Issues being resolved thanks to new MCLM petitions committee
The municipality's new petitions committee recently held its first public meeting to help resolve issues that dated as far back as 2015.
After many years the Mogale City Local Municipality’s new standing committee on petitions held its first public sitting to address unresolved service delivery related petitions.
The hearing by the new committee gives effect to section 152 of the Constitution, that stipulates that a municipality must establish appropriate mechanisms, processes and procedures to enable the local community to participate in its affairs, and to this end make provision for the receipt, processing and consideration of petitions and complaints lodged by members of the local community.
The committee chairperson, Councillor Thomas Ntando under the tutelage of the Speaker, Councillor Jaqueline Pannall led the proceedings. The primary objective was to ensure that the municipality reviewed and resolved all adopted resident petitions, some of them dating back to 2015.
Out of 23 petitions the committee focused on six pressing issues which included noise pollution by two local taverns, outstanding allocation of municipal stands, local business buying pricey electricity from the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM), and a community’s dispute on the establishment of a carwash.
Relevant departments and divisions including Building Control, Local Economic Development and Public Works, Roads and Transport, to mention a few, were on hand to answer questions and assist in the resolution of the list of petitions.
Of the 23 petitions presented at the hearing, 14 are in the process of being dealt with, some remain unresolved, whilst the rest had to be referred to the relevant departments for feedback and to deal with some of the sticky issues.
According to Ntando, the committee aims to fast-track the residents’ petitions to address service delivery challenges in communities while strengthening the capacity of the municipality to deliver on its mandate.
“It is important for our communities to know their right to petition the municipality and that they have a right for their grievances to be attended to. This platform was re-established on March 30 for residents to be involved in matters that concern them and their communities, holding authorities accountable – not merely during the IDPs but also beyond,” Ntando said.
The hearings form part of the committee’s range of mechanisms to hold the municipality and their departments accountable for service delivery in the communities. This was seen as a major milestone achievement after not convening for many years and leaving a number of petitions unresolved.
