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The DA is opposing Sol Plaatje’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) which has not only sidelined community inputs but also comes at an unwarranted cost, following the preparation of the plan by a consultant.

Tuesday’s presentation of the plan by a private company, set the municipality back by approximately R500 000, despite the municipality having its own IDP manager.

Also, in spite of two public meetings having been held for each ward to receive inputs, plus two submissions having been made by ward councillors after the meetings, issues raised by the public appear to have been ignored at the expense of the municipal administration’s uninformed agenda.

A residential development was assigned to a ward as a ward priority, even though residents have strongly objected to the development and the ward councillor is currently going through the objections process on behalf of the area concerned.

Projects were assigned to wards when they are not based in the ward or where the residents of the ward are not the chief beneficiaries of the projects. The Carters Glen pump station and Carters Glen sewage line are perfect examples.

Some wards were assigned the procurement of municipal fleet, as if they will only be used in the ward, which is not the case.

In addition, it appears as only grant funded, capital projects were presented while projects funded by municipal income and maintenance programs were excluded.

The IDP, as its stands, is a farce. It also provides a screen for the misappropriation of funds away from IDP projects, to make up for the municipality’s own shortfalls.

The IDP is already overdue due to the excuse of Covid and subsequently the appointment of a new municipal manager, who requested an extension from Provincial Treasury and COGHSTA. This is no fault of the DA and we will not buckle to pressure from the municipality to approve the final draft IDP before the end of the month.

We have lodged strong objections to the presentation and, regardless of the municipality’s reluctance, we received the presentation in order to allow time for further analysis and deliberations.

Issued by Chris Whittaker, Cllr - Sol Plaatje Municipality