Institute of local government management conference
City hall auditorium, Nelson Mandela bay 27 September 2007
Paper delivered by Buffalo City executive mayor Zintle Peter

1. Introduction

Good morning, Madame Chairperson, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and comrades.

I have been allocated about thirty minutes to share some thoughts on the topic, "Elected Officials, Effective Management: Delivering on What Matters to Elected Officials."

Allow me to start with a frank impression of the way in which this topic is elaborated on in the Conference Programme, which I think betrays a subconscious bias on the part of the official who wrote it. We are told somewhat condescendingly that:

Elected officials (councillors) are elected to make high-level policies. They are elected because they promised people to improve their lives. Most often, elected officials come to their jobs unequipped to work as part of a team responsible for establishing strategic community policy.

Then the critical question is posed by the writer:

What tactics can be used to achieve promises made to the community while preserving professional management?

It is difficult for an elected politician not to interpret this as patronizing – even though perhaps this may not have been the intention of the writer – because if one reads between the lines, then the message seems clear:

• firstly, our role as public representatives and office-bearers is very narrow and limited to the arena of high-level policy-making;
• secondly, we were elected because we made promises to our people, rather than as advocates for the interests of our constituencies;
• thirdly, we generally lack the capacity to work co-operatively towards the realization of our developmental goals; and
• fourthly, there is an inherent tension between the asserting of political leadership and the ideal of "professional management".

It is left unstated in what specific ways we may be "unequipped" as public representatives – whether this could be politically, linguistically, intellectually, or perhaps morally!

Madame Chairperson, in view of this somewhat provocative introduction to the topic, I think it is important for us to reflect on the actual reasons why I believe councillors are elected – meaning for what legal and functional purpose – with particular reference (if I may) to the election of the executive office-bearers of a municipality.

2. Why We Are Elected

2.1 The Constitutional Imperatives

Happily, councillors and political office-bearers have no cause to be confused about the reasons for their election, because Chapter 7 of the Constitution of 1996 spells out very clearly the objects of local government, the developmental duties of municipalities as well as their powers and functions.

It is also made very clear that all of the executive and legislative authority of a municipality is vested in its Municipal Council.

Section 152 tells us that the objects of local government are:

• To provide democratic and accountable government for local communities;
• To ensure the provision of services in a sustainable manner;
• To promote social and economic development;
• To promote a safe and healthy environment; and
• To encourage community participation in local government matters.

Section 153 goes on to impose on us the developmental duty to conduct our business in a manner that "[gives] priority to the basic needs of the community, and … [promotes their] social and economic development …".

2.2 The Imperatives of Municipal Legislation

The Municipal Structures Act (in section 19) goes on to require a municipal council as a collective to:

… annually review

(a) the needs of the community;
(b) its priorities to meet those needs;
(c) its processes for involving the community;
(d) its organizational and delivery mechanisms for meeting the needs of the community; and
(e) its overall performance in achieving [its constitutional] objectives …

Section 4 of the Municipal Systems Act adds meat to the above bones, elaborating on these core obligations by listing the duties of municipal Councils as follows:

• to exercise the municipality’s executive and legislative authority
• to use the resources of the municipality in the best interests of the local community
• to provide democratic and accountable government
• to encourage the involvement of the local community
• to strive to ensure that municipal services are provided to the local community in a financially and environmentally sustainable manner
• to consult the local community about municipal services
• to ensure equitable access to municipal services
• to promote and undertake development in the municipality;
• to promote gender equity
• to promote a safe and healthy environment
• to contribute to the progressive realisation of the fundamental human rights contained in sections 24, 25, 26, 27 and 29 of the Constitution.
• to respect the rights of citizens and those of other persons

The Municipal Systems Act is quite clear in Schedule 1 (the Code of Conduct for Councillors) in spelling out the specific responsibilities of an individual councillor:

Councillors are elected to represent local communities on municipal councils, to ensure that municipalities have structured mechanisms of accountability to local communities, and to meet the priority needs of communities by providing services equitably, effectively and sustainably within the means of the municipality. In fulfilling this role councillors must be accountable to local communities and report back at least quarterly to constituencies on council matters, including the performance of the municipality in terms of established indicators.

