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Durban > City Government > Administration > Office of the City Manager > City Managers Blog
January 04
Meet Sibusiso Sithole
by  Sharen Thumboo  on 1/4/2012 7:56 AM

​The new City Manager of eThekwini Municipality Sibusiso Sithole has promised to tighten all oversight structures within the Municipality, saying this will be accompanied by the implementation of early warning signs to detect when things are likely to get out of hand.

 
Sithole takes over from Mike Sutcliffe on 3 January 2012 and is expected to hit the ground running. In an interview with Ezasegagasini Metro, Sithole who was born in Johannesburg but grew up in Harrismith in the Free State before moving to Durban post matriculation said, his priority is to make sure that the Municipal finances are used prudently.
 
“Firstly I will need to assemble a team that will complement my weaknesses and strengths. And I don’t want people who will not challenge me. When I am saying something that is not really right I need a person who will tell me that I am wrong,” said the ardent Orlando Pirates fan.
 
Sithole is not a stranger in eThekwini as he was once appointed acting Municipal Manager in 2000 following the death of Felix Dlamini. After he gave the reigns to Sutcliffe as City Manager, Sithole said in 2002 he was “retrenched” for operational reasons.
 
“After leaving the City I worked as a local government consultant and at some stage I was a General Manager within the Corporate Services at Umngeni Water,” he said.
 
Apart from acting in eThekwini nearly ten years ago, former chief executive of the former Centrals Council and first Deputy City Manager under Dlamini, Sithole has an extensive policy and planning background with a plethora of qualifications in Law studies, Policy and Industrial Relations from local universities and abroad.
 
He was recently applauded by everyone in the local government sphere for taking uMsunduzi Municipality “out of the ICU” after he turned around the financial affairs of the Municipality that was in the brink of collapse. Now he leaves the Municipality with the bank balance boasting more than R270 million. In eThekwini, Sithole said all that is needed is to go back to the basics and make sure that everything is done correctly.
 
“The Supply Chain Management needs to be looked at along with the use of section 36. We must put internal controls and look at the tendering system. We should also scrutinise the bid committees and make sure that they are made up of people who are ethical and have the interest of the City at heart,” Sithole said.
 
EThekwini is well positioned economically, boasting one of the busiest ports in Africa. Sithole said he wants eThekwini to continue being the leading City in Africa. “We must put people first in all that we are doing because this is their City,” he said. Speaking shortly after the announcement of Sithole as the new Municipal Manager, Mayor James Nxumalo said, the whole Executive Committee had confidence in him and believed that he would do the job well. “Sithole satisfied the panel as the best candidate for the job,” Nxumalo said.

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October 03
Keeping The Water Flowing
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 10/3/2011 5:01 PM

We live in crazy times. Water makes up most of the surface are of Planet Earth. Our bodies are made up mostly of water. We depend on water for our existence. But as I write this, the supply of water in eThekwini for the next few years, and indeed in most of our country, is not that certain.

The reasons are complex. In part we have not been very successful in prosecuting illegal connectors. As a result, water losses from illegal connections have only reduced marginally and we have only had around 2ooo customers coming forward to ask for their connection to be regularised.

The other 25 000 unmetered customers that we know of continue to waste water. This means that each day more than 70 million litres of water is wasted in Durban through illegal connections. If we add to this the fact that Government should have completed the Spring Grove dam in 2008 and it is 5 (five) years behind programme, this means that we have not had the benefit of the additional 60 million litres per day (Mld) it would have added to our supplies.

Whilst we are trying to address these issues, we have to accept that we are playing catch-up. We hope to get our legal team enforcing more rigorously. We hope to look at the possibility of a desalination of our municipality, which would give us some 140Mld additional capacity. We are also working on recycling sewage and this will give us around 110Mld. We have the Western Aqueduct project underway and will soon launch the Northern Aqueduct project. These will go a long way to ensure everyone gets access to water.

But we cannot afford to fail in our endeavours to ensure that our city has adequate water supplies going forward. We have already started working with the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sapoa and other role players to assist us to deliver. But individually, each of us can also play our part, through voluntarily finding ways to use less water and start treating it as a scarce resource. If we don't increase our supplies and also ensure that we conserve water, then we will find ourselves in serious trouble.

