By More Matshediso
Pretoria – A Gauteng-wide Ward Councillors’ Conference is expected to produce possible solutions to the increased number of violent service delivery protests by residents in the province.
Gauteng Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) will next week host the conference, scheduled for 1-2 September at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park.
The newly elected Cogta and Human Settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo will interact with all ward councillors in Gauteng for the first time at the conference.
“The conference will also be an opportunity for various stakeholders operating in local government, to understand each other’s issues and challenges, and most importantly, the plight of ward councillors who have been besieged with protracted violent community protests for the longest time in history,” the department said.
According to the department, destruction of community infrastructure was a leading concern to the department, as communities burnt facilities to grab attention of the political leadership during protests.
MEC Mamabolo said communities and councillors must engage constructively to create a conducive and peaceful environment, leaving no room for violence.
“Achieving this will not only be beneficial to councillors and community leaders, but also crucially beneficial for peace and stability where children can go to school uninterrupted, with workers not losing hard earned salary for not showing up at work,” said MEC Jacob Mamabolo.
He said public participation has been highlighted as one of the key points of discussion at the conference. The delegates will discuss ways of improving or innovating current forms of public participation at the disposal of councillors.
Public participation forms comprise mass meetings, izimbizo, Integrated Development Plan (IDP) forums and so on.
The nature of the work for ward councillors requires them to live within communities they serve, where uprisings often take place and often leave them and their families victimised.
“In radically transforming our society we must confront our challenges head on, and in so doing we must mobilise the entire society and jointly participate in a dialogue that will find lasting solutions to problems we encounter daily. This conference will engage with such challenges and more,” MEC Mamabolo said. - SAnews.gov.za
