Joburg councillors think of unifying solutions

The primary discussion focused on the roll-out of community-based planning and its implementation into the Integrated Development Plan. The councillors discussed the issues pertaining to participation within the local communities, with an emphasis on “empowering ordinary citizens”.

According to councillors Laverne Young, John Mendelsohn and Annette Deppe, the aim of the community-based planning processes is to jointly analyse and formulate community needs and to feed this information into the Integrated Development Plan and budgeting process. It meant that they could help their wards in delivering tailor-made services.

Speaker Tshimangadzo Mundalamo of the Department of Business Planning and Integrated Development stated, “Government should not simply be a representative democracy but rather a proactive democracy that facilitates participatory democracy, and in turn, promote mutual accountability through a partnership between the city and the people.”

The meeting was brought forward to ensure that all citizens are included in city planning and to ensure full participation within the local communities in the interventions and decision-making processes.