The City of Johannesburg will hold 29 Community-Based Planning (CBPs) meetings in February to allow residents and stakeholders to make meaningful contributions to future development in their areas.
The Speaker of Council in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Vasco da Gama, says CBPs are platforms that afford communities the opportunity to participate and take ownership of their own developments.
“An important objective of my office is to encourage public participation in the affairs of Council. It’s the only way to get the changes you want to see,” says Cllr Da Gama.
Consultation with local communities is key so that Council does not dictate the socio-economic agenda alone. Instead, it is a shared process through appropriate and credible mechanisms, processes and procedures not only in compliance with legislative requirement but as a matter of principle.
“Residents have the right to complain about service delivery issues so that we can fix them, but we want more than that out of CBP meetings. More youth and women should attend and tell us about their needs for the area.
“Will we be able to give communities everything they ask for, no, because the budget must be shared throughout and needs prioritised accordingly but over time, projects and programmes will materialise. Some of these are not visible like water and sewer infrastructure, electricity and Wi-Fi cables but are critical elements of development,” said Cllr Da Gama.
How does one get involved?
“It’s very simple. As a resident, I trust that you want to have a say in how the municipality develops your area and maintains it. We have put up notices throughout the city including adverts of the schedule of meetings in each region,” says Cllr Da Gama.
“On Thursday, 17 February 2022 at 10am, a meeting will be held at the Don Mateman Hall in Eldorado Park Region G. All you must do as a resident of that area is attend the meeting and join the discussion. Express the problems you experience, dissatisfactions, concerns and ideas of creating a better well managed environment.”
He said that if you are unable to attend a meeting, you can log onto the city’s website www.joburg.org.za and follow the link for online comments or email. “This jointly gives us the opportunity to develop ward-based plans with you as well as councillors and ward committees in preparation for the IDP.”
CBP meetings will be hybrid sessions to accommodate up to 250 stakeholders at the venues, or join via MS Teams in the comfort of your home.
Inputs received at CBP sessions are important as they are considered for the draft Integrated Development Plan (IDP) document. The draft IDP will be tabled in Council on 24 March 2022 for public comments and inputs. Communities will have a second chance to make more comments and inputs in April. The public participation process will be concluded with the adoption of the IDP in May 2022.
Submissions can be made in the following ways:
Email comments to cbpinputs@joburg.org.za, cbpcomments@joburg.org.za, online comments on www.joburg.org.za or hand written submissions in drop off boxes at the Regional Offices.
Log onto www.joburg.org.za for the complete schedule of CBP meetings.
For more information on CBPs contact Kureish Isaacs Deputy Director for Public Participation on 011 407 6310.
Written by Virgil James
15/02/2022