C OMPONENT H: C ORPORATE POLICY OFFICES AND OTHER SERVICES
2.27 O FFICE OF THE S PEAKER
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Highlights Narrative
Planning in the City of Tshwane. South Africa
Importance of Managing Records in Local Government
The need for Business Intelligence in Local Government
3.2 Study Tours – In Collaboration with the intergovernmental Relations Office , the department has facilitated knowledge exchange through packaging and documenting discussions and lessons learned with other cities on different aspects. These included but not limited to:
City of Ulaanbaatar on Municipal Bonds and Creditworthiness
Gaborone City Council Benchmarking on Municipal’s Revenue Expansion Mechanisms and Economic Development
Msunduzi City Council Benchmarking on the Development and Operation of Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network
Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Study Tour on Advanced Water Treatment Technologies
RESEARCH MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK.
Table 92: Implementation of the knowledge management framework
Highlights Narrative
Establishment of the Tshwane Research Institute The concept document was only approved at the Mayoral Committee on the 20 March 2014 and due to this delay the” Establishment of Governance Structures”
will only takes place in the new financial year.
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TRAINING OF WARD COMMITTEES
The Office of the Speaker has planned programme for training of ward committees on identified core skill to capacitate the ward committee members as the primary core link of the CoT and the community. During the financial year 2013/14 a total of 7 training programmes were scheduled in all 7 regions.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Public participation is a critical part of democracy, also a communication forum between the Municipality and the community. It affords members of the community and stakeholders an opportunity to inform the Municipality what their development needs are The Office of the Speaker mobilises the community to ensure effective public participation.
Consultations were facilitated, among others, in the following key areas:
Consultation on by-laws
IDP and MTREF public participation
PETITIONS RAISED BY THE COMMUNITY
The Office of the Speaker facilitates responses to petitions raised by the community. During the financial year 2013/14 the office of the Speaker received 155 Petitions to date and all of them have been resolved by the Section 79 Standing Committee on Petitions and stamped with resolution stamp, with the turnaround time of 90 days to resolve.
Petitions are received in council or through walk-ins in the office of the Speaker. They are received and registered as petitions; refer to the relevant department for comments or response; petitions committee sit to adjudicate on petitions (petitioners, councillors and relevant departments are invited to comments or authenticate the comments) and resolutions are adopted. If petitioners or councilors are not in the meeting, the resolutions are communicated to them.
SUPPORT FOR TRADITIONAL LEADERS
The Office of the Speaker provides support to recognised traditional leaders and has been assigned the responsibility of coordinating all issues related to Traditional Leadership in the City of Tshwane.
It is therefore of critical importance that the Office of Speaker engages with the various Traditional Leadership Stakeholders in the City to find common ground and formalise the areas of cooperation to ensure effective and efficient communication and support to this Stakeholder.
PARTICIPATION OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS IN ACCORDANCE TO LEGISLATION
Section 81 of the Municipal Structures Act, 117 of 1998 provides among others that:-
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(1) Traditional Authorities that traditionally observe the system of customary law in the area of municipality may participate through their leaders identified in terms of subsection (2), in the proceedings of the council of that municipality, and those traditional leaders must be allowed to attend and participate in any meeting of the council.
(2)(a) The MEC for Local Government in the Province, in accordance with Schedule 6 and by notice in the Provincial Gazette, must identify the traditional leaders who in terms of subsection (1) may participate in the proceedings of the a municipal council.
In terms of the Provincial Gazette Extraordinary, 4 February 2013, the MEC for Local Government in the Province of Gauteng identified the following two traditional leaders who may participate in the proceedings of the City of Tshwane Municipal Council:
a. Kgosi Kgomotso Cornelius Kekana, Amandebele-Ba-Lebele Community (Hammanskraal) b. Ikosi Mkhambi Petrus Mahlangu, Amandebele Ndzundza Sokhulumi Community
(Sokhulumi)
In the light of this Proclamation the City of Tshwane is only required to formalise relations, provide support and incur expenses to any activity/event/program that affect the two abovementioned Senior Traditional Leaders.
O
THER SPECIAL PROGRAMMES DONE BY OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER Bring Back Our Girls CampaignThe Bring Back Our Girls Campaign came into being after nearly 300 schoolgirls were abducted from the remote village of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria by the renegade group called Boko Haram.
The march to their Nigerian Embassy was to pressure the Nigerian government to accelerate the hunt for the missing girls as well as to raise awareness about the challenges faced by girl children or women in other parts of continent.
The march took place on 7 June 2014. The City of Tshwane in partnership with the Sello Maake ka Ncube Foundation and other community organizations converged at the Hatfield Gauteng Station and marched to the Nigerian High Commission calling for the release of the school girls kidnapped by militants. The march was successful.
Health Awareness Day for the Elderly, Widows and Orphans
The event was held at the Ou Raadsaal on 26 April 2014. The was an South African Police Service spearheaded event themed “Caring for the helpless and defenseless members of our communities”
and the Office of the Speaker partnered with the SAPS and also provided catering for the 100 invited old age pensioners.
The main objective of the event was to highlight the plight of the aged as well as to raise awareness about the daily challenges experienced by the aged in going about their lives
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CAPEX:OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER
Table 93: Capex office of the speaker
Department Project Name WBS Level 3 Original Budget 2013/14
Adjusted Budget 2013/14
Current Budget 2013/14
Cumulative Actual
Office of the Speaker
Capital Funded from Operating
9.712772.1.007 500,000 500,000 500,000 443,299
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