Afroprofiles: City of Johannesburg

Written by Administrator
Monday, 19 December 2011 09:44

The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) is a leading metropolitan municipality in the country and regarded as the economic powerhouse of South Africa, and that of the African continent. Joburg contributes over 16% to SA’s gross value added, and also accounts for over 16 percent of the national employment. A leader and key player in the economy - we strive towards becoming a world class African city!

The City continues to follow a policy of upgrading its facilities and as such requires funding the normal levels of replacement capital expenditure while ensuring a smooth flow of its normal service delivery operations. The Treasury division – the City’s central banker - is tasked with ensuring that our municipality is financially sound and committed to excellence and service delivery, and always strives to ensure that budgeted funds are made available in time to support the City’s mandate to residents, investors and South Africa.

The role of Treasury is to provide liquidity to CoJ and its municipal owned entities (MOEs) by sourcing the most efficient financial instruments at the best price and to administer and account for such instruments within the bounds of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), which guides and governs the financial operations of municipalities.  Treasury personnel have the skills to support the City’s on-going financial risk management activities and to ensure that these are carried out in the best interests of the City.

The realisation of the City’s business strategy depends on Treasury being able to take calculated financial risks within the City’s risk tolerance.  Sound management of financial risk enables the City to anticipate and respond to changes in the market environment, as well as make informed decisions under conditions of uncertainty.

As the City’s central banker, our vision is to ensure that at all times the various City departments have enough funds to undertake its activities, all which contribute in achieving the mandate of efficient service delivery to all the residents of Johannesburg. All we are saying is: we are taking our inhabitants along with us to greater heights.

We have a singular focus – to continue with our resolve on building a world class African city of the future.

However, striving towards a world class African city status does not absolve us from challenges; challenges which have got the residents talking. And as the City we have responded. We have responded by putting in place interventions to address these concerns.

In addition, a number of interventions are being rolled-out Citywide to address these challenges. A customer friendly model was officially launched by the leadership of the organisation in November. The key thrust of this model is customer centricity; whilst incorrect data, bills and errors are continually being addressed.

With this model, residents are encouraged to speak to the City as often as possible; be it good or bad times. The focus is to share an experience of partnership daily. We are proactively speaking to our customers and are keeping our channels of communication open. All we are saying is: you have a problem with our service, let us know and we will resolve it.

At the end of the day, the City has to offer a level of service that meets the needs of its clients, the citizens and residents of Jozi and for which they are prepared to pay; any other approach is unsustainable. This is a commitment that the City of Joburg takes seriously as it endeavours to regain its credibility; to deliver on its mandate to the people and businesses of Johannesburg.

It is essential to rebuild lost trust. The City of Joburg has earnestly embarked on that road; to deliver services to our clients, and to provide solutions to current challenges. At the core of this journey, the City is currently establishing a project nerve centre which will coordinate the activities of the various departments and MOEs in delivering the best service to the people of Jozi.

Each day we our implementing interventions that are addressing these challenges; each day we are doing our bit to make Jozi remain what it has always been – the heartbeat of the economy.