Joburg’s residents are the ones suffering while the city’s councillors bicker.
I wish Kenny Kunene had tweeted, “you can’t replace me”, when he resigned from office. It may have been pretty Godfather-like, but it appears to be increasingly true.
The city of Johannesburg coalition hasn’t been able to come up with a new transport MMC in the month since he left.
How difficult is it to pick somebody to do a job where seemingly nothing gets done? Pretty hard apparently.
Transport MMC position up for grabs
It shouldn’t be difficult though. Not if you’re working with some concept of a plan, mission or at the very least, vision. Surely, one can think: “Oh, I want to get this and this done. I need this guy for the job” and then you seek them out and hire them.
But getting the right person for the job is a pretty inconvenient task when you don’t know what you want from them. It’s even more frustrating when you’ve turned the whole decision into a “who wins?” contest with the only term and condition that “residents of Johannesburg may not enter”.
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Joburg’s residents are getting the raw end of the salmon here while the bickering is happening. The department’s vision is of a city with a safe and efficient transportation system. Those words come from the rather dusty vision statement of the department itself, along with “enhancing the standard of living and quality of life for all inhabitants as well as the overall competitiveness and growth of the local economy”.
It’s difficult to imagine that anybody has ever read that thing since it was written.
Find somebody who can make Joburg better
Like so much we have to endure, the words are lovely but the execution takes a more laissez-faire approach. Give me the sushi king or the sushi itself for all I care, but for once, make sure that they can actually read and deliver on the vision of the department they lead.
Why do we have to spend a month arguing over who is going to sit in a chair and do as little as possible? Can’t we start with just finding somebody who can do more with that seat than just sitting in it?
Is it really so difficult to, for once and for the benefit of the city’s residents, forget about who will get the salary and focus on who can make the city better for its residents?
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It’s in that very vision statement; enhancing the standard of living and quality of life for all inhabitants; but I don’t see that happening, let alone thanks to the department of transport.
Who will benefit?
And yet, when the city meets to discuss who will fill the void, it’s never about who will drive the best results or even what they want those results to be. It’s all about what party they are from and who will be allowed to benefit.
Can’t we benefit once in a while? Could the city leaders not find it in their generous hearts to prioritise the residents? I know it’s quite selfish to ask for things like service and maintenance and such, but asking for leadership is basic.
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The city doesn’t need fights over who is going to run departments. The city needs departments that are actually run. If we could place a little bit more focus on that, then I’m pretty sure that meetings would go smoother and those who can’t do the job probably won’t want to have them anymore.
It’s all good and well to sit in an office and draw a salary when there’s no expectation of you. It’s an entirely different matter when you’re expected to actually perform.
Perhaps we should start there.