Clause 2 of the Code goes on to impose on all councillors the obligation to:

(a) perform the functions of office in good faith, honestly and [in] a transparent manner; and
(b) at all times act in the best interest of the municipality and in such a way that the credibility and integrity of the municipality are not compromised.

These obligations apply to each and every councillor, including the elected office-bearers of Council [meaning the Executive Mayor or Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, the Speaker or a member of an Executive Committee (if any)].

If a municipality has an Executive Mayor, of course, then a range of additional and quite specific obligations are placed on the shoulders of this individual in terms of section 56 of the Municipal Structures Act. In summary, an Executive Mayor must:

• identify the needs of the municipality;
• review and evaluate those needs in order of priority;
• recommend strategies, programmes and services to address the priority needs;
• recommend or determine the best way to deliver those strategies, programmes and services to the maximum benefit of the community;
• identify and develop criteria including key performance indicators in terms of which progress in the implementation of the strategies, programmes and services can be evaluated;
• evaluate progress against the KPIs;
• review the performance of the municipality in order to improve its economy, efficiency and effectiveness;
• monitor the management of the municipality’s administration;
• oversee the provision of services in a sustainable manner.
• perform delegated duties and exercise delegated powers;
• ensure meaningful community involvement in the affairs of the Municipality;
• report on the effect of public consultation on the decisions of the Council; and
• report to the municipal council on all decisions taken by the Executive Mayor.

Chapter 7 of the Municipal Finance Management Act has more recently added to these onerous burdens a number of mayoral responsibilities relating to budget processes, budgetary control and the monitoring and oversight of the municipality’s financial management.

The tabulation of all of these statutory functions and duties has taken some time, but I consider it important for the purpose of rebuttal. The suggestion that councillors may be elected for the simple purpose of high-level policy formulation and setting the broad strategic agenda of municipalities, and that they should then settle back into the role of non-participatory spectators of the developmental process, is not in any way supported by the spirit or letter of post-1994 legislation.

In fact, I would go further to say that the suggestion of such a narrowly limited role would offend the vision of a representative and participatory democracy that has been crafted by the founding fathers and mothers of a new South Africa.

2.3 The Imperatives of the Political Agenda of the Majority

In asking ourselves, "Why are we here, what is our role, and how best can we achieve our objectives?", we have looked at the imperatives of the Constitution and the imperatives of municipal legislation. This brings me to the imperatives of the political vision and agenda of the majority of our people who have elected us.

I would like to believe that the great majority of councillors take seriously their duty to act in good faith, transparently and honestly and in the best interests of the municipality.

It is of course regrettable when the actions or statements of a minority of councillors at times undermine the credibility and integrity of a particular municipality.

Our experience of this is that it is not necessarily limited to the obvious offences that may be committed against the Code of Conduct for Councillors, but in fact the credibility and integrity of a municipality may also be undermined when parties with divergent interests become overly-robust and adversarial in the manner in which they engage in political discourse.

For example, an unsubstantiated allegation of corruption, perhaps made for short-term political gain, may be almost as damaging to a municipality as the corrupt act itself. We all know that it is the first prominent front-page headline that is remembered by the public, and not the retraction that is printed at the bottom corner of page 5 one week later.

While I fully appreciate that elected members of other political parties that represent minority interests may well see their role in a different light, I can only speak as a member of the majority party that has deployed me to my office and has entrusted both me and my fellow councillors as a collective to implement the mandate that was supported overwhelmingly by the voters in 2006.

This is a mandate that was well-articulated in the ANC’s local election manifesto, which highlighted the opportunity that we have during our term of office:

• to enhance and deepen local democracy
• to improve the participation of citizens in the process of decision-making, in the allocation of resources, and the identification of local needs and priorities
• to put the people at the centre of development, not merely as beneficiaries, but as drivers of transformation.

The Manifesto went on to say that we as the ANC are committed to striving to ensure that increasing numbers of South Africans are more meaningfully able to enjoy the full dignity of freedom.

