New Tshwane mayor prioritises accountability in move to fix council

New Tshwane mayor Randall Williams has placed the issue of accountability at the top of his agenda in an attempt to get the council on sound footing again.

Explaining his service delivery plans after being recently elected as mayor, Williams said the lack of accountability in the metro while it was under administration was one of the major contributing factors to the council’s inability to fully render services.

Williams said he would re-initiate the metro’s “service delivery war room’’, in what he said would be a crucial mechanism for accountability in the metro to track the municipality’s performances of services delivery.

“A mayoral dashboard has been implemented to track these and other crucial deliverables so that I hold officials to account on their performance and provide feedback to you, the residents of this city,’’ he said.

Among the areas of service delivery that would be monitored was the operational status of streetlights; illegal dumping and prosecution of offenders; removal of illegal electricity connections; response times in the repair and maintenance of malfunctioning traffic lights and the filling of potholes; anti-cable theft operations and responses times to electricity outages and water pipe bursts.

“Historically, the war room provided a crucial mechanism in which departments would account directly to the political leadership on their operational performance pertaining to core service delivery.

“This structure was introduced by my predecessor, Solly Msimanga, and it became a critical mechanism to engage directly with the operational staff involved in frontline service delivery,’’ he said.

“I have now given instruction that this structure will meet weekly and will report back directly to the political leadership.’’

This falls part of Williams’s 10-point service delivery intervention plan, which he set-up when he took office in at the end of October.

The plan is as follows:

• Prioritisation of the electrical grid and water infrastructure;
• Implementing a robust Covid-19 management strategy;
• Creation of a reliable waste and refuse removal service;
• Stringent financial management and oversight;
• Enhancing city safety and emergency services;
• Promote employment and economic growth in the city;
• Supporting the vulnerable and providing social relief;
• Fast track development by cutting red tape;
• Expansive financial cost-cutting across city processes; and
• Maintain and expand road infrastructure.

This article first appeared on Rekord and was republished with permission.

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