municipal processes;
To co-ordinate community outreach programmes; and
To co-ordinate with sector departments all community participation programmes.

The Integrated Development Plan processes require stakeholder engagements during the different stages of planning and public participation engages in the following way:

Planning phase	Levels of Engagement
Analysis	Community Meetings inviting civic society to interact with determining community needs and reflection on the past IDP performance outcomes
Stakeholder Engagement Projects	IDP Stakeholder Representative Forum Public Debates on what can work best in solving a problem Meetings with affected communities and stakeholders
Integration	IDP Representative Forum
Approval	Public Discussion and consultation with communities and stakeholders on the Key Focus Areas and projects
Monitoring and Implementation	IDP Representative Forum; Ward Committees; War Rooms

Ward Committees

Ward Operational Plans

The established Ward Committees have undergone Orientation and Induction as part of capacity building. The development of Ward Operational Plans are expected to be developed and reviewed annually. To improve accountability of ward committees, Ward Operational Plans provide a platform to plan local based programmes and activities to address specific challenges affecting the ward integrating their activities with that of municipal directorates and other sector departments. The main objective of the Operational

Plans in Emalahleni are to:

Facilitate Communication between council and community in wards: All Emalahleni Ward Operational plans have community meetings and or meetings with organised groups within the ward to communicate council decisions, programmes and feedback on service delivery concerns.
Ward Committee Management: Ward Committees have portfolios aligned to the municipal directorates for reporting and receiving regular feedback from portfolios in ward committee meetings
Monitoring and reporting on service delivery within the ward: Ward Committees undertake various data collection processes with sector departments and assist the council with identification of community members to participate in relevant programmes such as RDP housing, subsidies and indigents. They further monitor all projects implemented in their wards and provide feedback to the communities they serve on the progress thereof.
Service Delivery Campaigns: The operational plans outlines various campaigns to be undertaken especially issues of illegal connections, Free Basic Services, payment of services and door to door service delivery challenges.
Mobilising agents: Ward Committees are always available to mobilise communities for various programmes such as IDP/Budget Izimbizo, community meetings and other public gatherings through the acknowledgement of the respective ward councillor.

Successes from Implementing Ward Operational Plans

The Ward Operational Plans have provided clarity and direction for collected effort of

ward committees in attending to community issues emanating from the community;

The Ward Operational Plans through their portfolios have increased the credibility of ward committees within the municipal directorates as constant communication with municipal officials allows relevant feedback more efficient on reported service delivery matters;
The Ward Operational Plans provide proper evaluation of the monthly and quarterly activities of ward committees in assisting sector departments, private sector and the municipality in addressing community needs. Through their advisory nature of operation, they represent communities in various committees and structures established to improve service delivery in communities and;
The out-of-pocket remuneration ward committees receive is based on the meetings held per month engaging with community issues and programmes that aim to solve them. The amount they receive covers transport costs, catering and communication for improved efficient operation within the ward.

Find More Information in the IDP document

Public Participation

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