THE new acting municipal manager looks restless in his tenth floor office. He stands by the window and stares down at the East London city centre.

He wants to be there, among the citizens of Buffalo City instead of being tucked away from the action. It is perhaps unusual for government officials in this day and age.

But then this is Andile Fani, a man whose humble rural upbringing taught him to be part of the people and not above them.

That same background has made him straightforward, principled and stubborn enough to want to clear out the corruption poisoning the municipality.

"When you do not have ambitions of staying you can make decisions. I am acting on certain things that will make me unpopular. But I am not here to make friends," he says.

He took the hot seat at the beginning of November and intends to make drastic changes in his six-month tenure. However, he is sure it will feel like 12 months as he will be working day and night.

"I drive around at night and observe what is happening. The city is dirty. The beach and streets have been filthy for some time."

Already he has sought to clean up the city by implementing campaigns, which is one of his priorities. He has requested that the traffic department work till 11pm so they can keep the street cleaners safe during their working hours.

However, Fani knows cleanliness is not only up to the waste management unit. "Communities must also help us make this city clean."

His other concern is that of corruption within the municipality, which he feels has no place here. "[Buffalo City Municipality] is corrupt to the core. At administration level, it is sinking."

He speaks particularly of the supply chain unit's mishandling of tenders. "People are abusing supply chain. That department has no processes and no specification committee.

Some companies have been here for long and we will terminate those contracts.

This is not fair for other companies. Some have closed down because they were not given a fair opportunity to participate."

To fix these problems, Fani has drawn up a set of priorities that will reinvigorate the city.

These include:

• City clean-up campaigns;
• A turnaround strategy on financial management;
• Getting the council ready for the transformation to a metropolitan;
• Service delivery hotspots;
• A turnaround strategy on supply chain management;
• A turnaround strategy on audit findings;
• The appointment of a chief financial officer; and
• The appointment of a general manager for supply chain.

He knows he cannot do this work alone and will need the help of the rest of the municipality if he is to succeed. "The City has potential but it needs honest people in administration."

Fani was seconded from the provincial health department, where he served as the chief of staff. He intends on returning there after his stint with Buffalo City.