PHUMLA WILLIAMS | One swallow can’t save a city

One swallow has flown North to “save Joburg”, in the form of DA leader Helen Zille. However, one person cannot save the city from the deep-seated systemic challenges it faces. Leadership across the board is crucial, from the executive mayor to members of the mayoral committee, to administrative leadership and importantly, the board members of municipal-owned entities (MOEs), which are responsible for delivering important municipal services.

The leadership must be credible, ethical, competent, passionate and committed to improving Joburg for all its residents.

As Ferrial Adam, executive manager of WaterCAN, said recently in response to the water crisis: “Residents will not be judging politicians in 2026 by how loud their slogans are, or how slick their campaign ads look. They will judge them by whether water runs from their taps. The choice is brutally simple: invest boldly, fix the system, listen to the people and hold leaders accountable — or watch Johannesburg dry up, literally and politically.”

One of the key campaigns of the Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) is for ethical leadership. At our August summit, we proposed measures to improve the city’s selection processes, ensuring that senior administrative leadership, including the city manager and board members of MOEs, is competent and ethical.

The public needs to be able to monitor the process used to select leaders.

This is particularly important in the face of unresolved controversies surrounding the appointment of a city manager, with serious allegations levelled against shortlisted candidates.

This is in addition to numerous allegations that inappropriate and politically motivated appointments appear to be the norm at the city’s boards. The Institute of Directors has called attention to the media reports that the Joburg Property Company (JPC) appointed a receptionist, a cashier and someone without matric to the JPC board — despite the entity managing over R8.7bn in property assets.

The JCA acknowledges that politicians should have the final say in choosing the most senior officials and board members to ensure that these leaders are committed to the programmes of the elected government. But politicians should not have unfettered power.

The process used to select leaders, whether it is for councillors, mayors, board members or the city manager and other senior city officials, is key and the public need to be able to monitor it. Here, we discuss, firstly, how to circumscribe political discretion in the appointment of senior administrative staff and, secondly, board appointments.

Regarding senior administrative staff, it goes without saying that the positions must be advertised. The next step is crucial (and seldom undertaken): a selection committee should be established that extends beyond politicians and the bureaucrats they can appoint. Ideally, it should include people who are independent of political interests, can reasonably be assumed to be committed to the public interest, and who are knowledgeable and skilled in the area in which the city seeks to make an appointment.

The selection process must be supported by robust and clear job descriptions and evaluation criteria; merely meeting minimum qualification standards is insufficient. The evaluation criteria should emphasise sectoral expertise and applied skills and enable the selection committee members to probe for conflicts of interest and commitment to a developmental mandate.

The selection process should also be transparent, allowing members of the public or oversight bodies to scrutinise the integrity of the process and raise objections if necessary. The process to appoint judges and the public protector is open for public viewing. Why not the same for a city manager?

To turn to appointments to the city’s boards, including for City Power, Pikitup, Johannesburg Roads Agency and Joburg Water — all of which are critical service providers to residents.

There is a lack of a robust selection process; there are no safeguards against patronage appointments, no transparency and it is unclear whether criminal and competency checks are conducted. The JCA believes that this policy should be substantially reviewed and strengthened to include:

• Nominations together with motivations from members of the public, which can include political parties, civil society and other stakeholders.
• Selection committees with independent persons with relevant technical and governance experience.
• Robust selection criteria, including ensuring that the skills and expertise are relevant to the board.
• Opening up interviews of potential board members to the public.
• The mayoral committee should recommend board appointments for council approval.
• All appointments should be subject to verification of criminal checks, qualifications, and lifestyle audits.

A team of competent and committed administrators and board members can go a long way in implementing the changes that politicians promise as we approach local government elections.

Williams is a steering committee member of the Joburg Crisis Alliance and a veteran activist. She is a former director-general of Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS). In 2018, she testified at the state capture commission about her opposition to the capture of the GCIS ministry.