ROOTING GOVERNMENT AMONGST THE PEOPLE Public Participation Conference Report Western Cape Department of Housing and Local Government Contents 1. Conference declaration 2 2. Executive summary 4 3. Record of conference proceedings 5 3.1 Welcome and introduction 5 3.2 Key note addresses 5 3.3 Best practice presentations 8 3.4 Academic perspectives 12 3.5 Commission reports 13 3.6 Closing address 19 Appendices: Programme Slide presentations Attendance 1 1. CONFERENCE DECLARATION We, the 1700 participants gathered at this Conference, being in active service of the people of the Western Cape and South Africa as elected representatives and government officials, ward committee members, CDWs and civil society, will strive to: ° Improve the lives of the poor through our programmes and projects ° Strengthen the relationship between government and all the people ° Build accountable and responsive local and provincial government ° Urgently deal with service delivery problems experienced by some communities. We believe that public participation is the key to ensuring that government understands the needs of the people and makes decisions that will meet those needs in the best possible way. We also believe that government alone cannot build a better life and that communities, community organisations, faith based organisations, business and all other sectors of our society have to be the partners of government. We commit ourselves to building a system of governance that encourages and uses participation and responds to the voices of the people. We will build a Batho Pele culture of service that limits delays caused by bureaucracy and complex procedures. This conference recognises the progress already made by many municipalities as well as the shortcomings of some of our programmes. We will strive to make participation effective, interactive and meaningful and commit to the following key tasks: ° Developing coherent municipal strategies for ongoing communication and participation around all development and service projects with clear roles for councillors, officials, ward committees and CDWs. ° Building consistent interaction with all sectors in our municipality through stakeholder forums, ward committees and community development workers. ° Ensuring that our ward and other councillors remain in dynamic contact with the people in their wards and the community, with the help of ward committee members. ° Empowering our ward committees and CDWs to monitor progress and report problems with delivery or services. 2 ° Setting up clear mechanisms for speedily addressing and reporting back on the community problems that ward committees, CDWs and our communities bring to the municipality. ° Providing all possible financial, administrative and political support for the public participation process, including the work of ward committees and CDWs. ° Building the inter-governmental mechanisms needed to ensure that Local, District, Provincial and National government work together to speed up delivery and address the needs of our people. ° Supporting and strengthening our capacity to implement through cooperation between provincial and local government and SALGA. In terms of immediate action, we undertake to: ° Ensure that ward committees are established in all wards within the next two months. ° Hold ward meetings where our ward councillors report to the people on the impact of the budget and IDP in their ward, within the next two months. ° Make immediate interventions to deal with serious service delivery problems and to communicate with affected communities about our plans. ° Within three months all Speakers in the Western Cape will report on the progress made in implementing ward committee and public participation programmes ° Within three months all Mayors in the Western Cape will report on the progress made in dealing with serious service delivery problems Through these actions we will give expression to our quest to root government amongst the people. 3 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Public Participation Conference focussed on strengthening public participation at municipal level through effective use of ward committees, community development workers and other mechanisms. It was attended by over 1 700 delegates from all municipalities in the Western Cape. Delegates were drawn from councils, municipal management, ward committees, community development workers and civil society. A number of MECs and senior provincial officials also attended. Key note presentations were made at the beginning of the conference by the MEC for Local Government and Housing, the Mayor of Cape Town and the national Department of Local Government and Housing. They all emphasised government’s commitment to participation as a means to deepen democracy and improve the decisions and budgets adopted by government. Best practices for supporting ward committees, CDWs and public participation were presented by six municipalities. This was followed by brief presentations of academic perspectives on public participation. All delegates attended commissions that discussed how to improve communication, participation, the effective functioning of ward committees and the best use of community development workers. Key recommendation include the improvement of municipal support, the mainstreaming of participation as part of a municipal strategy and setting up mechanisms that ensure an effective municipal response to the problems, issues and proposals raised through the participation process. The Premier of the Western Cape delivered a closing address and the conference adopted a declaration that affirmed the commitment of all participants to public participation and summarised practical and immediate steps that will be taken by municipalities. The next section of this report provides a detailed summary of the conference proceedings. 4 3. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS NOTE: This report contains a summary of all inputs and discussion at the conference. The slides used by presenters are available in the appendices. 3.1 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION Opening prayers were made by the Rev. Luckett and Sheik Gabriels. Programme director, Zorah Ebrahim welcomed delegates and introduced Minister Marius Fransman, Mayor NomaIndia Mfeketo and Minister Tasneem Essop. She introduced the conference theme of “Rooting Government Amongst the People” and stressed that democracy can only be real if it communicates the shared values between government and the people. This was followed by an audio visual presentation on the history and path to democracy and participation in South Africa. Poems were read by: ° Ismail Davids from the Foundation for Contemporary Research – “Voices from Below” and ° Xolani Sonti, a community development worker – “Batho Pele”. 3.2 KEY NOTE ADDRESSES 3.2.1 “Enhancing public participation to accelerate service delivery in building a home for all” Mr Marius Fransman – MEC for Housing and Local Government The conference takes place within the context of government’s commitment to addressing the plight of the poorest people in the province and establishing a real home for all. It is important to understand the present problems experienced in terms of service delivery and the inter-linked causes of that poor delivery. A constant theme in almost all municipalities is the lack of communication between council and communities. Plans, problems and new development projects should be discussed with communities. Some of the service delivery protests can be blamed on our unwillingness to tell the people bad news. Residents will usually understand when we say delivery of housing will take a long time, but there are many other problems they experience that we can address immediately. However, our lack of effective communication channels often means they are not able to tell us their problems. This conference should be a defining moment in ensuring that we improve participation by the people and effective delivery of basic services. The policy environment in terms of the constitution, legislation and government policy stresses issues of governance and the importance of the municipal developmental mandate to deliver services and involve the people in decisions that affect their lives. We 5 need both a representative democracy in terms of democratic elections that puts in place accountable councillors and an ongoing interactive participatory democracy. We need to understand the different levels of participation – from just informing people to actively involving them as partners in delivery. The appropriate form of participation should be chosen – for many of the current problems communities are simply uninformed about plans and progress. We have community development workers, ward committees and other mechanisms in place to bring government closer to the people and enhance the participation of people in determining their needs and advising government on their priorities. These mechanisms will only be effective if they are properly resourced and supported by municipalities. At the same time we should not see ward committees as the answer to all our participation and communication problems. Ward committees are there to facilitate and enhance participation, not to become the only means of communicating with and involving the community. We have to carefully structure the political space that we open up for participation to ensure that it serves the poorest and most marginalised. 3.2.2 “Governance by the People – The importance of public participation in building a better life for all” Cllr. NomaIndia Mfeketo – Mayor of Cape