We will not be able to allow further economic development if we do not have guaranteed supplies. We will have to start introducing mandatory restrictions. And we will find ourselves in a Catch-22 situation, not being able to continue to give poor people access to water, the lifeblood of our nation. So the next time you turn on the tap, think about this scarce resource and what you need to do to ensure that we have enough water available for future generations to prosper.

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September 26
Going the extra MILE for innovation
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 9/26/2011 6:37 PM

AT THE end of 2009 the first Institute of learning for local government practitioners driven by local government on the continent was launched by eThekwini Municipality. The Municipal Institute of Learning (Mile) aims to be at the forefront of learning and sharing of information and innovation on the continent in order to advance the development of the continent. Mile was launched out of a recognition that many innovative practices existed within the Municipality and these should be shared with others, just as eThekwini benefits from the work of others.

Mile has gone from strength to strength, assisting municipalities across the world, hosting elegations visiting our Municipality to learn from us, planning and holding Master classes for middle to senior managers on a wide range of topics, and doing whatever it can to build municipal capacity. We have much to be proud of. The 2010 and beyond eventing strategy meant that whatever we built for the Fifa World Cup was also geared to what would happen afterwards. As a result we have received awards, not only for the incredible construction and designs of the Moses Mabhida Stadium and other infrastructure, but we were the first city to host a carbon-neutral World Cup and we implemented many practices which are ensuring environmental, economic and social sustainability going forward.

Environmental innovations are found, for example, at the Green Hub, launched as a green technology demonstration building. The first green roof on a South African municipal building was launched in May 2009 as part of eThekwini Municipality's Municipal Climate Protection Programme. We have recognised the importance of food security, especially in responding to climate change, and have established an Agricultural Management Section to start tackling issues of access to food by empowering local communities in sustainable agricultural and organic practices.

Our Energy Office is the first of its kind in South Africa, tasked with project conceptualisation and implementation in all areas dealing with energy efficiency. Among many other innovations, converting methane gas at landfill sites into energy is an innovative project implemented by the Municipality to curb the effects of climate change.

In 2006 eThekwini embarked on an initiative to develop a long term plan for the city of Durban. A visionary and extensive consultative approach, including engaging school children, was used to develop a 50-year plan that prescribes actions for each sector of the population, including civil society, business, individuals and government, in achieving a truly sustainable city. Financially, innovative programmes and software has been introduced to increase procedural efficiency and customer service.

Our Quality Circles programme employs self-managed teams of operational-level staff to examine and be responsible for recommending improvements for procedures related to quality, cost, delivery, safety and morale. Our accessible, one-stop, walk-in Sizakala Centres provide places where residents are able to access various municipal services and pay municipal accounts, all at one location. These are but some of the innovative and leading practices that are currently taking place within the eThekwini Municipality by local government practitioners.

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September 09
Local Economic Development
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 9/9/2011 4:00 PM

Building the economy is one of the most important, yet most challenging, areas of activity we are engaged in. For without a growing economy we will not be able to absorb the increasing number of people entering the economy each year, we will not be able to provide for the poor and starving in our society and we will not be able to deal with the growing number of social problems besetting our city.

For eThekwini, we have taken the stance that Local Economic Development (LED) is the primary responsibility of all sector departments in the city. Our Integrated Development Plan provides a number of examples:

  1. The Engineering unit are spending over R100 Million to facilitate the development of infrastructure that would be used for economic development projects;
  2. The Skills Development Unit have invested in training and Adult Basic Education courses;
  3. Development Planning Unit has identified future growth and development areas for economic development.
  4. The potential of Sport and Recreation as a lead sector has also been identified as an opportunity;
  5. Developing our Green economy provides for a more sustainable future;
  6. The roll out of Fibre Optic Networks creates an electronic platform for business to access both local and international markets; and
  7. The role of Fibre optic connectivity and education at schools is also a programme that is being developed within the municipality.

These are but some ways in which we are promoting Local Economic Development.

