Council speaker engages councillors and ward committee members during her regional tour launch in Region A
Speaker of Council Nobuhle Mthembu hopes proper training and transparent communication can help ward committee members and councillors escalate ward issues.
In a bid to ensure optimal functionality of Region A, Speaker of Council Nobuhle Mthembu met and engaged with ward councillors and committee members to address key challenges affecting their daily work.
This happened at the Rabie Ridge Community Hall on February 4 and 5, with Wards 92, 110, 112, and 132 participating.
The primary objective of these engagements is to gain first-hand insight into region-specific issues and explore potential solutions to enhance good service delivery and governance.
Also read: Region A expands database to reach a wider community
Mthembu said this initiative is part of her commitment to strengthen collaboration between the legislature, ward committees, and the city’s urban management structures and entities.
“We want to get a feel for what is happening on the ground, and the challenges ward committee members and councillors encounter. Region A is different, there are no conflicts whatsoever between the councillors and ward committee members. We want to get rid of a situation where, for example, a ward committee member struggles to escalate a matter, and reaching the entities is a problem. If ward committee members can’t reach the entities, what about the residents?” asked Mthembu.
Also read: Boots on the ground as City Parks swiftly tackles overgrowth in Rabie Ridge and Region A
She said in order to bridge that challenge, she needs to meet with Citizen Relationship and Urban Management (Crum) to make it easier for them to log a call and get training.
During the session, ward committee members from various wards in Region A had the opportunity to voice their concerns.
Beyond service delivery challenges, they highlighted several obstacles in executing their duties effectively.
“These included insufficient support in their roles and prolonged turnaround times for logging and resolving service delivery issues with city departments and relevant entities. In response, the office of the speaker assured the attendees that she would engage with the executive to address these concerns and develop measures to support ward committee members in their work.”
Mthembu said, these engagements, which will be rolled out to other regions in the city, were not a tick-box exercise. She said she hopes for better collaboration between the ward councillors and ward committee members to improve service delivery.
Mthembu called for ward committees to be empowered and fully supported to perform their duties efficiently and hold entities accountable.
Follow us on our Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok pages. Join our WhatsApp group for any story ideas you may have.
Related article: Region A expands database to reach a wider community
