The City’s new municipal manager

MBOMBELA -The no-frills MM spoke frankly to Lowvelder on Friday on how he intends to implement cost-cutting measures and invest in capital infrastructure to generate more revenue.

The new MM is a very democratic individual, but he will not be afraid to take action where one of his general managers has failed to. He intends to uproot corruption in the execution of his two-year performance-based contract.

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“I want to strategise together with my managers as a collective, but where they fail to take action I must do the work myself and take full responsibility,” Khumalo stated.

“Above all, service delivery should be prioritised.”

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Khumalo joined the CMLM as acting chief financial officer (CFO) on July 1, 2017 and was subsequently appointed as CFO of the City from September 2018, due to his phenomenal ability to work towards turning the finances of the municipality around.

He has over 15 years of experience in local government and held the strategic accounting positions of both head of internal audit and that of CFO.

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He was part of team that formulated the City’s recovery plan along with the previous MM, Neil Diamond, who resigned earlier this year. Khumalo indicated that the CMLM has finalised the financial recovery plan under his watchful eye.

The main focus will be on cost-reducing measures, while maintaining the highest standards in service delivery.

“As a cost-saving measure we have been able to finalise the combination of the general properties valuation roll for the two municipalities. We now have one general valuation roll. Our strategy also includes improved billing procedures and debt collection, as this money is needed to improve service delivery,” Khumalo told the newspaper.

The City is also working with national treasury on a 10-year plan to identify different funding sources, in order to deal with service delivery backlogs, which include water and electricity services. The municipality will need to spend an additional R2 billion per annum on their capital investments in order to clear the backlog.

“We are looking at other options, including raising loans at financial institutions to create a revenue-generating asset, which we can use to repay the loans. We are currently sitting with a R700 million capital budget, which is well below the funds required, but we still await further clarity in terms of the long-term financial plan with treasury,” Khumalo said reassuringly.

It is Khumalo’s long-term goal and vision to make the city the ultimate destination for tourists and locals; a city of excellence. He is adamant that he will improve the turnaround time of addressing the public’s service delivery enquiries.

The minister of finance, Tito Mboweni, has gazetted the municipal costs containment regulations, with the effective date being July 1. When Lowvelder questioned the MM on these new regulations he responded confidently,

“We are aware of these regulations, we are implementing it, time and time again we will refer to it. I previously indicated that I want to be the first one to lead in terms of implementing these cost-cutting measures.”