I have for a long time raised the matter of how ineffective ward committee meetings are as a vehicle of public participation, and advocated that it should be completely replaced by an online system accessible to ALL Ratepayers. The powers that be would hear nothing about this, stating that they are compelled by legislation to have these meetings. This excuse holds no water, since it does not mean that an online system can not be run in parallel to the ward meetings, or that legislation could not be changed. After all, the Municipal Systems Act clearly states that Public Participation should be “meaningful” and “inclusive.”
Effectively, most decisions in a ward committee are made by a handful of individuals that often serve on these committees for personal gain. Even though they are supposed to be “representatives” of the community, their input is frequently made with zero consultation with other Ratepayers. Another common occurrence is that ward committee members are captured by the ruling political party.
However, every now and again you get a person(s) on a ward committee that kicks over the proverbial Sand(baai)castle, and Christopher Reid and company fit the bill perfectly. The dysfunctional Sandbaai ward committee has been festering for a long time, with accusations of nepotism, the pursuing of personal interests and other rule breaking conduct repeatedly surfacing.
It seems that things came to a head last night, when DA ward Councillor Hybre Lombard apparently had enough, inviting both the SAPS and Law enforcement (a total of 6 to 10 officers
depending on what source you quote) to the Sandbaai ward meeting, and, when the meeting got a bit heated, ordering them to remove several people from the meeting in true Nazi style.
Always remember that a ward Councillor has been appointed to be YOUR representative and should therefore be acting in YOUR best interest.
I applaud the Ratepayers of Sandbaai for standing up and can only hope that this event will turn out to be a tipping point.
Anton Kruger
OVAC
