On behalf of its members and the Dolphin Coast community, DOCRRA committee members have been actively participating in the recent round of KDM IDP/Budget ‘23/’24 Imbizos, which are public meetings where the Mayor, Speaker, Municipal Manager, Councillors, and executive directors from various municipal business units present relevant information on the Integrated Development Plan and the budget. Imbizos were held for the various wards across the municipality as well as a dedicated meeting for ward committees and for resident and ratepayer’s associations.
DOCRRA committee volunteers have spent some 100 person hours attending five Imbizos, raising questions and proposing suggestions on behalf of Dolphin Coast residents. They placed the focus on financial issues and the first quarter performance of KDM, which has been disappointing and concerning. Trends of under-spending, delays in service delivery and lack of performance and consequence management that persist at KDM were highlighted. Suggestions to improve the budgeting, planning, and monitoring processes, and to increase transparency and accountability were also put forward.
Unfortunately, sufficient satisfactory answers from the Mayor, Municipal Manager and the executive directors were not forthcoming. When the Mayor was asked whether she felt the Council has credible oversight of performance and accountability of the executive directors, she deferred to the answer given by the Municipal Manager. This was probably the clearest answer given at any of the Imbizos, but it was also the most evasive and disappointing one. Although some responses were given, more thorough answers were promised on behalf of KDM.
DOCRRA has expressed their frustration and dissatisfaction with the lack of leadership and responsiveness from the Mayor, Municipal Manager, and executive directors. Despite the Mayor having rescheduled the Imbizo for the residents and ratepayer’s associations, she and the Municipal Manager failed to attend this meeting, giving priority to another matter.
For more information on the presentations and the questions asked by the DOCRRA at the Imbizos, please email admin@docrra.co.za. Join the movement calling for municipal accountability by joining DOCRRA at www.docrra.co.za.
