cities

The right people are not necessarily in the right places doing the right things
Effective management is about doing the right thing (meeting needs) by doing things right (effective and
efficient implementation). Doing things right involves management practices that link inputs and activities
to outputs and outcomes. Accountability comes from being non-partisan and competent. Non-partisan
suggests that the administration focuses on the interests of all citizens in the city (not of the political
party in power), whereas competent (or merit) means that the administration can provide appropriate
technical and policy advice to support decision-making and implementation.
With some exceptions, metros have been largely successful at staffing, i.e. filling posts. In 2014, all but
two metros had permanently appointed municipal managers (MM) and chief financial officers (CFOs).
The exceptions were Buffalo City, which had neither a MM or a CFO, and Nelson Mandela Bay, which
had an acting CFO. Figure 6.7 shows the percentage of senior management posts and all posts filled
between 2010 and 2013.
Figure 6.7: Percentage of senior management (SM) and all posts filled
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BUFF CPT EKU ETH JHB MAN NMB
TSH
% of SM posts filled
% of all posts filled
Source: Data from Powell and O’Donovan (2015)
The capable cities index, developed by Powell and O’Donovan (2015) using Stats SA non-financial
census data for the period 2010–2014, measures “the capacity of cities to consistently fill staff and
management positions”, including the CFO and MM positions (ibid: 3).
From the study, the following observations can be made:
1. Capacity varies widely, with many smaller municipalities ranked higher than metros in terms of
posts filled. This suggests that different cities will require different strategies and norms when
filling posts.
2. Senior management vacancy rates are lower if cities have permanent MMs and CFOs. In metros,
vacancy rates at this level are lower than the norm.
218 State of South African Cities Report 2016