Municipal managers could soon be forced to sign performance agreements to improve service delivery, Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi said on Tuesday.
”Now there will be a direct relation between what managers do and what the community expects of them,” Mufamadi said.
Legislation to introduce salary bands for municipal and senior managers at municipalities is also being considered.
The regulations are part of efforts by the national government to improve municipalities. The regulations set out how the performance of managers will be monitored and directed.
They include aspects such as job descriptions, employment contracts and performance agreements entered into between municipalities, municipal managers and those accountable to them.
Mufamadi said during the drafting of the regulations public comments indicated the need for salary bands for municipal and senior managers. ”This matter needs further attention. We will move in the direction of introducing salary bands,” he promised.
The new regulation already puts a cap on bonuses that can be paid to managers, and these will also only be paid if they are deserved. ”It was taken as a matter of course that managers get bonuses at the end of the year, but this cannot be the case,” Mufamadi said.
The performance agreements that municipalities sign with managers will have compulsory performance areas. These will include basic service delivery and infrastructure, municipal transformation and development, financial viability, economic development and good governance.
”This intervention is intended to help us improve the capacity of local government to deliver on its mandate, particularly on the administrative side,” Mufamadi said.
He said there have been some concerns about his authority to regulate performance for municipal managers. ”As a result, the department has initiated the necessary legislative steps in order to provide certainty,” Mufamadi said. — Sapa