Managerial posts aplenty in province
EASTERN Cape municipalities recorded the highest increase in the number of managerial posts created in the past financial year, according to a survey released by Statistics South Africa.
While the survey did not indicate the impact this increase had on service delivery, the audit outcomes of the Eastern Cape local government revealed minimal improvement and generally slow progress towards unqualified audits.
The Non-financial Census of Municipalities looks at 283 municipalities in the 2010-11 financial year.
The survey revealed that Eastern Cape municipalities had the highest increase in the creation of managerial municipal positions, from 260 in 2010, to 291 last year – an increase of 31 posts.
Included in the figure is the increased vacancy rate for Section 57 managers, which are municipal managers, chief financial officers and directors, from 21 vacancies in 2010 to 46 last year.
All the other provinces, according to the report, have decreased in the creation of managerial positions except for Gauteng, which recorded a modest increase of eight posts.
Public Service Accountability Monitor acting co-director Jay Kruuse said the need for staff who can perform their duties efficiently and effectively still remained the greatest challenge.
He referred to comments made by the Auditor-General (AG).
In July, the AG said: “The three most prominent reasons for the poor audit opinions in this province are a lack of political will at approximately 50% of the municipalities, where political leaders are not taking the AGSA’s message towards ownership of key controls seriously; a lack of consequences for poor performance in the majority 98% of cases; and failure to appoint adequately qualified, skilled and competent individuals at 58% of municipalities.”
Kruuse said that the province continued to experience weak oversight by mayors and municipal councils, while many senior managers who were not adequately competent escaped sanction for unacceptable performance or illegal conduct.
Local Government Department spokesman Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha said yesterday that they had not looked at the survey yet and therefore could not comment.