Parliament, Saturday, 21 October 2023 – The residents of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality expressed their support today for the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority (IMDA) Bill during the public hearings that were conducted by the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the Bill at Rylands Community Hall in Athlone.
The Western Cape Province leg of the public hearings on the Bill marked the end of the nation-wide public consultation process on the Bill. The committee reached all the provinces and conducted public hearings on the Bill in three district municipalities in each province to afford as many people as possible an opportunity to express their views on the Bill
The residents of the City of Cape Town called for wider consultation processes during ward demarcations to take into account a wide range of issues including police stations, clinics and voting stations where people are registered to vote. A majority of participants expressed their frustrations on the current demarcation processes which they said in some cases resulted in the reconfiguration of wards without public consultation.
They highlighted that they were unable to reverse demarcation decisions and often found themselves belonging to wards with a lack of municipal services. Other participants said the IMDA was not considerate of the needs of indigenous people and they also called for the Bill to focus on nation-building instead of the promotion of the creation of boundaries that lead to unequal allocation of resources to the wards.
The Bill seeks to repeal and replace the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act, 1998 (Act No. 27 of 1998) to align and update the legislation with current Demarcation Board practices, and to rename the Municipal Demarcation Board as the Independent Municipal Demarcation Authority.
The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Fikile Xasa, thanked the participants for their contributions on the Bill. He said the committee will consider all the submissions it received from the people in all the provinces and compile a report that will be submitted to the National Assembly for its consideration.
ISSUED BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS, MR FIKILE XASA
For media enquiries or interviews with the committee Chairperson, please contact:
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Parliamentary Communication Services
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E-mail: jamajozi@parliament.gov.za
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