Dr Lukhwareni is the new Joburg City Manager
The City of Johannesburg has unanimously approved the appointment of Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni as City Manager at its monthly council meeting on Thursday, October 27 2016.
Dr Lukhwareni, who currently serves as Deputy City Manager of the City of Tshwane responsible for service delivery and transformational management – a position he has held since 2012 – will replace incumbent Trevor Fowler when his extended contract expires at the end of December 2016.
His appointment is as a result of an exhaustive process that started on 13 September 2016. The process focused on the legal requirements of the position, applicable managerial experience and ability to grasp the new administration’s vision.
The selection panel – which included Executive Mayor Cllr Herman Mashaba, an external independent expert, the Economic Freedom Fighters Caucus Leader and an ACDP councillor – unanimous approved Dr Lukhwareni’s appointment.
Announcing the appointment, Executive Mayor Mashaba said he was highly impressed by Dr Lukhwareni’s ability to grasp the project of “delivering change to the people of Johannesburg”.
“He possesses a keen mind, enormous experience and the ability to put our programme of action into effect. He is a true civil servant, and the right person to take forward our drive to professionalise the civil service,” Mayor Mashaba said.
“I have every confidence in Dr Lukhwareni’s abilities and look forward to working with him as we run a City that will stop corruption, fast-track service delivery and stimulate job creation for our people.”
He praised outgoing City Manager Fowler for his support during the transition. “He has been invaluable and I will be forever grateful [to him] for his professionalism, commitment and expertise,” Cllr Mashaba said.
Dr Lukhwareni holds a BSc Electrical Engineering from the then University of Durban Westville, a doctorate in Business Leadership from the University of South Africa and a Competence in Municipal Finance Management qualification from the University of Pretoria’s School of Public Management and Administration.
During the same council meeting, Speaker of Council Cllr Vasco da Gama congratulated former mayor Cllr Park Tau after he was elected President of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) – becoming the first African leader to hold such a high-profile position in this 12-year-old international body, which is an umbrella body of more than 1 000 cities around the world.
“I’d like to take this moment to congratulate Cllr Tau on his election as President of United Cities and Local Governments,” said Cllr Da Gama to applause from council.
