BUSINESS AND THE NDP: Upgrading skills at municipal level complements back to basics strategy
by Ntokozo Ndlovu,
2014-11-20 07:01:49.0
BUSINESS AND THE NDP: Upgrading skills at municipal level complements back to basics strategy
MUNICIPALITIES have a number of challenges," says Stephen Motala, a municipal manager at Metsiholo Municipality in the Free State who is one of the beneficiaries of the newly launched FNB Academy for Municipal Excellence. "Our biggest one is dealing with capacity at municipal level and striking a balance to ensure that as people move to the cities we have the capacity and resources to deal with urbanisation pressures."
For Motala personally and for countless struggling municipalities across the country, the academy, designed to improve the skill levels of municipal managers, has come just at the right time. It follows the Back to Basics strategy announced in September by Co-operative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan at the Presidential Local Government Summit.
"There are big challenges that we, as municipalities face on the ground, and we require interventions such as these. The programme is particularly designed to empower executives of municipalities to deal with challenges in a more professional and robust way," he says.
The Academy is part of FNB’s efforts to develop interventions that are aligned to the NDP and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs "Back to Basics" approach, in order to assist municipal managers to perform their responsibilities more effectively.
"Looking at the NDP, partnerships are a key and most persistent theme," says Anita Botha, the academy’s facilitator and skills development expert. "Partnerships, specifically between government and the private sector, can best serve communities, the very communities which help sustain businesses."
The academy aims to train at least 150 senior municipal officials and financial officers between October 2014 and March 2015. Some of the issues threatening local government performance, says Botha, are poor levels of professionalism. She argues that local government should be run on business lines, not to make a profit, but to maintain the kind of professionalism seen in business. Only once this is happening "will we start to see results in the effectiveness and efficiency of local government".
According to Minister Pravin Godhan, "back to basics means forgetting about politics and putting people first. This approach will ensure that municipalities work as a vehicle to address the concerns of citizens and their welfare, to promote good governance and ensure that decisions are made within the formal structures."
Picture: THINKSTOCK
MUNICIPALITIES have a number of challenges," says Stephen Motala, a municipal manager at Metsiholo Municipality in the Free State who is one of the beneficiaries of the newly launched FNB Academy for Municipal Excellence. "Our biggest one is dealing with capacity at municipal level and striking a balance to ensure that as people move to the cities we have the capacity and resources to deal with urbanisation pressures."
For Motala personally and for countless struggling municipalities across the country, the academy, designed to improve the skill levels of municipal managers, has come just at the right time. It follows the Back to Basics strategy announced in September by Co-operative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan at the Presidential Local Government Summit.
"There are big challenges that we, as municipalities face on the ground, and we require interventions such as these. The programme is particularly designed to empower executives of municipalities to deal with challenges in a more professional and robust way," he says.
The Academy is part of FNB’s efforts to develop interventions that are aligned to the NDP and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs "Back to Basics" approach, in order to assist municipal managers to perform their responsibilities more effectively.
"Looking at the NDP, partnerships are a key and most persistent theme," says Anita Botha, the academy’s facilitator and skills development expert. "Partnerships, specifically between government and the private sector, can best serve communities, the very communities which help sustain businesses."
The academy aims to train at least 150 senior municipal officials and financial officers between October 2014 and March 2015. Some of the issues threatening local government performance, says Botha, are poor levels of professionalism. She argues that local government should be run on business lines, not to make a profit, but to maintain the kind of professionalism seen in business. Only once this is happening "will we start to see results in the effectiveness and efficiency of local government".
According to Minister Pravin Godhan, "back to basics means forgetting about politics and putting people first. This approach will ensure that municipalities work as a vehicle to address the concerns of citizens and their welfare, to promote good governance and ensure that decisions are made within the formal structures."
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