OFFICE OF THE SPEAKER
SPEAKER OF COUNCIL:
Cllr Helen Sauls-August
Tel: +27 (0) 41 5054422
Seceretary:Lungisa Sihlahla
Email: lsihlahla@mandelametro.gov.za
Get to know your Speaker
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY:
ROLE OF THE SPEAKER’S OFFICE
Councillor Helen Sauls-August is the current Speaker of Council. She was elected in terms of section 36 of the Municipal Structures Act (Act No.117 of 1998) and as envisaged in Section 160(1)(b) of the Constitution. The Speaker’s primary responsibility is to preside over meetings of the Council. This duty entails the smooth conduct of Council plenary business. A legislated function of the Speaker is to promote good conduct among elected Councillors through application of the Code of Conduct, together with the Chief Whip.
The Speaker works in close liaison with the Executive Mayor, who often requests the Speaker to preside or represent the Executive Mayor at official functions.
The Speaker oversees and runs a number of programmes from her Office, for example the Moral Regeneration Movement.
An important addition to the duties of the Speaker is overseeing the activities of the newly elected Women’s Caucus, which was launched on 3 August 2007, in the capacity of chairperson. The multi-party Women‘s Caucus consists of all the female members of Council, cutting across party-political barriers.
The theme/slogan of the Women’s Causus is ‘Women at work against poverty’. Women, actively working together, hand in hand, lobbying to advance the cause of women and remove any barriers or impediments to their advancement The launch of the Women’s Caucus heralded a new dawn for female Councillors and for all the women of Nelson Mandela Bay.
Click here to view a detailed list of the role and functions of the Speaker
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Born: 24 July 1968
- Started as a Uitenhage Transitional Local Councillor in 1998 and served in the Finance and Social Services Committee.
- Served in the Metro from 2001 – 2006 as a Mayoral Committee member
- I was the Portfolio Chairperson for Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture in 2006
- From 2006 – 2008 I was the Portfolio Chairperson for Human Resources and Administration now known as Corporate Services
- From July 2008 to 2009 I became the Portfolio Chairperson for the Safety & Security
Board member for the following companies:
- Eastcape Midlands College (EMC) in Uitenhage
- Serve in the Institute for Municipal Public Safety of Southern Africa (IMPS-SA) – Stellenbosch, CAPE TOWN
African National Congress (ANC)
- I am a Regional Executive Committee (REC) member of the ANC in the Metro as the Treasurer.
- I serve as the Deputy Provincial Secretary of the ANC in the Eastern Cape Province. Also, serve in the Provincial Working Committee of the ANC in the Eastern Cape Province.