Of course, there are many bigger initiatives we are involved in. We are looking at what to do around Cato Ridge as some of the adjacent locations are starting to reach capacity in terms of space availability for commercial and industrial development. These include places like Hammarsdale.

Another multi-billion project, Cornubia, is a mixed-use and mixed income development spanning over 20 years and will the home of the next major industrial area in the north of Durban. The 1,200 hectare development will provide 240 ha of industrial and commercial space. This is a key industrial area with linkages to the new international airport. It will also comprise fully subsidised low-to-middle income houses.

The old airport site represents 300 hectares of developable land and a dugout port is being considered. This would greatly assist the Port of Durban to meet the growth in containerised traffic.

The outlook for tourism is also brighter given the trends of recent months. There has been improved sentiment about inflation; however this has been affected by the recent announcement of the increases in the cost of electricity.

The challenge locally would be to get the correct kind of industry-led growth, investment and job creation as the national government's target of 7% per year may not necessarily help to reduce unemployment. In the past there was economic growth but a decline in productive capacity, so it is crucial that the right sectors are targeted.

It is incumbent on all of us to find ways, in which we grow the economy, create jobs and ensure that we have food security, healthier people and a safer city. 

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August 12
Cost effective municipal efforts show dividends
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 8/12/2011 6:48 PM

We are certainly living in tough and unpredictable times. Who would have thought a few years ago that Climate Change was no longer simply speculation but now part of our reality. It certainly seems like the weather patterns are changing – rain when we least expect it, snow blanketing the midlands, beautifully crisp and sunny winter days followed by very, very cold conditions! And stock markets taking a real beating internationally, but leading to our own blue chip companies being on the receiving end of problems created elsewhere in the world.

Every day new theories abound on the relative strength of the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) and with the downgrading of the USA credit rating, the world as we know it seems to be turning upside down. Our national leadership, quite correctly I believe, are ensuring that we focus on what most economists view as the future direction the world is taking where the lead comes from the Brazils, Indias, Chinas and Russia of the world. And so for us, IBSA, BRICS and such combinations will hopefully allow us to weather the economic storms raging on the world markets. Balance In eThekwini we have to be mindful of these global shifts as we try and model the best financial scenarios going forward for our city.

We certainly know that it is not just the poor that require developmental solutions from us, but the many middle-income ratepayers are feeling quite stretched in meeting their everyday costs. We have tried our best to ensure, however, that we provide realistic solutions going forward. We firmly believe that our focus on trying to find the best financial balance between the economic, social and Environmental needs of our city when coupled with ensuring that we increase our provisions for maintenance place us in the best and most realistic and advantageous position going forward. Cost Comparison Having said this, it was good to also see that compared with other metropolitan areas in South Africa, we come out very favourably in a municipal cost comparison. National Treasury, in their 2011/2012 assessment of municipal expenditure compared average costs in each of the metropolitan areas.

If we take the three largest cities – eThekwini, Johannesburg and Cape Town— the average costs of monthly household bills (see sidebar) are R2083.56, R2153.55 and R 3080.51 It is not simply the fact that eThekwini is the lowest average monthly cost per household that we should be noting, but that included in our costs are provisions already made for reducing future increases to the extent that we can. For example, over the past three years we have spent over R3 billion in gutting and replacing our water pipeline, something no other city has done.

This is already reducing nonrevenue water loss and will be of great benefit going forward as other cities try and address their old infrastructure. And our budget of more than R3 billion we are spending on upgrading our electricity infrastructure will show great dividends in the next few years.Best governed Johannesburg's billing challenges around rates and consolidated billing may well impact on their rates going forward. Having said this we are trying to do everything we can to keep cost increases within reason and hope that going forward we remain South Africa's best financially governed municipality.

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April 28
Welcome to your Blog!
by  ADAPTIT\Lyle.YoungNo presence information  on 4/28/2011 10:22 AM

To begin using your site, click Create a Post under Blog Tools.

What is a Blog?

A Blog is a Web site designed to help you share information related to a particular subject area in the form of text, images, links, and other media such as video. Blogs can be used as team sites, news sites, journals, diaries, and more.

