Final Adopted IDP - KZN Development Planning

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
The Municipality has developed and adopted a Publication Participation Plan and a
Communication Strategy. While these are two different documents they both
contribute to the intended engagement with communities and community structures as
envisaged in Chapter 4 of the Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000, as amended. The
Municipality intends to develop a Public Participation Charter which is a pact by the
Municipality with the spectrum of community representative structures in terms of
which the information provided to them and which they are entitled to expect is clearly
defined together with the identification of a recourse mechanism available to the
representative structures should the Municipality not comply with its commitment to the
Charter.
WARD COMMITTEES
Ward committees represent an important structure that links the communities within
the Municipality with the Council and the administration of the Municipality. The
Municipality has adopted and implemented a Ward Committee Policy for the 24 ward
committees that are in operation within the Municipality. After the local government
elections held on 18 May 2011, elections were held in July 2011 to elect ward committees
within each ward. These ward committees were inaugurated on 14 October 2011. In
terms of the Ward Committee Policy adopted by the Council of the Municipality, each
ward committee meets and reports on a monthly basis. Training for ward committee
members was facilitated and provided by the Provincial Department of Cooperative
Governance and Traditional Affairs.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
A fully fledged customer care office that complies with the prescriptions of the
Promotion of Access to Information Act, the Administration of Justice Act and Chapter
4 of the Municipal Systems Act, has been established by the Municipality. There is a
need to educate communities on the nature of the customer care office and the access
to documentation provided there. A Customer Care Policy has been developed and
adopted by the Municipality; this forms the basis of the operation of the customer care
office which is run in accordance with Batho Pele principles.
Measuring the level of satisfaction of the community with the service rendered by the
Municipality is important; suggestion boxes have been placed at strategic points in the
municipal buildings with little response. A similar situation pertains to the facility of
customer satisfaction registers. The Municipality will need to undertake a structured
customer satisfaction survey in order to determine the status quo regarding
satisfaction with present service delivery levels.
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