From a Ratepayer perspective, meaningful Public Participation is central to good governance.
In order to assess how effective this process operates in the Overstrand, OVAC submitted a formal request to the Overstrand Municipality; seeking records of instances over the past five years where public participation processes have resulted in substantive changes to key municipal decisions.
We will inform you of our findings.
See letter below:
“Dear Dr. O’Neill.
On behalf of OVAC I write to request access to records reflecting instances over the past five
(5) years where comments submitted by members of the public during official public
participation processes have resulted in substantive changes to draft municipal strategic, policy,
or planning documents.
This request applies to all relevant municipal strategic, policy, planning and financial documents,
including but not limited to:
- Integrated Development Plans (IDPs)
- Annual Budgets and Medium-Term Revenue and Expenditure Frameworks (MTREF)
- Electricity services planning, tariffs, infrastructure plans, and related electricity supply and distribution policies
- Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs) and related spatial plans
- Land Use Schemes and amendments
- Tariff policies and financial frameworks
- Sector plans (including water, waste, energy, transport, and infrastructure planning)
- Environmental and coastal management plans
- Any other policies or frameworks subjected to public participation processes
For each such document, I request:
1. Identification of specific instances where public submissions resulted in substantive amendments to draft proposals; 2. A brief description of the nature of the public input received; 3. The resulting changes made to the document; and 4. Any supporting records (including reports, comment-response matrices, minutes, or internal memoranda) reflecting how public input was considered and incorporated into final decisions.
Where no such records exist, or where public participation did not result in substantive changes,
kindly confirm this in writing.
This request is made to assess the extent to which public participation processes meaningfully
influence municipal decision-making, as required by the Municipal Systems Act and the
Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
We look forward to your response.
Yours Sincerely
Anton Kruger
OVAC”
