A citywide restoration begins with first fixing one’s own house.
In an effort to promote a healthy work environment for all City of Johannesburg (CoJ) employees, the city has begun a campaign that focuses on meeting the requirements stipulated by the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. CoJ officials believe that to optimise their chances of delivering on their objective of ‘The Golden Repair’, a work environment that promotes pride and productivity can help employees better serve the residents of Johannesburg.
MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services, Leah Knott, and MMC for Economic Development, Nkululeko Mbundu, toured the Region C offices with the aim of identifying issues that required improvement. As well as employee morale, the inspection formed part of both MMCs’ goal to streamline inter-entity administrative and communication channels.
The September 7 inspection took the touring party to the key areas of the property, from the lawns to the basement parking which doubles as the spine of the property. There, the delegation found leaking pipes, a locked fire escape and a mound of discarded office furniture, among others.
“For me, the data centre was a big concern. Having an invaluable nerve centre like that exposed leaves the city at risk of losing irreplaceable documentation,” said MMC Mbundu, highlighting the building’s server room which lacked any discernible access control.
The tour finished on the floors that housed the offices of the staff, many feeling the spaces could benefit from a cosmetic touch-up. The issues were documented and both MMCs believed small changes could go a long way.
“I know it won’t be an overnight success where we wake up and the building is fixed and perfect, but I think we have to start somewhere,” said MMC Knott.
Much like the maintenance throughout the city, a mesh of municipal entities are responsible for the day-to-day functioning of a CoJ property. Johannesburg Property Company (JPC), and Citizen Relationship and Urban Management (CRUM) are two key entities involved with CRUM now playing a more active role.
“The idea of bringing CRUM in is to empower the regional directors so see what they can manage from their side,” added MMC Knott, noting regional directors have recently been included in mayoral committee meetings to improve CRUM’s understanding of the challenges faced.
In closing, MMC Knott pleaded for more open communication between entities that focused on solving problems efficiently.
Stressing that enthusiastic employees come from companies that care for their staff, MMC Knott hopes that improvements would instill a culture that lends itself to an improved experience, saying, “The end result is that the customers get better service”.
