Thank you to everybody that tuned in to the live session and thank you for all the questions that were sent through.
A huge thank you to the following officials who joined us:
1. Alderman Koos le Roux, Speaker
2. Councillor Johan Miller, Mayoral Committee Member for Governance and Compliance
3. Bradley Brown, Chief Financial Officer
4. Gerald Esau, Executive Director: Community Services
5. Jacqui Samson, Executive Director: Planning, Development and Human Settlements
6. Carel Lotz, Senior Manager: Civil Engineering
The Municipality gave us an overview of the following agenda items, which was followed by all the questions sent through by yourself:
1. The Draft IDP (Integrated Development Plan);
2. New proposed municipal tariffs;
3. How does the Municipality assist the poor in Drakenstein;
4. The ward councillor and committee system;
5. Recycling, refuse collection, and illegal dumping; and
6. Cable theft – what is its impact, and what can the community do to help?
If you missed the live session, here is the link:
Below are the questions that were addressed by the various officials:
| GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE, IDP | ||
| No | Discussion Points | Respondent |
| 1 | Elaborate on the IDP, and explain the IDP process | MMC Johan Miller |
| 2 | Feedback on the IDP Open Days and comments received | Cindy September |
| 3 | Explain the Ward Councillor and Committee System | Speaker Koos le Roux |
| No | The Village Guy Questions | Respondent |
| 1 | What is the one thing your municipality did very well last year? What do you need to do to turn that success into a repeatable process? | MMC Johan Miller |
| 2 | What is the one thing you did very badly last year? | MMC Johan Miller |
| 3 | What is your biggest challenge as a Municipality? | Speaker Koos le Roux |
| 4 | What is the one thing you know your municipality needs to improve on? | Speaker Koos le Roux |
| 5 | Which department, division, or team experienced the most hurdles in their work towards achieving the city’s strategic priorities? | Speaker Koos le Roux |
| 6 | Which department, division, or team realized the most success in achieving their goals? | Speaker Koos le Roux |
| 7 | If you could make one major change from the last year, what would it be and who would it impact most? | Speaker Koos le Roux |
| 8 | Dear Village Guy team – I follow your organisation with interest, also share your (relevant to Wellington) posts on our facebook, Wellington Aksie Groep/Stopmisdaad (a voluntary organisation, 6500 members). By what date do your close the invitation to forward questions? I have studied public participation regimes for 40 years, thus find your approach and contribution of importance. There are however still much to learn with regard to the contribution you can make in the future and the theory and practice of authentic public participation (specifically the lack of it at our municipality). As a point of departure (in your follow-up), it will be valuable, before getting to “new” 2022 questions, to revisit the 2021 questions, as (when it comes to Wellington) some of these have not been addressed. If we don’t revisit, ask critical questions with regard to completion, an activity like yours, and numerous others in the name of “public participation” tend to become “window dressing”. The core value of an authentic public participation process, the International Association for Public Participation cautions us, is the ability of a participant (here, a person who asks a question) to actually “experience” that he/she can indeed (1) influence, (2) direct, (3) control and (4) own a process who/which the facilitator calls “public participation”. These principles are sadly not part of the public participation lexicon of local governance and empowerment of our communities. We appreciate what your team tries to accomplish. | MMC Johan Miller |
| 9 | The impression exists that that both municipal officials and councilors do not really understand what authentic public participation entails, do not follow effective communication protocols, that they are out of touch with public needs. Is this the case and how do you plan to improve in this regard if challenges exist? | MMC Johan Miller |
| FINANCE | ||
| No | Discussion Points | Respondent |
| 1 | New proposed municipal tariffs | Ald Gert Combrink |
| 2 | How does the Municipality assist the poor in Drakenstein? | Bradley Brown |
| No | The Village Guy Questions | Respondent |
| None | ||
| ENGINEERING SERVICES | ||
| No | Discussion Points | Respondent |
| 1 | Cable theft – what is its impact, and what can the community do to help? | Carel Lotz, Gerald Esau |
| No | The Village Guy Questions | Respondent |
| 1 | Good day We have the most amazing town in the world. Long may it continue keep up the good work and don’t give in to corruption and greed. Drakenstein is the last outpost! Employment of local people and be SA proud. Have discipline and sort crime out before it starts cause the bad element is coming as it grows! No to beggars and people selling goods at robots. Create an area that’s kept clean and neat where people can trade. Infrastructure to keep improving and money spent where it should go. Strong police presence daily and reward our local policemen and women who put their lives on the line. This comes from a proud ex JHB person who ran away from a city that sadly collapsed. So I do feel I know what can happen. My biggest question is WHEN is the roads that run from Paarl to Franschoek going to be Cycling friendly 301 and Simondium? I have seen one to many horrific accidents as the roads are to narrow. Don’t wait for ten more estates to be built then build roads. Its looooong overdue to link Franschoek to Paarl for Tourists to travel safe? Look at the world and be a green city to look at. | Carel Lotz |
| COMMUNITY SERVICES | ||
| No | Discussion Points | Respondent |
| 1 | Recycling, refuse collection, and illegal dumping | Gerald Esau |
| No | The Village Guy Questions | Respondent |
| 1 | Why is there an ongoing lack of municipal law enforcement in Wellington? They only work until 8pm, sometimes 10pm and not beyond that. Weekend nights they are really needed, but for years there has been no suitable answer from the Municipality. | Gerald Esau |
| 2 | Why is it the case (per Paarl Post and different social media groups) that municipal bylaw enforcement in Wellington just continues to fail and lawlessness worsens day by day? Does a strategic law enforcement plan exist at DM and what are its key focus points? | Gerald Esau |
| 3 | What is the municipality’s strategic plan for Wellington to address adherence to municipal bylaws related to social and health challenges like the homeless, public indecency, general decay with regard to drunkenness, littering, lack of safety in public spaces, loud music, spinning and general disrespect for public values? | Gerald Esau |
| 4 | What is Drakenstein planning with the solid waste problem facing informal housing eg solid waste being dumped on the road reserve in Van der Stel Steet and instead of addressing the problem, they planning to put stones on the road reserve for beautification which is a good idea but could potentially result in other issues, stones being placed in van der stel street. | Gerald Esau |
| 5 | What is the status on the stadium opposite `NP school? | Gerald Esau |
| 6 | When will the BMX park be open to public? | Gerald Esau |
| 7 | What is happening with the Kraal? Why is taking so long, and what is the cost to date? | Gerald Esau |
| 8 | Is a myciti bus service in the main road a possibility. It will ease traffic, especially for schools. | Gerald Esau |
| PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN SETTLEMENTS | ||
| No | The Village Guy Questions | Respondent |
| 1 | Are you prepared for any growth to the population in your municipality? If not, why and what are the consequences associated with being ill-prepared? | Jacqui Samson, Carel Lotz |
| 2 | What is the status on tourism? | Jacqui Samson |
| 3 | What is the reason for increased evictions on farms in Paarl and Wellington? | Jacqui Samson |