Your councillors’ functions
ALEXANDRA – Councillor explains their obligations to residents.
A Joburg City councillor has provided residents with a template of what they should expect from councillors employed as their representatives.
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The template outlines their roles and responsibilities as a bridge between residents and council to enable residents to hold them accountable in a country still nurturing its fledgeling democracy.
In a statement, councillor Graham de Kock said the main role of service delivery was administrative and legislative and is carried out through departments and entities like Johannesburg Roads Agency and Joburg Water.
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According to his statement, “Councillors are mandated to act on the views of residents when in Council meetings. To do so, they ought to be accessible to residents through public platforms and ensure residents’ increased participation.” To do this well, he said, councillors need to be neutral, show no bias towards their own interests or of a particular group within the broader community. “Impartiality is the cornerstone of excellence in public service.”
The functions include:
- Report back to their communities at least once a quarter
- Engage with communities through various communication channels including email, newsletters, social media pages and WhatsApp
- Distribute all non-confidential public information about the City’s programmes and campaigns
- Monitor the City’s performance through scheduled quarterly reports presented in Council
- Liaise with legitimately constituted residents’ associations to help them gauge the views of residents
- Reasonable availability through phone calls, as others may be permitted by legislation to hold alternative employment
- Building good relationships with officials in order to be the effective eyes and ears of residents on service delivery, and to escalate crucial challenges to officials.
In addition, the statement pointed out that there is no requirement for a councillor to be a resident of the ward he or she represents, and that he or she does not have the power to instruct officials to do their work.
De Kock urged residents to help their councillors as part of a strategic system for the ward, by also logging their concerns directly with the departments.
- City Power citypower.mobi / download the CityPower app on your smartphone / 0860JOBURG
- Joburg Water customer@jwater.co.za / 0860JOBURG
- Joburg Roads Agency hotline@jra.org.za / download the JRA Find&Fix app on your smartphone / 0860JOBURG
- Pikitup 0860JOBURG / @cleanerjoburg (Twitter).
They should obtain and share reference numbers for logged communication with councillors for follow-up purposes.
Details: Tinyiko Masemola 011 407 7118.