Blog posts usually consist of frequent short postings and are typically displayed in reverse chronological order (newest entries first). Blogs encourage site visitors to interact with one another by leaving comments on posts.

Blogs can be also be used as a team communication tool. Keep team members informed by providing a central place for links and relevant news.

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April 04
We must work hard to root out corruption
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 4/4/2011 10:16 AM

The National, provincial and local governments in South Africa could easily be characterised as developing and improving, but still relatively weak. While we have a world-class constitution and legislation which sets us apart from most government the world, we cannot say the same for our governance processes

I thought long and hard about this point when appearing on a panel before the President's National Planning Commission looking at institutions and governance. Proceedings began with a very sobering analysis by Willie Hofmeyer on corruption. When we have more than 3 000 public servants doing business with their own departments, yet only 5% are disciplined, you realise we have serious challenges to overcome.

When it came to my turn I found myself sandwiched between the former Director-General of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of SARS. In SARS we have an amazingly effective, efficiently and value-focused organisation, while Home Affairs remains beset by serious governance challenges particularly around efficiency levels and their own scale and brand of corruption.

In fairness, Home Affairs have some of the most marketable products of government – identity books, passports, and birth certificates. These are very saleable commodities and unless we invest massively in systems and people we will not overcome the dysfunctionality of Home Affairs.

As we detailed the challenges we have, from incompetent people being appointed, to a widely dispersed system of financial management, to poor controls, to a lack of values, and to an inability to share information across departments and spheres of government, I realised that we have to root out the scourge of corruption. This will only happen if we focus on our core values of delivering services to our people efficiently, effectively and economically and we ensure high ethical standards.

I cannot understand why any public servants belong to businesses, for example. But we have to ensure that we retain what skilled, competent and experienced people we have in the state and start to grow them through talent management, the payment of market allowances and higher level master classes for younger entrants into the management core.

We must do everything we can to rid ourselves of the scourge of corruption and create systems where, for example, we share information which will indicate who is receiving money for purposes which are unlawful. If we don't do so now, the emerging, vibrant, democratic developmental state which we are all committed to building, will wither away and become yet another rotten core of corrupt public parasites, not serving anyone except their own fat stomachs.

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April 02
Climate Change: It’s Time To Act
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 4/2/2011 6:21 PM

Each year I realise more and more how difficult it is to plan for climate change. The effects are hitting us in many ways: storms; migration from rural areas; pressure on our infrastructure; agriculture; health and energy resources. We must find new ways to plan, adapt and mitigate. Livestock are hard hit by high temperatures and millions of birds have been lost during heat waves. Milk and cattle production are under threat too. A change in rainfall patterns will affect crop production and more resilient crops need to be cultivated or developed.

 

Heat waves affect people too and can lead to a loss of life. Related illnesses and injury are not well understood and more research needs to be done. Increased rainfall means a bigger threat of water-borne diseases, while decreased rainfall heightens the risk of famine and malnutrition. Excessive temperatures also affect the transport sector, damaging roads, lowering the performance of aircraft and warping rail lines. Unusual rainfall patterns will put pressure on storm water drainage and roads, and the capacity of this infrastructure will need to be increased to cope. Higher temperatures increase the demand for water. For example, water is needed to cool metal structures like bridges to prevent heat failure. Water quality is compromised because heat promotes rampant algae growth, killing fish in rivers and lakes. Coasts and nearby wetland ecosystems are vulnerable to sea level rises. In eThekwini most coastal land is undeveloped, but a few metres above the current high tide line could be lost to a sea-level rise, among them some economically important and coastal recreation areas, if trends continue. However, seawalls and other measures can help stem the tide.

 

Extreme events such as flash floods, cyclones, tsunamis, mudslides and landslides, are occurring more frequently due to climate change. The world as we know it is being adversely affected by climate change and that is why eThekwini has developed a locally rooted climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. As we move towards the UN's Climate Change conference at the end of the year we will reflect on each of these sectors and what steps we must take in this changing world.

