Pretoria - The City of Tshwane will soon embark on a process to elect ward committees after council this week approved the revised ward committees’ draft by-law for promulgation.
For a decade the metro has been functioning without ward committees.
This was after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, in 2014 nullified the ward committees elections, which had already taken place in 2012 under the then ANC Tshwane administration.
The ruling followed a legal challenge by the DA, which questioned the constitutionality of the committee elections on the grounds that they excluded the participation of public members.
The process for correcting the unconstitutionality of the by-law was set in motion some years back, but it was delayed on several occasions.
For example, on March 30 2017 the draft ward committees by-law was presented to council by the Office of the Speaker for approval after public participation processes.
“Thereafter, the Group Audit Risk department submitted a progress report to the Section 79 Electoral Committees on the establishment of ward committees. During the processes of nominations and verifications it was discovered that there are shortcomings in the by-law as a result residents were excluded, and this had to be addressed to ensure a maximum participation and free and fair process,” according to a media statement by office of Speaker Dr Murunwa Makwarela.
The latest review, which also included taking the draft by-law on public participation, was started early this year following delays caused by what the municipality termed “glitches” in the past.
In 2018 the municipality was on the verge of hosting the ward committees elections when the then speaker Katlego Mathebe was forced to call off the process after it was discovered that the amended by-law risked excluding other members of the public from participating in the ward committee elections.
The postponement of elections, which had already been advertised, was said to have cost the municipality at least R4 million.
Following this week’s council approval, the ward committee by-law would be promulgated and thereafter the election process as depicted in the by-law would commence.
The election process would take place under the leadership and guidance of the chairperson of the electoral committee, Alderman Dana Wannenburg.
“The report tabled at council provided feedback on the public participation process of the by-law, undertaken by the Office of the Speaker, and to submit the 2021 revised draft ward committees by-laws for the approval of Council,” said Makwarela’s statement.
The purpose of ward committees is to encourage the participation of the community in municipal affairs.
Ward committees consisted of a ward councillor and no more than 10 people from the ward, who could voluntarily serve for a five-year term.
Pretoria News