Mayoral Oureach
www.MyPE.co.za:
Nelson Mandela Bay’s Nangoza Jebe Community Hall was packed to capacity
yesterday as scores of community members gathered to scrutinise the
draft Annual report and interact with the Executive Mayor Zanoxolo
Wayile’s 100 days in office programme.
The session was the first of the seven public participation meetings
hosted by Mayor Wayile, the Political Leadership and the Council
Oversight Committee in order to solicit public input on the draft
annual report and the programmes of Council.
Mayor Wayile, Speaker Helen Sauls-August, the Mayoral Committee, the
Chief Whip, Oversight Committee members, Ward Councillors of the area,
Acting Municipal Manager Elias Ntoba, and senior management of the
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality were all in attendance.
Cllr. Mpumelelo Seti of the Oversight Committee presented the summary
of the draft 2008/09 Annual Report in Xhosa to the public, explaining
complex financial and performance reporting information very well to
the communities who listened attentively until all the speeches were
completed, showing no signs of panic.
The successes of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality were highlighted
but also emphasis was made on key aspects which still needed the
attention of council such as the provision of human settlements,
environmental management and abatement of illegal dumping and effective
water management.
The performance of the Municipality on key service delivery items such
as water and electricity, environmental management, and primary health
care, as well as the winning of the cleanest city award and the receipt
of the audit opinion were welcomed by the public with loud applause.
When the community was given a platform to comment, they pointed out
their dissatisfaction with some service delivery aspects, while noting
the successes the Municipality had made. The communities expressed
concerns regarding the revenue collection mechanisms of the
municipality, crime, unemployment, insensitivity to needs when
relocating families to sites for greenfields developments and the
bucket system.
Executive Mayor Wayile in his response addressed most of the community
concerns highlighting some of the things which were done at national,
provincial and local levels in order to address social concerns
particularly economic and social development issues such as employment
and provision of schools, health care facilities and human settlements.
The Mayor said good cooperation with communities was a necessary step
towards better service delivery because communities were the “eyes and
ears of council on the ground”.
Regarding the thorny issue of debt collection measures used by the
municipality, Mayor Wayile said the municipality was reviewing its
credit control policy and highlighted the fact that the municipality
exercised more leniencies during the December holidays by not
disconnecting people.
“We always have to balance between ensuring efficient debt control
measures in order to ensure the municipality gets the money to finance
its operations while showing care and sensitivity towards people’s
needs. That is why we emphasise the need for qualifying households to
enrol on the assistance to the poor programme in order to make sure
that they are catered for.”
Mayor Wayile said the municipality was engaging various stakeholders to
make sure that creative solutions were found to enhance economic
development, job creation and poverty alleviation.
The Mayoral Outreach Programme continues today and tomorrow at
Uitenhage Indoor Sports Centre and George Botha community hall
respectively.
Nelson
Mandela Bay Municipality Contacts.
Port Elizabeth Budget Accommodation
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