8 April 2024
Widely regarded as a municipality's five-year business plan, the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is the single strategic plan that each municipality is required, by the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (MSA), to adopt for the development of the municipal area. The plan sets out the vision and strategic objectives that the municipality intends to achieve.
For a municipality its IDP is something similar to a roadmap. It contains all the details on progress with current service delivery projects, on planned initiatives and actions, and it gives residents and businesses in the area a sneak peek into the municipality's next big moves.
Drakenstein Municipality's Draft IDP; Draft Budget for the 2024/25 financial year and proposed tariffs; as well as its Draft Spatial Development Framework (SDF) are currently open for public comment. The Municipality's official public engagement process around these documents kicks off this week.
“Having recently been rated the number one secondary city for good governance in South Africa by Good Governance Africa, we know all too well how important really listening to our residents are. After all, Drakenstein is their home, and no one knows it better than they do," says Dr Johan Leibbrandt, City Manager of the Municipality.
“Our five-year IDP maps out how the Municipality plans to further improve our municipal services and to make economic and social development happen over the next five years. Each year, we review and amend the contents of the plan and ask our residents for their feedback," he says.
“We also encourage residents and businesses to give feedback on the Municipality's Draft SDF, which is literally a map, or spatial representation, of the needs and proposals that have been identified in the IDP. The SDF is one of several sectoral plans that supports the IDP in achieving its strategic objectives," explains Dr Leibbrandt.
How to make your voice heard
The Municipality will be hosting 20 IDP Open Day sessions across Drakenstein's 33 wards from 9 to 29 April 2024. Here residents will be able to give their input into their own ward's unique service delivery issues and needs, as well as speak directly to municipal officials about any service delivery issues.
- Drakenstein Municipality's Draft IDP can be viewed here, its Draft Budget here, and its Draft SDF here.
- For the dates, times, and venues of the IDP Open Days, click here. (To confirm in which ward they are residing, residents can click here.)
- Apart from attending the Open Days, residents can also give their input on the Draft IDP and Draft Budget via email to idp@drakenstein.gov.za, WhatsApp 081 034 8468, or write to the Office of the City Manager, Paarl Civic Centre, Berg River Boulevard, PO Box 1, Paarl, 7646. Comments must reach the Municipality by no later than 29 April 2024.
- Comments on the Draft SDF must be submitted in writing to the City Manager, Drakenstein Municipality, PO Box 1, Paarl, 7646, or customercare@drakenstein.gov.za, by no later than 6 May 2024.
Once the Municipality has received everyone's comments, it will consider and incorporate these into the final IDP, Budget, and SDF, which will be tabled at the Drakenstein Municipal Council meeting at the end of May 2024.
“We encourage all our residents to share their ideas and voice their concerns. The IDP is important because it gives insight into what the Municipality is working on and how this will affect families, businesses, the environment, and our residents' general wellbeing. You can think of it as the Drakenstein community's shared vision for the future—a guidebook to a well-run, clean, safe and prosperous home for us all," concludes Dr Leibbrandt.
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Issued by: Communication and Marketing, Drakenstein Municipality