Our Manifesto said that we want local government to be effective, democratic and accountable. It said that we will work with communities to speed up the delivery of free basic services, build sustainable human settlements and viable communities, improve public services, build infrastructure, create job opportunities and fight poverty. It said that we will work to ensure that everybody involved in local government understands and honours their duty to respect and serve the people.

You might say, Madame Chairperson (as some do), that the ANC is "long on promises, but short on delivery". Allow me to repeat what I said earlier this year in my State of the City & Budget Address in Buffalo City about the fruits of our national policies and strategic choices:

This government has broadened its tax base by a proportion far in excess of the economic growth in the country, and has been able consequently to relieve tax pressure particularly on lower earners, but also to expand massively access to welfare and social security for those who require the assistance of the state to meet their basic needs.

This government has seen the so-called middle class expand rapidly as the benefits of employment equity and improved education have improved the economic mobility of increasing numbers of our people who had previously been consigned to a third-class existence in the land of their birth.

This government has vastly expanded the access of our country’s poor to basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation and has housed millions more of our people in the past decade.

But, Madame Chairperson, I went on to remind my fellow councillors that we cannot rest on the laurels of our national successes – as an American politician once said: "All politics is local".

We are keenly aware that robust macro-economic fundamentals do not necessarily translate into jobs for the unemployed of a local municipality, and strategies, policies and vision statements do not feed our children. We know very well that none of us who occupy the privileged spaces of our formal economy can comfortably enjoy the fruits of growth unless we do everything we can to ensure that the benefits of such growth are shared as widely as possible.

This then is our fundamental task and mandate as elected public representatives at a local level. I must say that I am personally proud of the many positive things that we have achieved over the past decade, even though it will always be said that we could have done more, or done it better or faster. Normally such criticisms are made with the perfect wisdom of hindsight.

My pride is however tempered with a sense that collectively, we still have an enormous task ahead of us as we struggle to cement the building blocks of social and economic transformation that will ultimately create the new and inclusive towns and cities in which all of us can enjoy the reality of the better life that we have longed for and worked for.

The Election Manifesto of my party in 2006 spelt out a programme that required us to work more closely with other spheres to improve the way government provides housing, to improve services at hospitals and clinics, schools, police stations and other government centres in our communities, to pool resources to build more and better roads, infrastructure for water and sanitation, and schools and clinics where they are needed, in rural and urban areas alike.

The Manifesto said that by using the approach of the expanded public works programme in providing infrastructure, we will ensure that more people have work opportunities and are given skills. And by implementing other special support programmes in rural and urban areas where the poorest people live, we would add our weight to the agenda of government to support the creation of sustainable livelihoods and to share the benefits of growth.

The ANC said that it will strengthen participatory democracy by making Ward Committees more effective. To this end we have put in place training programmes to make sure that councillors are better able to fulfil their duties. We are determined to strengthen popular forums in order to build an inclusive and truly developmental system of local government. The ANC said that we are committed to building a non-sexist South Africa. As a sign of our commitment to achieving this goal, half of our election candidates were women.

ANC councils are also required to make youth development a critical pillar of the programmes and structures of local government. There should be no ANC councillor who is confused about his or her role and duty as a representative of the people, because before we were elected, we took a public oath. Each one of us was required to say: I solemnly declare that I stand to be elected as a representative of my community, without motives of material advantage or personal gain.

As a councillor I will place my energies and skills at the disposal of my community, and carry out the tasks given to me. I will work side by side with the whole community as we strive to build a better life for all South Africans.
I will fight against corruption in any guise or form.
I will listen to the views of the community and hold a public meeting with all community members to report back on my work, at least four times a year.
I will live in the community that has elected me.

3. The Political/Administrative Interface

So, Madame Chairperson, let me revert to the critical question: How can we achieve our political goals and give effect to our promises while maintaining the neutrality and professionalism of our administrative management?

As I said before, it is a very loaded question.

It presumes that a tension must necessarily exist between the political agenda of transformation and the principle of managerial professionalism.

It presumes that elected public representatives and the executive leadership of municipalities in some way may threaten or undermine the ability of local public servants to perform their functions in a manner that is responsible, prudent and lawful.

