GALLERY: A call to the members of City of Johannesburg to serve communities well

ON June 6, the City of Johannesburg held an induction for board members at the Thaba Eco Hotel in the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve. The induction for the board members of the City of Johannesburg’s municipal entities entailed a signing ceremony between the executive mayor Clr Herman Mashaba as representative of the shareholders of Johannesburg and the chairperson of the 12 entities.

The shareholder compact is a performance agreement in terms of which the shareholder monitors the performance of the entities. The signing ceremony is held annually.

The ceremony was followed by an opening prayer by Pastor Trevor Hartley, and a welcoming address by MCC Valencia N Khumalo, after which Mashaba addressed the audience.

He thanked every member who accepted the task of forming part of the board of directors, saying: “Yours is a call to service to the

five million residents of the greatest city in Africa.

“The dreams and aspirations of every inhabitant of Johannesburg rest on your shoulders. Therefore, you dare not fail.

“Rest assured, though, that you will enjoy the fullest support of my office as well as the multi-party government, of which I am leader and custodian.”

He addressed many of the problems that the city face, and told the members that the city depends on them to remain vigilant and accountable. He also warned members if they failed to act with integrity he would not think twice to remove them, saying: “As politicians in charge of running the City, we must also undertake not to place those tasked with managing our entities in a compromising position by forcing them to act illegally.

“This is a radical departure from the way things were done previously. We, the multi-party government promised change. We must, therefore, deliver real, meaningful change with our entities at the centre of development and job creation.”

“The multi-party government in charge of the city Johannesburg spent the last two-and-a-half years carefully implementing the vision of a City that is responsive to the needs of all of its residents, not just the politically correct elite,” Mashaba said.

He said that inhabitants of the city have been let down by politicians and others, who did not have the welfare of the inhabitants of Johannesburg at heart, but rather their own, which included many instances of scandalous corruption and other ways in which the government has failed the city.

Mashaba said: “Despite all of the hardships we must not dwell on the past, we cannot afford to. The residents of Johannesburg will not allow us, not only must we look to the future, we must create it. And the only way we can do so is to continue on the path of change and transformation.”

It is clear that Mashaba wants to eliminate corruption.

He called on members of the board to help and be innovative in the manner in which they carry out their fiduciary duties, to explore other revenue-generating sources, especially public-private partnerships. To focus on the wants and the needs of residents and to look out especially, for the most vulnerable.

He placed a great deal of responsibility on every single board member to assist in the revitalisation of Johannesburg, and to safeguard the boards on which they will be serving.

The day continued with various speakers addressing subjects such as good governance, The South African Economy and CoJ Outlook, Service Delivery and the City’s Strategic Vision: Joburg’s New Path.

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