With local government elections drawing nearer, Nelson Mandela Bay residents are encouraged to advocate for councillors who promote health in the metro.
The Bible contains more than 2,000 verses highlighting the mandate to care for the vulnerable, linking compassion for the poor with honouring God.
Voters should hold those entrusted with public office to account, with health being a priority.
A local councillor’s role in health is to lead, advocate, oversee and mobilise rather than provide medical services.
By ensuring healthy living conditions, influencing municipal policy, monitoring service delivery and representing the health needs of residents, councillors contribute significantly to improving the overall wellbeing of their communities.
While not responsible for providing health care directly (this is primarily the responsibility of provincial and national health departments in SA), councillors have significant responsibilities in promoting community health and ensuring access to quality health services.
Matthew 35-36 states “for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me”.
Real change at municipal level lies at the level of budget allocation.
Councillors, who are responsible for approving municipal budgets, should advocate for funding that supports the provision of clean water, sanitation services, waste management, environmental health programmes, health promotion campaigns, and emergency and disaster response.
Councillors identify community health needs by listening to residents’ health concerns and priorities, raising community health issues during council meetings, advocating for healthcare services, especially in underserved communitie, and ensuring that vulnerable groups (children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and people living with chronic illnesses) are represented.
This responsibility is summed up in Psalm 82:3-4: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
While the NMB metro clinics are run by the district health services, councillors oversee municipal responsibilities such as environmental health services, waste collection and disposal, water quality and sanitation, food safety inspections, air pollution control, vector and pest control, and health promotion initiatives.
They have a responsibility to ensure these services are effective and adequately funded.
Health should be integrated into municipal planning by advocating for safe drinking water, proper sanitation, adequate housing, safe public spaces, parks and recreational facilities, good roads and transport to health facilities, and disaster preparedness.
Councillors should support programmes that prevent communicable diseases, promote maternal and child health, encourage healthy lifestyles, raise awareness about HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, diabetes, hypertension and mental health, and address gender-based violence (GBV) as a public health issue.
While clinics are managed by provincial government, councillors should ensure that the services are delivered through regular visits to local clinics and hospitals, monitoring service delivery, engaging with clinic committees, reporting shortages of medicines, staff, or equipment, and escalating serious concerns to provincial authorities.
Partnerships are needed to ensure we have a healthy metro.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 states “two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up”.
The partners needed to create and maintain a healthy metro include the provincial department of health, community health workers, non-government and faith-based organisations, schools, traditional leaders, community policing forums and local businesses.
At ward level, councillors can organise or support awareness campaigns on immunisation, nutrition, substance abuse prevention, mental health, HIV testing, tuberculosis prevention and treatment, disease outbreaks and GBV prevention.
With climate change and ageing infrastructure increasing the risk of disasters, councillors should ensure communities are prepared for floods, fires, disease outbreaks, droughts and industrial accidents.
Councillors should be prepared to support coordination between emergency services and affected communities, irrespective of the time of the day.
Official duties of councillors include ensuring transparency in health-related municipal projects, monitoring the implementation of council health policies, responding promptly to community complaints, and promoting ethical leadership and equitable service delivery.
The Bible is clear that we must hold each other accountable. Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”
Practical steps include holding regular community health meetings, supporting community clean-up campaigns, advocating for improved clinic services, ensuring water and sanitation infrastructure is maintained, promoting school health programmes, and working with local organisations to address mental health and GBV.
Effective councillors recognise that health is influenced not only by healthcare services but also by safe environments, clean water, sanitation, housing, education, and strong community partnerships — and that they are among the privileged in society.
Luke 12:48: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
Rev Dr Bukelwa Hans co-pastors at St Matthews Uniting Presbyterian Church in Motherwell alongside Rev Howard Hans, and is a former member of parliament
