ActionSA in Ekurhuleni welcomes the long-awaited Institutional Review and staff plan, which was developed after the 2021-2026 elections. The report was approved by the Council on 28 November 2024.
The report presents a new structure to make the City’s work more efficient.
Previously, the City had 23 senior managers reporting to the City Manager, which caused problems and made governance, accountability, and service delivery harder. The new structure will have 13 senior managers focusing on areas such as infrastructure services, social services, economic development, regulatory approvals, policy, compliance, and other administrative functions to support the City’s operations.
An important change is the merging of Service Delivery Coordination and Strategy & Corporate Planning. The new Chief Operations Officer (COO) will oversee service delivery and ensure Heads of Department (HODs) meet certain standards. This was a key priority for ActionSA during this process.
We welcome comments from National Treasury on structural reforms. This is a positive step for important departments like Water and Sanitation, Energy, and Solid Waste. Treasury recommends using municipal entities to improve governance, build internal capacity, and reduce reliance on tenders, which will help with insourcing workers.
Currently, Contracted Services make up 11% of the City’s budget, which is above the 5% limit set by National Treasury. This shows there is room to insource workers like security guards and cleaners. However, this needs the political will of Mayor Xhakaza and his team of MMCs from different parties.
We also note that there are 100 vacant, funded positions for security guards. ActionSA demands that these be advertised immediately and that security guards be insourced.
Additionally, there are 340 vacant, funded positions in the real estate department for cleaning services and 1,124 vacant, funded positions for waste workers. Filling these positions will reduce the 11% threshold and help bring the City closer to the 30% range of its Operating Budget.
This could save the City R53.8 billion, and R34.3 billion in savings. This shows the City can insource workers in security, cleaning, and waste services.
The City will also have its first Public Protector, the Ombudsman. This is a positive move, as the Ombudsman will be independent and report directly to the Council, following the principles of Separation of Powers.
We are concerned about the number of political positions. These offices should be lean and focused on helping political leaders carry out policy. The increase in positions in the Mayor’s, Speaker’s, and MMC’s offices seems unnecessary and looks like a way to employ more party members. We also agree with the MEC’s concern that the number of positions exceeds what is required for a Category A Municipality.
ActionSA insists that the City’s finances must be stabilised, the institutional review should be implemented quickly, and quality services should be delivered to residents as soon as possible.
This will require a stable, competent government, not one based on political convenience. ActionSA is ready to work with parties that share our values and support proposals that will bring stability to the City until the 2026 elections.
