Reintegration to ‘save the City millions’

08 February 2017

 

The City of Johannesburg will save a substantial amount of public money – which will probably run into several tens of millions of rands – by reintegrating municipal-owned entities (MOEs) into its fold, according to Member of the Mayoral Committee for Group Corporate and Shared Services Cllr Valencia Ntombi Khumalo.

 

Last month, the Johannesburg Council approved a report proposing that the MOEs – including City Power, Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), Johannesburg Water, Johannesburg City Parks & Zoo and Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) – be reincorporated into the City.

Speaking during a wide-ranging interview earlier this week, Cllr Khumalo said the public money to be saved from the reintegration – which is expected to take up to 18 months to complete – would be redirected to the City’s service delivery and infrastructure projects.

Cllr Khumalo said one of the contentious issues that resulted in the MOEs’ reincorporation was that the companies have boards of directors to whom their respective managing directors or chief executive officers report, and not to elected representatives.

“These boards, not the City, direct the activities of the executives,” she said.

Administrative and political task teams will soon be established to drive the reintegration process and feasibility studies will be conducted to assess its impact.

A suitable management model will also be identified to ensure a seamless transition, which will also involve the de-registration of the entities.

Cllr Khumalo said a public consultation process would be put in place to enable the City to fully engage residents.

“We are ready [for the reintegration]. This will ensure that we run an effective government,” she said.

She said the objectives of her portfolio had to be aligned to Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba’s 10-point plan for Johannesburg, which includes growing the City’s economy by 5% and running a pro-poor government.

She described the 10-point plan as the cornerstone of Mayor Mashaba’s government.

“We need to ensure that we champion the plan. We need to ensure that all departments are aligned to the plan. What is also critical is that we as Group Corporate and Shared Services have to ensure that strategic appointments are filled. We have to ensure that there is good governance and corruption is curbed.

“To achieve this we’ll implement a code of values and ethics in the City. We also encourage citizens to make use of the anti-corruption hotline.

“Our infrastructure has to be upgraded to attract business. Bridging the digital divide and upgrading our networks to assist students and residents at large are going to be our key focus areas.

“We’ve a responsibility to the city we serve. Residents look up to us for the rollout of services such as free Wi-Fi, clinics, and training and development. As the Mayor has repeatedly said, when Johannesburg works South Africa w