Durban CFO retires after 40 years of service

ETHEKWINI Municipality’s long-time chief financial officer (CFO) and deputy city manager of the finance cluster, Dr Krish Kumar, has officially submitted his retirement request to Council.

He has accumulated an outstanding 40 years of service at the municipality.

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Dr Kumar has been at the helm of finance for 24 years. Speaking at his weekly Heads Meeting on 25 February, Dr Kumar said that he intends to leave the City with a fulfilled legacy and a clean slate.

“We will not stop cracking the whip. We will be moving swiftly to resolve various issues, including risk, consequence management and internal control. The brakes will not be on, I will still be putting the pedal to the metal,” he said.

According to the eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, the City is arranging for the post to be advertised in due course.

Mayisela said Dr Kumar will stay on until a smooth transition with the new CFO is achieved. 

He said the necessary policies, structures, systems, and standard operating procedures are in place and the finance cluster does not foresee any challenges with regards to the transition. 

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Dr Kumar commenced work as a Trainee Accountant with the Durban City Council in 1981 and progressed through the ranks to become City Treasurer of the North and South Central Local Councils in 1997.

In 1999 he was appointed City Treasurer of the Durban Metropolitan Council and was thereafter appointed CFO. Some of the awards received under his stewardship includes Best Integrated Development Programme (IDP), being the Best Run Metro and Best Innovative Infrastructure. In addition, the City has achieved outstanding credit ratings consecutively and has never received a qualified audit.

Another major achievement is the City’s pro-poor, balanced budget. Kumar won the award for the Best CFO in the Public Sector in 2018.

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He was a member of the South African Local Government Association’s (SALGA) finance working group, Fellow (and past President) of the Institute of the Charted Institute of Government Financial, Auditing and Risk Officers (CIGFARO), Chairperson of the Municipal Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Forum and has served two terms as a member of the Accounting Standards Board.

He is currently a member of the C40 global board and his passion is to reduce the carbon footprint of the City and promote a green economy. He has also been a trustee of the Durban Pension Fund since 1995.

He holds a Master of Administration degree and a doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His initiative, tenacity, reputation and legacy are well known in government.

“I have loyally served the eThekwini Municipality for the past 40 years, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of being at the financial helm for 24 years of one of the best run cities in Africa. During my tenure I have ensured that we have remained at the cutting edge of best practice. We have innovated in many areas and have made changes in respect of systems, procedures, productivity enhancements and achieving best value,” he said.

Dr Kumar concluded that despite his retirement, he is committed to assisting South Africa to aggressively advance the agenda of development with the skills and knowledge he has acquired over the years.    

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting