Today, Western Cape MEC for Local Government, Anton Bredell, will visit a Community Based Planning workshop at Look-out Hill in Khayelitsha.
MEC Bredell says the Community Based Planning training workshops will accelerate public participation for government projects. "Local government is most effective when communities are involved in the planning process," said MEC Bredell.
The provincial Department of Local Government is rolling out Community Based Planning workshops across the province over the next month. Community Based Planning is a participatory process that seeks to mobilise communities to be part of the planning of projects in their communities.
The training will practically illustrate on the ground what development projects can be funded by the municipality's budget over a five year period.
This training will provide communities with an opportunity to voice what they deem to be priority projects in their communities, for example a community may feel that streetlights are a priority over potholes.
Community structures such as ward participatory structures, community development workers (CDWs), non-profit organisations (NPOs) and other community based organisations (CBOs) have been invited to take part in these workshops.
The workshops will cover the role of community structures in community based planning, benefits of community based planning and how to implement community based planning concepts in communities.
Objectives of the community based planning include:
- Improve service delivery
- Improve the quality of planning
- Encourage partnerships between various sectors of the community
- Involve communities in the planning, implementation and evaluation of municipal activities
- Encourage communities to take ownership of the development in their areas
- Instil a sense of ownership and responsibility
- Increase community involvement and reduce dependency.
Community based planning workshops are being facilitated across the province including the Overberg (Caledon, Swellendam and Cape Agulhas on 4 to 5 June), Metro (Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain on 7 to 8 June) and the West Coast (Citrusdal 14 to 15 June).
Media enquiries:
Heini Odendal
Cell: 084 959 4515
Daniella Ebenezer
Cell: 076 957 4722
