Sir – As a citizen of Endumeni, who is following what is happening at our local municipality, allow me to compliment the Council for steering the municipality in the right direction.
I am referring to the appointment of the Municipal Manager, Executive Manager: Corporate Services, Executive Manager: Planning and Economic Development Services, Executive Manager: Technical Services and the Chief Financial Officer.
What this effectively means is that from January, a brand new team will take over the day to day running of the municipality.
Council, via Exco and the portfolio committees, will provide direction in terms of what service delivery programmers will need to be in place.
It is an interesting ‘to and fro’ process between the political leadership (who are elected councillors) and the appointed officials. A whole range of checks and balances exist to monitor service delivery and the Auditor General, Internal Audit Committee, Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and the Internal Auditor have an on-going synergy to make sure all monies are accounted for and no wastage or misappropriation of funds take place.
Every agenda item is thoroughly and meticulously prepared and checked literally with a fine comb. There is very little or no room for errors.
A shortlisting and interview process unfolds like all other vacancies, except that in the case of these top managers, the process does not stop with the interview process. The department responsible for local Government comes in. [The Department of] Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) then comes in.
A rigorous screening process then takes place, I think starting with fingerprints at police station, a competency assessment test for candidates set by CoGTA and a security vetting process, which is done by Government, and at some point, even National Government assists.
I have highlighted some of the many processes involved to enable the public to understand what has been going on behind the scenes at Endumeni Municipality.
From April to now, a very complex exercise was taking place inside Endumeni. In actual fact, all focus was on the filling of these positions while acting managers were left in charge every three months. This also had an impact on service delivery, since new managers were placed at departments every three months in terms of the law. The municipality was in a state of paralysis – service delivery was at an all-time low.
Acting managers are normally very hesitant to take long-term decisions for fear of losing their jobs if a decision is wrongly made.
So, in the last quarter of this year, we saw the filling of all positions and to the best of my knowledge, Council has just appointed the new Municipal Manager who started in January.
Maintenance and upgrading of roads, grass cutting and cutting of trees which pose a danger to people must also be given attention. Filling of potholes must be done on an on-going basis but this must just be a temporary measure until the road is upgraded very quickly.
The cost of preparing an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is costly. I propose the compilation of a more condensed IDP document which is more user-friendly. I have found a lot of cut and paste in previous IDP documents, yet each year the IDP must include achievable and genuine projects.
All stakeholders must be included before the Budget is drawn up and passed. I wish the Council all the best for the New Year and look forward to positive programmes going forward.
Pravesh Bisram – Community representative and former Councillor for Umzinyzthi District and Endumeni Local Municipalities
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