At the ANC’s September ‘roll call’ event which followed a special NEC meeting, President Cyril Ramaphosa told ANC councillors that “without you doing anything, we are dead”.
Weskus Distrik’s Deputy Mayor Ald Sandra Crafford discusses the vital role played by councillors in local government, and how they can equip themselves to be effective.
There are two kinds of municipal councillors.
A ward councillor represents a specific ward and is elected by the number of votes won in a ward. A PR councillor represents a political party and is elected through ‘proportional representation’.
Councillors have a job to perform, including:
- Representing people in the municipality and cooperating with other councillors in the best interest of the community.
- Communicating the needs of the community to the municipal council, and the council process to the community.
- Monitoring the performance of the municipality.
- Raising issues of concern with relevant bodies.
- Following the code of conduct which includes not disclosing information to people that can unfairly benefit from it, among others.
Municipal councillors can be held accountable for the performance of their municipalities, which is what President Ramaphosa was referring to at the ‘roll call’. An outcome of non-performance by a municipality or a councillor is felt during local elections when the community votes against the councillor or the tied political party based on non-performance. An indication of performance is often felt long before the elections through polls. It goes beyond polls and votes as a municipality’s poor performance can cause loss of investment in the region, or even funding from national and provincial governments.
“Councillors choose a life in local government to serve their communities. The environment is however a complex world, and councillors must develop, fine tune or learn new skills to contribute to their municipality and by implication, their community”, says Sandra.
Key requirements include communication and listening; leadership; analytical and problem-solving; teamwork; adaptability and flexibility, and organisational skills.
“A councillor also needs a solid understanding of local government powers, duties, financial statements, and council procedures. How can you comment on a municipality’s financial statement if you don’t have a basic understanding of finance? Or will you support or question a proposed project or transaction if you don’t understand the regulations that can inhibit or support the initiative?”
Apart from drawing on the knowledge of specialist functions within the administrative arm of a municipality, organisations such as The National School of Government (NSG) and SALGA (The South African Local Government Association) provide training courses for the public sector which can benefit councillors. Institutions such as UCT also offer dedicated councillor training.
“A councillor’s job is not easy but when they remember why they became councillors, empower themselves with relevant knowledge and work together as a team with the common purpose of service delivery, a municipality performs. Weskus Distrik’s councillors perform!”.
Ald Sandra Crafford
Deputy Mayor
Weskus Distrik.
