November 28, 2003
By Lucille Davie
MAYOR Amos Masondo welcomed the newly appointed and re-elected ward committee members to the city governance structure at an informal ceremony in Braamfontein on Thursday night.
Several hundred people crowded into the white chiffon-draped hall of the Braamfontein Recreation Centre, as City Manager Pascal Moloi and the mayor gave the representatives of 109 wards a brief slide show showing a breakdown of how the city is managed.
"To those new to the council, welcome to the arena of struggle, endless debates and the path to wisdom. To those already members, I am sure you will pass on what you have already learnt," said Masondo.
Masondo went on to explain that the ward committees ensured "the widest possible participation of the public as an essential ingredient of our democracy".
The city is divided into nine regions and within those regions are 109 wards. Each ward elects a committee of 10 members, and each committee chairperson becomes the ward councillor. These 109 councillors join the 217-seat city council, and a further 108 councillors are elected on the basis of proportional representation, coming out of city elections. The ward system was established in October 2001.
The city manager is the top city official who oversees the management of the city. He is assisted by a chief operations officer, an executive director and a strategic support unit. A further five directors report directly to the city manager. Each region has a director, administering the broader maintenance of each segment of the city.
The political head is the mayor who has 10 councillors sitting on his mayoral committee, bolstered by a further two, invited to participate by the mayor.
Ward committees interact with their communities, a filter down of democracy, ensuring public participation.
"Such an engagement enables elected public representatives to remain sensitised to the concerns of communities and ensures that the general public remain aware of how government works," said Masondo.
The Municipal Systems Act recommended a Public Participation Policy, and in terms of the act, councillors and employees:
- are accountable to the community they serve, focusing on actions aimed at meeting the needs of the community
- must believe in transparency and be open to public scrutiny
- must create an empowering public participation environment
Masondo outlined to the ward members the challenges facing Johannesburg, not dissimilar from challenges facing other cities around the world:
- urbanisation and the pressures that arise from it
- service delivery, including management of the environment, health care facilities, housing, unemployment, water and electricity, roads and sanitation
- the economic and developmental role of local government
- the participation of civil society in policy formulation
- technological change
- adapting best practice examples from elsewhere, to local realities
Masondo acknowledged that in the past three years, significant progress had been made in ensuring the widest possible participation of the citizens of the city.
"Even the worst cynics amongst us agree that step by step, year by year, this city is changing for the better. Let me, however, hasten to add that more needs to be done at an even faster pace."
He concluded: "The destiny of this city is in our hands. We can make a difference."
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