Reintegration of entities will be sensitive, promises Mayor Mashaba

17 March 2017

 

Reintegration of municipal-owned entities (MOEs) into direct City of Johannesburg administration was at an advanced stage, Executive Mayor Cllr Herman Mashaba said during the 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the entities at the Joburg Theatre on Thursday March 16.

 

Mayor Mashaba said the reintegration process, which was expected to take about 18 months, would be sensitive to the needs and concerns of all the stakeholders. The entities concerned include Pikitup, City Power, Johannesburg Roads Agency, Joburg Water and the Joburg Fresh Produce Market.

Delivering the keynote address at the AGM – attended by Members of the Mayoral Committee as well as board members, senior staffers and executive directors of the entities – Cllr Mashaba said he would seek guidance from the leadership of the entities to ensure the transition was a seamless process.

“Co-ordinating entities towards the achievement of the City’s single strategic vision is unmanageable. The current arrangement thus presents substantial challenges that we must address in order to fast-track service delivery. This decision to reintegrate entities is proven best practice. The trend countrywide among metro municipalities has been to bring these entities within City structures,” said Mayor Mashaba.

He said it was absurd that entities operated under the Companies Act and were semi-autonomous of the City when the City was the sole shareholder. In January the council approved a report that proposed that MOEs be brought back into the City. He said officials and board members of the entities had to demand more of themselves.

“To become the competent, effective and responsive government the residents of Joburg demand means we, too, must demand more of ourselves. By doing this, we will ensure that we are not a hindrance to our own objectives for the City,” said Mayor Mashaba.

Mayor Mashaba said that during the Mayoral lekgotla in 2016, the executive leadership had an opportunity to reflect on the current economic and political environment. To speed up service delivery nine priority areas were identified. Top on the list was that service delivery and performance had to be improved throughout departments and entities.

“We need to become consumer-centric by resolving the City’s long-standing billing crisis and fast-tracking service delivery, especially to poor communities,” said Mayor Mashaba.

He said other priority areas included eliminating corruption, fast-tracking housing delivery, promoting economic development, becoming a responsive government and enhancing financial sustainability.