INLSA

There is anticipation throughout our city as people await signs and messages which will convey the intentions of the new city manager, Sibusiso Sithole.

I’m sure the reality is that he has not had sufficient time yet to finalise any intentions beyond the broad ones of attending to some of the issues that seem to have brought the municipality into some disrepute.

It is a common expectation of new appointees, I suppose, that they should “turn things round”. But these presuppose that there are a whole range of issues that require such redirection.

The loss of respect for continuity, which is a contemporary characteristic, I believe, is not confined to the political arena. Institutions of national significance, both private and public, experience almost frenetic changes in leadership.

Not all of these are occasioned by failures of former incumbents, yet restructuring is inevitable, it seems, and strategic directions are revised, sometimes extensively.

It’s as if a new edifice cannot be built unless the existing one is dismantled, sometimes foundations and all.

In the long term, one wonders what real progress can be made if it’s so frequently like a board game in which an unfortunate player’s advance is arrested by landing on the square that sends him straight back to the start.

In the case of the eThekwini Municipality, there is exactly this kind of expectation. Sithole is regarded in many quarters as the dismantler rather than the builder. This is a new era, we are led to believe, during which political leadership will regain its power and the city will be healed.

People have forgotten already the heady successes of the city during the era that has come to an end. Adverse reporting by the auditor-general has inspired the belief that the municipality is rotten and that a purge of senior officials is required.

Public opinion, often led by media sensationalism, is not inclined to apply the correct perspective to A-G reports. He reports on issues of non-compliance and not exclusively, as many think, on corruption and dishonesty. That the latter exists in our municipality cannot be denied – it goes with the public service terrain throughout the world – but some procedural breaches relating to supply chain management, for example, have to do with pragmatic expediency in the sole interest of getting things done.

In many cases, public sector procurement procedures are the enemy of progress. The fact that allocated funds are so frequently left unspent is not attributable to incompetence alone; sometimes the processes are so lengthy and pernickety that time runs out.

While some would say that failure to comply with regulations, however onerous and obstructive they may be, represents incompetence, others would suggest that the demands on people’s time are such that compliance displaces delivery as the prime objective of municipal officials.

At this time, when eras are not really changing, incidentally – history is unlikely to record 2012 as a momentous year in the history of Durban. It is the same ruling party as before and the city is too entrenched an institution to be radically affected by a change in city management.

We can look forward to some fresh ideas and, no doubt, some changes in the management cadre. The new city manager needs the freedom to choose people with whom he feels he can work more comfortably, while the political leaders must have confidence in the executive that will implement its policies.

Sithole has inspired a good deal of confidence already. He is articulate and thoughtful and one gains the impression that he will be very reasoned in his decisions.

He is not a radical and feverish reformer who will cast aside the solid foundation stones which have been laid before within a period that will be recorded in the city’s history as one during which it achieved many accolades in respect of its progress and its management.

Indeed, it has been well-prepared for future advancement. Some complacencies need to be visited and removed, some objectives require revision in the light of changes that have come about and there is a need for rejuvenation in many spheres in the knowledge that nothing can remain static; inertia is the forerunner of decline.

Sibusiso Sithole has a challenging task. He comes with impressive credentials and the strong will to succeed. He deserves wholehearted support.

l Andrew Layman, CEO of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, can be contacted on 031 335 1000 or e-mail andrewlay man@durban chamber.co.za