City alters governance model

THE City has restructured its institutional model, guided by the tenets of iGoli 2002, which dovetail its 30-year growth and development blueprint, Joburg 2040, released last year.

As part of the Joburg 2040 vision the City has restructured its institutional modelAs part of the Joburg 2040 vision the City has restructured its institutional model
The new model defines four key areas of intervention and desired outcomes: governance, economic growth and job creation, social development, and sustainable human settlements and spatial restructuring.

Some City entities and departmental functions are merging to eliminate the cumbersome burden of governance, as well as duplication. “We want to build a high-performing metropolitan government that is responsive and accountable to its residents,” reads the institutional review document.

Under the changes, there is a new City manager and senior management. The remainder of senior management and board members of municipal entities are being appointed.

The Promusica Theatre in Roodepoort, the Joburg Theatre Complex in Braamfontein and the Soweto Theatre are being merged into one institution with one board. The Johannesburg Zoo has been disestablished and merged with City Parks under the department of community development.

Office of the Mayor
Changes have also been made to the Office of the Mayor, which will now deal with social cohesion and poverty reduction, improved quality of services, human settlements and economic development. It is also expected to steer the transition to a low carbon economy.

“Most proposed changes in the offices of the executive mayor and the City manager seek to address issues of accountability, oversight, corporate governance and visible political and administrative leadership roles, while changes to the executive management structure and [municipal-owned entities] deal specifically with service delivery enhancement and strategy alignment,” adds the institutional review document.

The council has proposed that the mandate of the Johannesburg Development Agency is redefined and that some functions currently done by the Johannesburg Property Company are merged. It is envisaged that the agency will lead trade and investment promotion in Joburg.

For its part, the Johannesburg Property Company will focus on property and asset management in future, and will swap some functions with the corporate and shared services unit. A task team had been appointed to manage the institutional transition and there were no quantifiable financial implications, the City said.

Under the new model, all municipal entities and departments will sign binding service level agreements by July 2012. The City will act against negligence, the document reads. “We will also streamline the performance evaluation of employees, operations of services depots and resources allocation.”

Private company
In the latter part of last year, the council resolved to disestablish smaller companies in the City where the private company governance model had become cumbersome. This was done under iGoli 2002, which seeks to restore the City’s financial health, and improve administration and the delivery of basic services.

The City said the process was being undertaken with “the highest standards of prudent financial management on the road to developmental local government, while changing the spatial structure of a divided city of the past”.

It said there was a need for institutional transition to adapt to emerging global trends. “The focus of the evaluation is on enhancement of the existing institutional arrangements.” Public consultations and debates on whether this was the appropriate model for the City would be undertaken in the latter part of the year or early next year.

For more information, contact Karen Britz on Karen.britz@joburg,org.za or 011 407 7222, or Rashid Seedat on rashid.seedat@joburg.org.za or 011 4077012.