The Nelson Mandela Bay Coalition has “cautiously welcomed” the development that recently took place in the metro city that resulted in a newly-constituted political leadership under new executive mayor Retief Odendaal.
“And we further welcome and are encouraged by the promise made by executive mayor Odendaal that he would seek to bring unity among political parties in order to focus on the needs of the voters of the metro,” said Civil Society Coalition chair Mongameli Peter after a meeting of the coalition partners to discuss the latest developments in the Nelson Mandela Bay council.
The Civil Society Coalition is on record to have been urging the political parties of the metro to form a government of local unity in the interests of the residents of the metro and consistent with the will of the voters.
“We are prepared to give the new coalition a chance.
“If it collapses or the councillors continue playing politics and looking after their own interests instead of those of the people who put them in power, we will accelerate our call for legislated interventions which includes our standing call for change of governance model to an executive committee or the dissolution of the council,” he said.
Peter urged Odendaal and the parties which have entered into a coalition with the Democratic Alliance and those now in opposition to act speedily to restore services and law and order across the metro.
“People are living in slum conditions in large parts of the metro where service delivery has come to a halt.
“Councillors need to do their work. They must attend meetings, and process decisions of council, which includes ensuring that approved budgets are spent to meet the needs of the communities.
“Committees need to meet regularly and to become functional.
“The metro also needs a permanent municipal manager.
“We call on all councillors to act in a democratic way and to obey the rules of local government.
“The election results of November 2021 should remind them that the will of the people is that they should work together. No party was given a clear majority – the people have spoken, and councillors need to listen.
“Councillors across party lines need to put local needs first rather than national agendas.
“Urgent local needs include restoring services, making the metro conducive for job creation and planning for the impact of climate change, which is already been felt through the drought,” he said.
The Civil Society Coalition is in the process of drawing up two scorecards to accurately map the progress of councillors and the metro performance.
One will track each of the councillors to record how many of their portfolio committee meetings they have attended, whether they attend council meetings, and how often they meet with the people of their ward. And the second will record service delivery issues ward by ward as reported by the citizens.
“With this information we will be able to hold individual councillors accountable,” said Peter.