Municipal Matters: Everything you need to know about ward committees

A ward committee may make recommendations on any matter affecting its ward to the ward councillor, or through the ward councillor to the municipal council, the executive committee or support committee.

The ward committee will be regarded as the statutory structure recognised by the municipal council as its consultative body and communication channel on matters affecting the ward, including, but not limited to:

• representing the community on the compilation and implementation of the Integrated Development Plan;
• ensuring constructive and harmonious interaction between the municipality and the community;
• attending to all matters that affect and benefit the community;
• acting in the best interest of the community, and
• ensuring active participation of the community in the municipality’s budgetary process.

More facts on ward committees

• Ward committees are made up of representatives of a particular ward.
• They are made up of members who represent various interests within the ward.
• Ward committees are chaired by the ward councillor.
• They are meant to be an institutionalised channel of communication and interaction between communities and municipalities.
• Wards give community members the opportunity to express their needs, their opinions on issues that affect their lives and to have them heard at the municipal level via the ward councillor.
• Wards are advisory bodies created within the sphere of civil society to assist the ward councillor in carrying out his or her mandate in the most democratic manner possible.