DA Critique of the City’s Bloated Organization Structure sends City Manager back to the Drawing Board
by Cllr. Golden Maduana — DA Spokesperson for Corporate and Shared Services in Ekurhuleni
Date: 31 January 2024
Release: Immediate
Type: Media Statement
In the 25 January 2024, Extraordinary Council Meeting, the Democratic Alliance (DA) raised concern about the recent proposed organisational structure for the city as tabled in Council. The critique from the DA eventually lead to the withdrawal of the structure as it was considered irregular and bloated.
The City is currently in the process of reviewing its staff establishment in line with the legislative framework, the last organisational structure was approved in October 2019, which granted the Accounting Officer (City Manager) delegated authority to approve minor structural amendments. Certain functions were moved within and/or between Departments to ensure proper alignment of functions and reporting lines. Other issues that were addressed during this process were related to the abolishment of certain positions, duplication of functions, omissions, change of designations and reporting line changes where necessary.
During the Council Meeting, the DA raised concern about the completion of placements for the 2019 review structure, the estimated R 38,773,751.00 savings in Rand Value should the new structure be adopted, the positions to be abolished and the new positions to be created in the structure.
Amongst the changes made, the DA welcomed the creation of the Office of the Ombudsman which it has been pushing for since 2017. Concerns were however raised around the bloating of the structure with the creation of the Spokesperson and Public Relations Officer positions in the Office of the Speaker, as the Spokesperson can be tasked to do the Speaker’s public relations too.
In the Office of the Executive Mayor, the structure remained bloated with a Chief Legal Specialist and Senior Legal Specialist, as well as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer position that could be trimmed as originally proposed in the initial review.
Concerns were also raised around the conversion of Category 1 positions to contract posts, which would have significant political implications for the City.
In the Office of the City Manager, numerous irregularities were found. A proposal was made to move the City’s Internal Audit Department to the City Manager’s Office, which would significantly impact its autonomy and independence. This proposal is unlawful and irrational. In all Cities, Internal Audit is independent and cannot be reduced into a unit that reports to CM. This department submits reports to the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and therefore, its independence must be respected. The internal audit performance measures are also an important function, required by legislation to ensure accountability on key performance indicators, performance targets, and the financial statements of the City.
Another irrational proposal was to move the Forensic Section to Legal. Questions were raised around the reporting lines of the Head of Forensic reports to the HOD of Legal and its impact on the investigation of the staff in the Legal Department. Another disturbing proposal was the movement of the Risk Department to Legal. The independence of this unit should also not be tampered with. The DA recommended that the Internal Audit unit and the Risk Department be combined to form an independent department.
The combining of Real Estate, City Planning and Economic Development was another bone of contention. The only two departments that may be combined efficiently are Real Estate and City Planning as both are in the Built Environment.
However, adding Economic Development to the cluster will complicate the processes as this will be a monster department with red tape. Economic Development is completely outside the built environment, as such to add it to these two departments would mess up the City’s intentions of development.
The DA recommended that the Real Estate with City Planning departments be combined. Each one of the two units must, however, have a Head (not Heads of Departments) who report to the Head of Department. By so doing, each unit will be managed by a specialist Town Planner and a specialist Property Expert. Economic Development should instead be moved to the Finance Department as the combination of Finance and Economic development is a trend in major organizations.
The status and functioning of Ekurhuleni Project Management Office (EPMO) remains vague. Per the item, the EPMO remains an independent department. The Head of EPMO was not appointed by the Council, so it cannot be a stand-alone but must report to an HOD. This Unit has also been criticized for approving IPWs for all departments in the city, which is stalling service delivery significantly. We therefore recommend that the EPMO reports to Finance as a Division.
We welcome the transfer of the grass-cutting budget of the Sports, Heritage, and Recreation Cluster to the Environment and the Waste Management Department. This is an important change that will improve service delivery and centralize grass-cutting in the Parks Department.
The incorporation of the Environmental Health and Waste Management Division is another issue of concern. Environmental health is a unique and big department on its own which deals with air quality control, food inspections, sourcing of environmental health practices and ensuring compliance with legislation. It is therefore better suited to the Health and Social Development Cluster,
In general, the structure lacks technical staff in departments. The proposed structure does not make provision for employing more technicians at an operational level. Departments like Energy, Waste, ICT and Real Estate need technicians to bolster operations at a technical level. There are also too many Divisional Heads. Although the item suggests the cutting of HODs, it is adding more Divisional Heads in its place. The structure is therefore bloated with Divisional Heads. The DA recommended that they reduce the number of Divisional Heads significantly and use the savings to appoint more technicians at a lower level to enhance service delivery.
Ultimately, we should be prioritizing critical and service delivery-focused positions which will help get the city working again, rather than bloating management structures.
Cllr. Golden Maduana
DA Spokesperson for Corporate and Shared Services
082 691 9635
