ELECTED COUNCILLORS

Elected members have legislative powers to pass by-laws and approve policies for their area. By-laws must not conflict with other national and provincial legislation. They have to pass a budget for the municipality each year and they have to decide on development plans and service delivery for their municipal areas. This development plan is commonly known as the IDP (integrated development plan). Councillors meet in committees to develop proposals for council.
(See Role of a ward councillor on the ward committee)

THE MAYOR

The functions of the mayor and councillors are set by the Municipal Structures Act. The mayor is elected by the municipal council to co-ordinate the work of the municipality. The mayor is the political head of the municipal executive and is assisted by the executive committee or the mayoral committee.

THE EXECUTIVE OR MAYORAL COMMITTEE

There are two systems for the appointment of an executive:

• The executive mayor is elected by the council and they appoint a mayoral committee
• The mayor works with an executive committee (Exco) elected by the council

So, ‘the executive’ refers to the executive mayor and the mayoral committee OR the mayor plus the executive.

The executive or mayoral committee is made up of councillors with specific portfolios that match the departments within the municipal administration, for example, health. The executive and the mayor oversee the work of the municipal manager and department heads. The executive proposes policy and presents budget proposals and implementation plans to the whole council. The executive is accountable to the council and has to get approval from the council.

Once policies, budgets and implementation plans are approved by council, the executive is responsible for ensuring that the municipal administration implements them.

Councillors play a monitoring and oversight role in this process.

THE MUNICIPAL MANAGER AND MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS

The municipal manager is the chief executive officer and is the head of the administration of the council. They are responsible for the overall functioning of the administration, for managing the finances and for hiring and disciplining staff. Municipal officials work for the administration and report to the municipal manager.

WARD COMMITTEES

A ward committee can be set up for each ward councillor to assist and advise the councillor and improve public participation. Ward committees can be set up in category A and B municipalities where the ward committee model is being used. Ward committees are mainly advisory committees that can make
recommendations on any matter affecting the ward. The municipal council makes the rules that guide the ward committees. The rules say how the members of the ward committee will be appointed, how often ward committee meetings will take place and the circumstances under which a member of a ward committee can be told to leave the committee. The purpose of a ward committee is to:

• Get better participation from the community to inform council decisions
• Make sure that there is more effective communication between the council and the community
• Assist the ward councillor with consultation and report back to the community
• Advise the ward councillor on issues and development in the community

STRUCTURE OF WARD COMMITTEES

A ward committee consists of the councillor who represents the ward as elected
in the local government elections, and a maximum of 10 people from the ward who are elected by the community they serve. Women should be equally represented on ward committees.
The councillor is the chairperson of the ward committee. Members of the ward committee must participate as volunteers and are not paid for this work.

ROLE OF A WARD COUNCILLOR ON THE WARD COMMITTEE

A ward councillor is directly elected to represent and serve the people in a specific ward. There are usually between 3 000 and 20 000 voters in a ward. The ward councillor should make sure that the interests of the people in the ward are represented as properly as possible. The ward councillor should be in touch with the issues in the area, understand the key problems and monitor development and service delivery. In committees, caucuses and council meetings, the ward councillor should act as a representative for the people in the ward. The ward councillor chairs the ward committee.

The ward councillor is the direct link between the council and the voters. They make sure that voters are consulted and kept informed about council decisions, development and budget plans that affect them.
People can also bring their problems to the ward councillor and they should properly deal with these, for example, by taking up matters with council officials.

ROLE OF THE WARD COMMITTEE

The main role of the ward committee is to make sure that voters are involved in and informed about council decisions that affect their lives. The ward committees should be set up in a way that it can reach most sectors and areas in the ward.
The ward committee’s main tasks are to communicate and consult with the community in respect of development and service plans. It has no formal powers however to force the council to do anything. The council should provide support, for example, providing publicity for meetings, giving financial and administrative support to enable ward committees to do their work. This is a summary of their tasks:

• Prepare, implement and review the integrated development plan
• Establish, implement and review municipality performance management systems
• Monitor and review municipality performance
• Prepare municipality budgets
• Participate in decisions about the provision of municipal services
• Communicate and disseminate information on governance matters

MAIN TASKS OF WARD COUNCILLORS AND WARD COMMITTEES

Ward councillors and committees must know their communities and the people they represent. They should know:

• Who the people are in the ward (spread of age groups, gender, employment status)
• What problems they experience and their needs
• What their attitudes and opinions are towards council plans and proposals
• The environment of the ward (types of housing, services provided or not provided, for example, water, sanitation and electricity, schools, hospitals, clinics, shops, markets, factories, places of worship, community halls, access to transport)
• What is happening in the community (what organisations or bodies exist in the community: political parties, cultural groups, civic forums, business, youth organisations, women’s organisations, NGOs, traditional leaders, gangs, crime, sport, school governing bodies, etc)

Ward councillors and committee members can find out more about their communities through general community meetings and direct consultation (going door-to-door and conducting a survey).

They should also keep up to date with developments in the council to pass this information on to people in their ward.

The Local Government Laws Amendment Act of 2008, an amendment of Section 73 of Act 117 of 1998 (Municipal Structures Act), ensures that ‘out-of-pocket’ expenses (of ward committee members) must be paid from the budget of the municipality in question. Metro or local councils must develop a policy and determine criteria for calculating the ‘out of pocket’ expenses and can allocate funds and resources to enable ward committees to perform their functions, exercise their powers and undertake development in their wards within the framework of the law.