South Africa's National Treasury has announced plans to develop an "intensive intervention" to help rescue Johannesburg, the country's largest city. The Treasury intends to work with the City for three years, regardless of the outcome of the local government elections on November 4. This move is a response to the city's dire financial situation, which has seen unpaid bills owed to the City rise from around R15 billion a decade ago to nearly R72 billion.
Research by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) has revealed that Johannesburg is caught in a dangerous financial spiral, spending money it does not collect and experiencing a collapse in infrastructure investment. While the Treasury's intervention is welcome, experts argue that it will not be enough to solve the city's problems without competent leadership. The CDE's research highlights the need for capable people to be in charge of the institutions responsible for running the city.
The city's management crisis is severe, with nine mayors and eight coalition administrations since 2016. Political allegiance has taken precedence over skills and experience in appointments, resulting in frequent turnover of boards and a lack of qualified professionals in key positions. For example, none of the members of the Johannesburg Water board are professionally qualified engineers, and at least seven of the City's 24 most senior management positions are occupied by acting appointees.
The city's annual reports highlight persistent vacancies among engineers, finance professionals, ICT specialists, project managers, and supply chain experts. Running a municipal government is primarily an exercise in implementation, and capacity always eats policy. A city can have excellent policies on paper, but they mean little if the bureaucracy lacks the people and institutions capable of carrying them out.
To address the crisis, the incoming administration must prioritize getting the right people into key jobs. This includes appointing a highly capable City Manager through a rigorous, transparent, and competitive process. The utility boards also require attention, with chairs and board members appointed based on their technical expertise and experience. Board members should be appointed on three-year contracts to reduce vulnerability to political interference.
The city's mission-critical positions need to be identified, and an immediate audit conducted to establish who occupies them and when their contracts expire. Vacancies and acting appointments in critical positions should be filled urgently, with a focus on engineering, finance, ICT, project management, and procurement expertise. Where capable officials are already doing good work, they should be retained and supported.
To break the link between political change and administrative appointments, political parties and their mayoral candidates should commit publicly to merit appointments and keeping political office-bearers out of procurement, appointments, and operational decisions. If there is a coalition, this commitment must be a non-negotiable component of the coalition agreement. This would signal a sharp and identifiable break with the practices that have brought Johannesburg to its knees.
Key points
- Competent city leadership is crucial to Johannesburg's recovery from its financial crisis.
- The city's management crisis is severe, with a lack of qualified professionals in key positions.
- Merit appointments and a break from political interference are necessary to address the city's problems.
