“When our councillors are empowered, our citizens get empowered too through better services facilitated by their councillors,” said the Speaker of Council in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Vasco da Gama, in his closing remarks at the end of a five-day councillors’ induction offered by South African Local Government Association (Salga).

In an effort to inculcate good governance and orientate newly voted legislators, City of Johannesburg councillors are exposed to training programmes on an ongoing basis to empower them to govern better.

The Salga Integrated Councillor Induction Programme was rolled out last week after the City of Johannesburg’s Legislature completed three phases of Councillor Orientation Programme, which were rolled out between November and December 2021.

Salga’s induction is a national programme rolled out in all of the municipalities to ensure municipalities are responsive to community needs and that councillors are effective and efficient in fulfilling their roles and responsibilities.

In the training sessions, councillors were urged to play their oversight role within the parameters of legislation. They were also urged to exercise their power and responsibilities to work together for peace, order and good governance. Among others, councillors are expected to deliver excellent service delivery to communities, alleviate poverty, create employment opportunities and realise growth of SA economy.

The issues of ward councillor vs PR councillor duties drew a lot of interest as many councillors often step on each other’s toes, resulting in hostile working relationships.

Councillor Celstina Nzimande shared her journey of putting residents first before her party. “In my ward, I always invite my PR councillor to work with me, though we have different roles and irrespective of different political parties. Our focus has to be at the people we serve, people who voted us. Not only does this bring peace and cohesion, but importantly it helps in delivering smooth service delivery.”

Many new and old councillors found the sessions informative. They said it gave them a clear direction in terms of the objectives of the councillor such as ethical leadership, good governance, sound financial management, holding executive to account among others.

07/02/2022