The role of the ward committee
The community of Makana owes advocate Jock McConnachie a vote of thanks, not only for his efforts on behalf of the community in the past but also for bringing to the public’s attention the importance of ward committees in his letter to Grocott’s Mail 19 August.
However, McConnachie does make some statements in his missive that require some clarity. It is up to the Speaker to decide when the ward committee elections are to be held, not the ward councillor.
The Speaker’s office will advise the ward councillor when the public meetings that will elect the members of the ward committee are to be held and will be responsible for advertising the fact. The ward councillor will chair the meeting.
Only nominations from the floor will be accepted and should more than 10 nominations be received, a vote will be held. No prior nominations can be accepted.
The statement that “ward committees are hand-picked by councillors to whom they feel beholden for the monthly stipend they receive” must be queried. I am uncertain of the situation in other wards, but in Ward 8, the committee chosen at the public meeting were, at the time, mostly strangers to me and certainly did not share my political affiliations. We quickly meshed as a team and worked well together. I trust that the new Ward 8 committee will be as supportive.
Further, it is certainly not the duty of ward committees to “determine the priorities of the ward councillors and to hold on them to account for their performance”.
The ward councillor determines his or her own priorities with the assistance of the ward committees. It is the electorate, and (in the case of the DA) the political party of the councillor, that holds the public representatives to account for their performance, not the ward committee. The ward committee exists to help and support the ward councillor in monitoring and dealing with various issues that arise or are likely to arise. As I have found out, there are a vast number of diverse and unpredictable issues that most certainly will arise.
The ward committee exists to help and support the councillor and if he or she is being undermined by committee members, as has happened in other wards, the councillor has every right to request the Speaker’s office to remove that committee member and has the right to expect that his or her wishes are carried out. The ward councillor is not immune from constructive criticism made in committee, as long as the criticism is constructive and is made in committee. The last thing a ward councillor needs is to be belittled and undermined by the very committee members who are chosen to support him or her.
I urge all residents to monitor the local press for the notices that will advertise the public meetings that will elect the ward committees. McConnachie is right when he intimates that a well functioning ward committee can make a vast difference.
Brian Jackson, Councillor, Ward 8