The Department of Development Planning, and its management has made a commitment towards improving the delivery of services to the people of this city.
This is according to Councillor Reuben Masango, MMC for Development Planning who said the Executive Mayor, Councillor Herman Mashaba, has on numerous occasions outlined the nine priorities of this administration.
In order for this mandate to be achieved, the department, at its strategic breakaway, deemed it important to align its operations with those priorities.
The department outlined the following 10 priorities:
- Departmental processes: Masango said they carried out a holistic review of all their processes to assess whether they are in sync with what they seek to achieve.
- Communication: We have identified the need for effective, timeous and continuous communication with stakeholders and communities on the role and mandate of the department, in particular as the custodian of the regulatory processes in the City. He continued that this communication can be achieved through various engagement platforms such as regular awareness public campaigns in communities, direct engagement with stakeholders through the holding of regular meetings, newsletters, regular issuing of statements.
- Law enforcement: Masango said they are not pleased with the non-compliance by developers. “We have taken a zero-tolerance position on this kind of activity. We appeal to developers and residents of this great city of ours to simply comply with the processes and the applicable bylaws.
- Training and workshops: We have identified the necessity to conduct further and regular training for our law enforcement officials in order to deal with the continued illegalities and the contraventions of our bylaws.
- Relationships with City departments and entities: He said the interdependence Development Planning has established with other departments and entities in the City, such as Transport, Johannesburg Roads Agency, City Power and Joburg Water, has been a significant challenge. It is a clear indication of the great need for us to all work together towards the common goal of effective service delivery.
- Synergy in operations: The department is working towards building synergy between the various directorates within the department itself so that there is more co-operation in the activities/processes that are undertaken by each directorate, as opposed to them working independently.
- Staff morale: A department is only as effective as its staff component. “We have taken a deeper look at the kind of programmes we can introduce to motivate staff, to help improve the morale that manifests as a result of various internal and external reasons.
- Service with pride: We have to emphasise to our staff members the importance of taking pride in their work. It does not only improve the standard of services that they deliver to residents and stakeholders but also, to the success of the City.”
- Fraud and corruption: The current administration has made its stance on fraud and corruption crystal clear. We have also emphasised to our officials the importance to perform their duties in line with the City’s bylaws and policies and stay far away from issues of fraud and corruption.
- Improving timelines: Masango said they want to strive to improve on the meeting of timelines of work and when responding to any complaints and queries.
“It is my hope to see a significant improvement in the work of the department by the end of the 2018/2019 financial year,” said Masango.
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