ETHEKWINI FEATURE

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E T H E K W I N I M U N I C I P A L I T Y

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eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo has a lot on his plate. He has promised to deal with corruption in the municipality

and to speed up service delivery, amongst other things. The key to achieving that is better supply chain

management, he says. By Ian Armitage

S U P P LY C H A I N M A N AG E M E N T

S E R V I C E D E L I V E R Y L I E S I N

e Thekwini Municipality is described by its peers as Africa’s best run and financially strongest

local government. It continues to make strides forward.

But it is not without challenges.New eThekwini mayor James

Nxumalo promised to deal with corruption in the municipality.

Reporting on his first 100 days in office in September, Nxumalo said that the fight was starting to take shape. The council’s executive committee was finalising the anti-corruption and whistle-blowing policies, which would be adopted by the full council.

In his first speech, Nxumalo vowed to deal strictly with councillors doing business with the municipality and said they should declare their business interests.

“Corruption, fraud and maladministration are on top of the agenda,” he tells South Africa Magazine. “We are being very strict this time. We will not allow councillors to do business with the Municipality. Councillors are being trained to understand that the law does not allow them to do business with the Council and those own companies have been urged to resign from those companies as a matter of urgency and declare their business interests. That includes Municipal officials.”

Councillors are being trained on the relevant acts and regulations governing the conduct of public servants.

eThekwini Municipality FEATURE

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Councillors are being trained to

understand that the law does not allow

them to do business with the

Council and those own companies have been urged to resign

from those companies as a matter of urgency

“All Municipal departments should adhere to the supply chain management processes and should not flout those procedures, particularly in the awarding of tenders,” Nxumalo says.

To curb corruption, the municipality had hired a compliance officer, a first for eThekwini, who will assess all tender documents and supply-chain management processes to ensure there were no shortcuts, non-compliance or irregularities.

The anti-corruption policies were formulated before Nxumalo had taken office, but they have been implemented under his administration.

Nxumalo says he has met two challenges in his 100 days: shack fires and the increasing number of informal settlements in the city.

He said the city was running out of land to build low-cost homes on and this could hamper service delivery.

“We have the eThekwini Municipal Supply Chain Management Policy in place and always look to improve the procurement process,” Nxumalo says. “This means the municipality can obtain best value from the contracts it enters into and can minimise the administration costs of buying. Significantly, our Supply Chain Management Unit is also responsible for helping to achieve local economic empowerment. All procurement must comply with the municipality’s rules and policies as well as provincial and national laws. The municipality currently has a budget in excess of R28.6 billion and is committed to service delivery.”

eThekwini’s supply regulations are garnered from government’s Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

“We are building much stronger relationships [with suppliers] now,” Sandile Ngcobo, Deputy Head of Supply Chain Operations at eThekwini Municipality, tells South Africa Magazine. “The work we have done has had a positive effect on them also: they are becoming more transparent.

“We are in a position where we can properly evaluate them and make sure they are the right fit.”

Clause 14 of the eThekwini Municipal Supply Chain Management Policy requires that the municipality keeps a list of accredited prospective providers of goods and services that must be used for the procurement requirements through written or verbal quotations and formal price quotations. The municipality is required to - at least once a year - invite prospective providers of goods or services to apply for evaluation and listing as accredited prospective providers.

“eThekwini Municipality can only [deal] with suppliers that have been registered and accredited,” Ngcobo says.

The only way the municipality will issue orders, he



Mayor James Nxumalo

Contact Us:209 Umhlanga Rocks DrDurban North4051Tel: 031 563 8180Fax: 031 563 7912Email: [email protected]: [email protected].

stressed, is to suppliers that are registered and accredited.

The system works.“We have really improved

our procurement competency and received an Institute of Purchasing and Supply South Africa Appreciation Award for its procurement training and skills development work in the public sector,” Ngcobo adds. “We have raised procurement knowledge, in the industry and within eThekwini’s supply chain operations, to an expected level of professional competency.

“I feel that we have made real improvements in the skills [of our supply chain personnel] and are on the right track;

this is in line with our centre of excellence programme.

“Of course it is early days, but we will see more benefits in the future as we get better understanding of things through the tools we have in place, the technology we are investing in and the systems we have.”

Mayor Nxumalo has been described by many as the perfect man for the job with his experience in local government.

He will head the KwaZulu-Natal’s biggest Municipality with a budget of R28.6 billion.

“We have done a lot as a Municipality in terms of infrastructure development but we always want to do better,” he continues. “We want to accelerate



This charter will take

local government

forward

our programmes, like the provision of basic services. We all know that there is a housing backlog.”

In light of this, the pace of new houses being built each year is being increased and Nxumalo has repeatedly urged councillors, ward committees and the community to work together to fast track service delivery. “Service delivery should be people driven; it should not be top down. That is why public participation will be a priority,” he says.

Durban recently hosted the 17th Conference of Parties (COP-17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Nxumalo led the signing of the Durban Adaptation Charter for Local Governments, a significant milestone.

Mayors and senior city officials from more that 100 cities from around the world, including Nxumalo, committed their cities to intensify action and accelerate their adaptation efforts.

Nxumalo says that achieving agreement on the Durban Adaptation Charter was a

“watershed moment” and critical to tackling climate change.

“The world’s urban population is growing rapidly and cities need to place adaptation at the core of their future urban development strategies and climate change response plans. Globally, local governments play a strategic role in addressing climate change because of their direct responsibilities in delivering services to communities,” he says. “Cities have also been able to demonstrate leadership and innovation in finding solutions to the impacts of climate change. This charter will take local government forward in a partnership to deal with the many ecological, social and economic impacts that face cities around the world as a result of climate change.”

Local governments are blazing a trail for nation states to follow, he says.

Durban-born Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, is a fan, agreeing: “It is one of the few practicable things that is going to come out of this entire COP.” END

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