Umbrella Civic 92+ (previously 57+)
The Umbrella Civic: 92+ is a progressive community organisation made up of residents, civic groups, and local organisations from across Ward 92 (Woodstock, Walmer Estate, Salt River, Observatory, University Estate and portions of District Six) and surrounding neighbourhoods. We honour the shared history of class struggle and community mobilisation in our areas by advocating for stronger democratic participation to ensure that the people who live, work, learn, and move through our neighbourhoods have a voice in shaping them. We are committed to building a ward that is safe, inclusive, dignified, and spatially just, with proper access to public resources for all.
Part 1: What we expect of our councillor
We put forward this manifesto to envision a more mutual relationship with our councillor. Our voices should form part of decision making processes and the councillor should do their best to sincerely represent the will of their community in governance spaces. This requires a shift from the current model, where councillors answer first to their party, towards one where a councillor is directly accountable to the residents they represent. Specifically, we want a councillor who:
- Is deeply rooted in the place, living in and being consistently present within the ward they hope to represent. They should develop an understanding of the history and heritage of our communities, to inform their approach to supporting a spatially just and inclusive version of development in our ward. The councillor should commit to engaging with local community organisations and NGOs already working within the ward and be prepared to support resident-led action rather than always functioning top-down.
- Engages with our community regularly and proactively, with the goal of responding to our needs. This means that they seek out and listen to our inputs on local matters, holding regular meetings and open days at various locations across our ward and responding to our inputs within a reasonable timeframe, with clear feedback on how they incorporate our inputs into their decisions. We know the councillor will not be able to do everything we would like them to do right away, but we expect them to transparently share with us which obstacles they encounter along the way and what that means for us…