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The Nelson Mandela Bay Council’s adoption of the 2014/2015 budget could be open to challenge because of failures associated with the constitutionally required public participation process.
And, at a special Council meeting in May, executive mayor Ben Fihla acknowledged that their public participation strategy needed to improve.
Fihla pointed out that in some instances there were more councilors and officials than members of the public while in other areas “the attendance was clearly not a reflection of the population of the area.
Metrominute reports that the importance of public participation in the budget process was stressed in a recent judgement by judge Glen Goosen in a case in which five high-energy users in the metro sought to have the adoption of the 2011/12 budget set aside.
Judge Goosen pointed out that legislation placed “extensive” obligations with regard to public participation, adding that a Council was required to “create conditions,” “build capacity” and most importantly allocate resources to comply with these obligations.
