The City of Johannesburg kicked off its first Community-Based Planning (CBP) session for 2024 on Saturday, 05 October 2024 at the Bramfischerville Multipurpose Centre (MPCC) in Region C. This gathering marked the start of a series of meetings aimed at reviewing ward priorities for the 2025/26 financial year and gathering community input for the upcoming Integrated Development Plan (IDP). The focus of the session was on wards 44 and 49.
The city’s Speaker of Council, Cllr Nobuhle Mthembu, led the event, joined by Regional Director Mlamleli Belot and local councillors. She commended the impressive turnout and stressed the importance of these meetings in allowing residents to influence the city’s plans. And emphasised that the city’s budget must align with the needs expressed by its residents and urged all 135 wards across the city to participate in these sessions.
“We are here also to address the issues that most of our residents are facing, especially regarding service delivery, that is, infrastructure, recreation facilities and others. I would like to encourage all residents in other wards, 135, in the City to be part of these sessions so that we know what you want to see in your wards. We want all the wards to be represented when City’s Budget is done,” she said.
The presentation covered various updates, challenges, and achievements in Region C, particularly around service delivery and budget allocations. Residents of wards 44 and 49 raised key issues, including the urgent need for tarred roads with stormwater drainage, traffic-calming measures such as speed humps, and more clinics or mobile health services.
Concerns about clinics lacking essential medications were also voiced, alongside calls for a pedestrian bridge in Ward 44 and solutions for air pollution caused by illegal dumping and burning waste.
Cllr Mthembu encouraged residents to review the documents provided during the session to gain a deeper understanding of the issues discussed and to provide feedback. She noted, however, the low turnout of young people and called for greater youth participation in future sessions.
She urged all residents to attend upcoming meetings in larger numbers, assuring them that their contributions will be central to shaping the IDP and that the CBP process is meant to result in real outcomes, not just a box-ticking exercise. “As the Legislature, we are here for you, and we will ensure that these sessions do not becoming a ticking box.”
Written by Thembelihle Radebe
07/10/2024
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