It presumes that the ambitious idealism of the councillor who thinks in his ignorance that he can change the world, needs to be tempered by the realism of the expert professional who after all, knows better what is possible and what is not possible.

Of course, there will be a tension between those who take seriously the challenges of socio-political and economic transformation and those who may be tempted to adopt a "business-as-usual" approach to the management of local government.

There will certainly also be a tension between the official (or the councillor) who argues against or seeks to obstruct the transformative programmes of the majority that are founded on the constitutional imperative and duty to prioritise the basic needs of our communities.

And there will most definitely be a tension between, on the one hand, anybody whose primary agenda is to preserve the comforts of the more privileged suburban constituencies at the expense of those who remain disadvantaged and marginalized, and those of us on the other hand whose mandate is to share the benefits of growth, to use the resources of the state more equitably than they were used in the past and to strive ultimately to create sustainable livelihoods in integrated human settlements where all South Africans can live as equals.

Of course, there will be some who will want willfully to mislead us to believe that we are much more interested in unsustainable redistribution than in the sustainable creation of new wealth. Our track record in the management of South Africa’s macro-economic development proves the lie to this claim. There is no question at all that in fact the rich have generally become much richer in this country since the advent of democracy, even though they seem to have found much more to complain about!

There will also be some who will argue – perhaps in some cases based on practical experience of local power dynamics – that elected office-bearers and councillors are not primarily concerned with the constraints of prudent and professional management of municipalities. What matters more to them is the achievement of their political goals, the fulfillment of their promises, and the distribution of patronage to their constituencies – the tendency to hand out of capital projects to supportive communities.

I am of the view that the extent of this problem in South Africa may be exaggerated. Of course, politicians will become frustrated and impatient when the quality and reliability of services begin to disintegrate, when there is a perception of biased allocation of resources in favour of a dominant urban centre at the expense of a smaller town, or when it sometimes seems that local officials lack the necessary appreciation of the importance of transforming our standards of customer care by putting people first (batho pele).

The reason for politicians becoming agitated is normally that communities are becoming agitated, and communities do not become agitated in a vacuum – normally, the root of their communal frustration lies in the fact that the legitimate expectation that they have to be treated with fairness and respect, to be taken seriously, and gradually to begin to see tangible signs of the better life that they deserve, is being frustrated.

Of course, we understand very well that the best way to ensure that we continue to move forward in tangible and measurable ways to build the promised better life for all, is to make sure that we have the necessary professional capacity in place – the administrators, the engineers, the financial managers, the computer technicians, the development planners and the strategic thinkers – without whom all of our plans are likely to flounder.

We have taken a number of steps that demonstrate our commitment to efficient, effective and economical service-delivery and proper financial management in municipalities.

We have made very clear our need for competent and qualified managers in our municipalities through the legislation and guidelines that have been promulgated – the Systems Act, the MFMA and the prescribed minimum core competency requirements for senior managers.

All municipalities are required to define clearly in writing the roles and areas of responsibility of their political office-bearers and senior managers, and the accountability of a Municipal Manager cannot be diluted by a councillor encroaching onto his managerial terrain.

We have also created a framework for more objectively monitoring, measuring and rewarding those managers who achieve or exceed the expected level of professional performance. A Municipal Manager must be the strategic manager of basic service delivery, institutional development and transformation, local economic development, financial sustainability, good governance and public participation.

None of us therefore should be confused about the responsibility of the municipal manager for the formation and hands-on management of an economical, effective, efficient and accountable administration.

But what we cannot and will not accept is a dictatorship of the bureaucrats, where the identification of community needs and priorities, the challenges of equity in service delivery and the imperative to build a new and inclusive society take second place to the protection of the interests of the rich and the powerful.

4. Conclusion

Madame Chairperson, let me conclude by saying that I am confident that we are on the right track – the track of sustainable development of our communities where we balance social, economic and environmental imperatives – and that the management and political leadership of our municipalities generally is working together to create a new style of developmental activism in our country in which we are professional in our management of public resources, but also responsive and accountable to those who elected or appointed us to deliver the better life that they demanded, that we promised, and that we all deserve.

I thank you.

N.C. Peter Executive Mayor, Buffalo City Municipality

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