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January 21
2010 A Cracker, Much Expected For 2011
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 1/21/2011 6:19 PM

In many ways 2010 will go down as a very important year for eThekwini. Our city and country successfully hosted the Fifa World Cup, putting us firmly on the international map. We have already seen that impact with an increase in visitors and with our city now receiving international coverage in its own right. The event also ensured that we would be the beneficiaries of significant injections of financial resources from the National Government, allowing us to improve road, information and communication technology, tourism, sporting, public transport and other infrastructure.

All these investments were designed and built thinking of our needs well beyond 2010 and will be assets for our city well into the future. Last year also created a great opportunity for the unicipality's management to stop working in silos and start to collectively work together to solve problems of poor management. We may still have some who believe it is better to blame others than contribute to finding solutions, but I am proud to lead a team now more focused than ever on serving the public. Our December festive season was one of the best we have ever held and visitors kept commending us for our newly designed beachfront. By all accounts tourism and business did pretty well, in spite of the recession. Now 2011 is before us and holds out much hope for continuing to improve the economy, address social problems and ensure we become more sustainable. During May we are due to hold the local elections and we hope to continue the trend of having smooth, violence-free elections.

During July we host the International Olympic Committee's 123rd session and for them this will be the first time they have ever held such a meeting in Africa. This is a great opportunity to showcase our city to the world. But we will end the year with probably the largest conference ever held in Africa, the UN's COP17/CMP9 Climate Change conference. This conference has the potential to make significant progress to ensure that future generations live in greater harmony with the environment. We have much work to do to ensure the success of the conference and together with all of our staff, councillors and the people of the city, I have no doubt we will do a great job. I have just returned from Hyderabad, India. I was invited by the organisers of the Geospatial World Forum to present a talk on our city's best practices in using information technologies to improve our governance. The progress over the past decade in these technologies have been amazing and popularly now find expression in the way Google Maps are used, how we use GPS systems to locate ourselves, how we now find directions through instruments on our dashboard and how we analyse and address crime through looking at where and when it happens using such systems. While it is an honour for our city's work to be recognised by the world geographical information community, I was also proud to find that at the awards dinner where 16 companies were honoured from throughout the world for their excellence and innovations, two came from South Africa. Anglo Platinum and Durban's Dataworld were recognised after being assessed by an international panel of experts. It's unbelievable that a country of our size has two companies whose work is seen as world best practice. I have no doubt we have a great year ahead and wish everyone all the very best for the New Year.

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January 04
Great Expectations for Climate Indaba
by  Siphokazi Mxinwa  on 1/4/2011 6:25 PM

THE United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international treaty arising from the UN's conference on the environment and development. The treaty aims to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions and minimise their impact on the earth's climate. The conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of the Convention that meets annually to advance implementation of the Convention. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol introduced binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and it is expected that the extension of this protocol will form a key element of the negotiations at COP17. South Africa will host the conference and several associated events from 27 November to 9 December. This is probably the largest conference of its sort ever held in Africa and as a country and Municipality we have a lot to do to assist the negotiations and ensure the thousands of delegates have a wonderful stay in our city. The UNFCCC staff and other UN staff will make up about 380 delegates, while parties and observer states account for between 5 000 and 6 000 delegates. Observers include UN and IGO's (about 800), accredited NGOs (4 000-6 000), non-accredited NGOs (number unknown at this stage) and media (about 1 300). These are the official delegates, but many others may turn up during the event.

 

Some of the key areas where it is hoped there will be positive agreements reached in Durban and KwaZulu-Natal are eThekwini's operationalisation of the Clean Technology Mechanism and Green Climate Fund, the establishment of an Adaptation Committee and clarity on the future of the Kyoto Protocol. As host country, South Africa has a critical role to play in facilitating these negotiations in a transparent way. Given that our city is regarded highly as both an innovative and well managed city we are also looking at ways in which we can forge partnerships between cities in striving to show off their best practices as well as in inputting suggestions to the UN process. We are part of a broad network of cities promoting strategies and actions aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting cities to the impacts of climate change. Over the next few months we will spell out our many initiatives aimed at ensuring we properly manage for the impacts of climate change.

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