Last Wednesday evening, Ward 10 community members heard a faint voice making an announcement.

Turns out that the announcement was for Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality‘s 2016/2017 budget speech, which is part of its Intergraded Development Plan (IDP), to be held the next day.

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The speech was set to be delivered at 5pm in the Estcourt Town Hall.

Municipal Communications Manager Sphelele Zikalala said the IDP event was postponed for a later date due to the poor attendance of the Ward 10 community members.

“The continuation of this meeting with such poor attendance would have been a fruitless exercise because the aim was for the community members to raise their issues and opinions on the service delivery brought to them by the Mayor,” she explained.

The handful that was present eventually figured that the speech will no longer take place and left the Estcourt Town Hall.

“All I heard was a voice over a loud hailer from inside my home… what was being said, I did not know. As a concerned resident, I went to the municipal offices the next day to inquire about what was being announced, only to find out it was for the budget speech. Next time, such meetings should be better communicated with the community,” said an elderly resident who went to the town hall for the budget speech on Thursday.

An alternative date for the budget speech to be delivered has not been set at this stage.

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